After two fisherman, Jacob Runyan, 42, and Chase Cominsky, 35, were caught and indicted for stuffing their walleye with weights and other trash during the Lake Erie Walleye Tournament, fishing competitions throughout the nation are taking precautions to avoid the same thing happening to them.
To guarantee honesty throughout their event, the US Open King Mackerel Tournament in Southport, North Carolina chose to employ a polygraph crew. Mike Hayes, the winner, was had to take a lie detector test before accepting his over $50,000 award.
Fishing tournaments are big business and participants are paying to enter the competition. The U.S. King Mackerel Tournament took place in North Carolina earlier this month and gave out prizes totaling more than a quarter of a million dollars.
Mike Hayes gave his reaction to the scandal at the Lake Erie Walleye Tournament, “a major no, no, those people with will probably never fish in tournaments again.”
Whether or not Runyan and Cominsky will be able to fish again hasn’t been confirmed, however, one of the men had a boat and trailer seized and both men have been charged with cheating, attempted grand theft, possessing criminal tools, and unlawful ownership of wild animals. They could face jail time of up to a year and/or fines up to around $3,000.
