Fishermen caught cheating at Ohio tournament sentenced to 10 days

[fishballer06]

Not to take away from what these cheaters did....

 

But some of ya'll have never fished for walleye in the Great Lakes and it definitely shows after reading this thread. Almost EVERY single walleye you catch in Lake Erie is dead before it ever even gets to the boat. Why is this? Most walleye's are caught by trolling, often at depths of around 50-100 feet deep using planer boards, down riggers, and dipsy divers to get the baits down that deep. When a fish is caught that deep and then quickly reeled to the surface, their air bladders explode and they're just a dead weight by the time you get them to the boat. 

 

So the suggestion of catch, measure, live release is pretty much a null point in this situation. I'd be willing to bet there are very few live fish even brought to weigh ins at the Lake Erie Walleye Trail. Sure, that style of tournament may work on some more shallow water fisheries where the fish are all being caught in less than 35' of water, but that simply isn't the case here. 

 

If any of you have ever fished Erie and seen the perch guys whenever they find a school of fish, you'll know that this all holds true as well. Lake Erie has an 8" minimum length on perch, and whenever you find a school of active perch, you're literally just dropping a bait down, hooking them, and bringing them up cast after cast. The same issue applies though. All those fish are dead when they reach the boat, and all the fish that are too short to keep have to be "released" dead back into the water. So what you have is giant flocks of gulls and other birds swarming over you scooping up every dead fish that gets thrown back in the water. It's kind of funny to see in person, but at the same time, it's a shame. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

11 minutes ago, fishballer06 said:

Not to take away from what these cheaters did....

 

But some of ya'll have never fished for walleye in the Great Lakes and it definitely shows after reading this thread. Almost EVERY single walleye you catch in Lake Erie is dead before it ever even gets to the boat. Why is this? Most walleye's are caught by trolling, often at depths of around 50-100 feet deep using planer boards, down riggers, and dipsy divers to get the baits down that deep. When a fish is caught that deep and then quickly reeled to the surface, their air bladders explode and they're just a dead weight by the time you get them to the boat. 

 

So the suggestion of catch, measure, live release is pretty much a null point in this situation. I'd be willing to bet there are very few live fish even brought to weigh ins at the Lake Erie Walleye Trail. Sure, that style of tournament may work on some more shallow water fisheries where the fish are all being caught in less than 35' of water, but that simply isn't the case here. 

 

If any of you have ever fished Erie and seen the perch guys whenever they find a school of fish, you'll know that this all holds true as well. Lake Erie has an 8" minimum length on perch, and whenever you find a school of active perch, you're literally just dropping a bait down, hooking them, and bringing them up cast after cast. The same issue applies though. All those fish are dead when they reach the boat, and all the fish that are too short to keep have to be "released" dead back into the water. So what you have is giant flocks of gulls and other birds swarming over you scooping up every dead fish that gets thrown back in the water. It's kind of funny to see in person, but at the same time, it's a shame. 

What makes Walleyes so much different than Saltwater fish?    I've pulled bunches of bottom fish like Grouper, and Snapper from hundreds of feet deep that didn't make the limit, we just fizz them, and they go about their business.

 

 

[gim]

22 minutes ago, fishballer06 said:

Sure, that style of tournament may work on some more shallow water fisheries where the fish are all being caught in less than 35' of water, but that simply isn't the case here. 

Yes, that is correct.  Almost all of the walleye tournaments here in MN are catch and immediate release now.  But, I will say, even when they weren't, most of the walleyes were dead upon arrival to a weigh in anyways and it had nothing to do with the depth they were caught at.  They are simply a weaker fish and cannot tolerate as much as bass can.  Additionally, live bait is often used in walleye tournaments here and fish are hooked deeper, resulting in higher mortality.  Then there's the ride back in which is usually not calm on big walleye waters, so the fish get banged around inside a livewell.  The primary reason walleye tournaments went to catch and release was not because of mortality though; it was to avoid having crowds at the weigh in during covid.  It caught on so well here that they simply continued doing it.

[FishTank]

3 hours ago, InfantryMP said:

How low do you have to be, to be good enough to win without cheating, but you still cheat anyway? I mean they had the winning weight without cheating!

Ever heard of Steve Hedake Smith from Arizona State. Threw an NBA career away.

 

[BassNJake]

About 15 years ago in Ohio , it was a felony something about trying to change the outcome of a sporting event.

Not sure of where on Erie this took place.

 

They are lucky the mob didn't get them.

Haven't heard that many f bombs since the last Browns game

 

 

[scaleface]

I havent heard  " M F" uttered this much since the last Samuel Jackson movie .

[volzfan59]

I saw on some YouTube channel, don't remember the name, that the state DNR and local law enforcement are building a case to turn over to the District Attorney. How true that is, I don't know. I hope that it's true.

[813basstard]

1 hour ago, scaleface said:

I havent heard  " M F" uttered this much since the last Samuel Jackson movie .

