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Rubber fishing lures
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Christian Charisius/dpa
There has been a serious fraud at a fishing tournament in Cleveland.
The fishing duo that led the Lake Erie Walleye Trail reportedly stuffed their catches with weights to win.
Several US media outlets reported the anglers were Pennsylvania's Chase Cominsky and Ohio's Jake Runyon, who were disqualified from the tournament as a result of the discovery.
It is endowed with a five-digit prize money.
A Twitter video shows the excitement of the other participants.
“We have weights in the fish!” someone shouts in the video.
"Check every fish!" demands another.
As insults rained down on the swindlers, a man who appears to be working at the tournament says no one should physically attack the two anglers.
"Where is your crown now?"
Runyon stands in the midst of the angry crowd and is addressed directly.
“How many tournaments have you done that at?” someone asks the two caught anglers, who have already won several competitions this season.
"Where's your crown now?" roars one participant.
"You've got a boat, you've got thousands of dollars you stole from all of us," someone shouts.
Professional tournaments like the "Lake Erie Walleye Trail" come with sometimes high prize money.
Note: The video contains sensitive content such as swear words and dead animals.
Jason Fischer, the promoter of the Cleveland tournament, told local TV station 19 News that the weight of the fish caught was falsified by about eight pounds.
The suspicion of tampering arose because the fish looked too small for the measured weight, which is relevant for scoring in the competition.
They were then cut open and examined.
At this point, the fraud was discovered.
The catch had been stuffed with lead weights and smaller fish fillets.
"I'm disgusted," Fischer wrote in a Facebook post.
"I'm sorry that I let you down for so long." At the same time, he was glad that the fraud had been uncovered.
"At all costs" he will defend the integrity of the "Lake Erie Walleye Trail".
Several tournament participants had informed the police, Fischer told the broadcaster.
It wasn't the first time Cominsky and Runyon got into a controversy.
The duo were disqualified from a tournament last year because one of them failed a lie detector test.
Such tests are often used at fishing tournaments.
Unlike other sports, those in charge of sport fishing cannot monitor the goings-on all the time.
And the opportunities for fraud are great.
In addition to the lead method, there are other tricks.
For example, before competitions, fishing baskets with animals that have already been caught are sunk, which are then presented as freshly fished.
Lie detector tests are designed to help prevent such fraud.
mrk