It’s actually our Mission Statement at the school I work at

[gim]

1 hour ago, volzfan59 said:

I saw on some YouTube channel, don't remember the name, that the state DNR and local law enforcement are building a case to turn over to the District Attorney. How true that is, I don't know. I hope that it's true.

The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor met with the Ohio DNR today on what charges are to be brought forward. Apparently the amount of money involved makes it felony fraud. We’ll see if those type of charges are brought forward. A felony is a serious crime.

[MN Fisher]

25 minutes ago, gimruis said:

We’ll see if those type of charges are brought forward. A felony is a serious crime.

Even if nothing comes from the legal side - I think a lifetime ban on them being involved in any tournament should be enacted.

[volzfan59]

14 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Even if nothing comes from the legal side - I think a lifetime ban on them being involved in any tournament should be enacted.

I agree! A lifetime ban on either one of them obtaining a fishing license is in order.

[Stone Cold]

Scumbags

[slonezp]

The tournament director is interviewed

 

A promotional video of one of the cheaters prefishing the tournament he got busted in. Starts around the 1:00 mark. The first minute it worth watching. Runyon is an arrogant *****

 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

33 minutes ago, slonezp said:

The tournament director is interviewed

 

A promotional video of one of the cheaters prefishing the tournament he got busted in. Starts around the 1:00 mark. The first minute it worth watching. Runyon is an arrogant *****

 

I mean when he said "winning the last three tournements in a row" leading up to that event......how in the world were red flags not already going up before this event.

 

These cheaters are as repulsive and disgusting humans as possible, but the way this all went down seems mickey mouse to me in regard to the circuit, and tourney organizers.      

 

I could understand if they were some mastermind types with a brilliant way of cheating, but this is something you would expect to be checked in even a local small club event.   I mean cutting a fish open is pretty easy.  

[gim]

10 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

but this is something you would expect to be checked in even a local small club event.   I mean cutting a fish open is pretty easy.  

Yes, but you must realize that the vast majority of walleye tournaments are not like this anymore.  Erie is pretty much the only place they still do a weigh in with walleyes.

 

The part that would tip me off is that they were apparently the only team that refused to donate their catch to a local food shelf after the tournament.  All the other teams donated their dead fish.  This had occurred during the last 2 other events too.  To me, its like why are these guys the only team keeping their dead fish?  Because they want to eat them?  Uh huh.  Well now we obviously know why. 

 

Many years ago when walleye tournaments were still dead weigh in format here, it was mandatory to donate your catch for the day.  It was literally against tournament rules to keep them.

[12poundbass]

Well it appears law enforcement is taking this seriously.

 

https://www.wkbn.com/news/local-news/investigators-seize-boat-in-hermitage-from-man-accused-of-fishing-scandal/

[Chris Catignani]

10 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

Well it appears law enforcement is taking this seriously.

 

https://www.wkbn.com/news/local-news/investigators-seize-boat-in-hermitage-from-man-accused-of-fishing-scandal/

From the article:

“...in the future, I think we’re going to be looking in different avenues as far as using magnets, as far as metal detectors, as well as possibly cleaning the harvested fish as well to ensure our anglers that we’re having a clean and fair tournament,” West added.

 

Uh....lead is not magnetic.

 

 

[TnRiver46]

20 minutes ago, Chris Catignani said:

 

 

Uh....lead is not magnetic.

 

 

. “We have our best detective on the case……”

[12poundbass]

21 minutes ago, Chris Catignani said:

From the article:

“...in the future, I think we’re going to be looking in different avenues as far as using magnets, as far as metal detectors, as well as possibly cleaning the harvested fish as well to ensure our anglers that we’re having a clean and fair tournament,” West added.

 

Uh....lead is not magnetic.

 

 

Correct but it also says metal detectors which lead can be picked up by a metal detector. The problem with that though is what if a bass, walleye, whatever species swallowed a hook or sinker? Are we going to be killing fish because a metal detector detected metal inside the fish? 

[Dwight Hottle]

9 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

Correct but it also says metal detectors which lead can be picked up by a metal detector. The problem with that though is what if a bass, walleye, whatever species swallowed a hook or sinker? Are we going to be killing fish because a metal detector detected metal inside the fish? 

I understand your concern but walleye tournaments are always dealing with dead fish anyway unless they adopt a weigh or measure followed by quick release. Unfortunately the tournaments do not dictate how deep you can fish and walleye caught deeper than 35-40 feet are suffering from barotrauma by the time they hit the net. So unless they are properly fizzed they are going to die anyway. 

[12poundbass]

7 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

I understand your concern but walleye tournaments are always dealing with dead fish anyway unless they adopt a weigh or measure followed by quick release. Unfortunately the tournaments do not dictate how deep you can fish and walleye caught deeper than 35-40 feet are suffering from barotrauma by the time they hit the net. So unless they are properly fizzed they are going to die anyway. 

I understand what you’re saying. I guess I was referring to fishing tournaments and derbies in general. 

[gim]

1 hour ago, 12poundbass said:

I understand what you’re saying. I guess I was referring to fishing tournaments and derbies in general. 

I don’t think there is a need to run all fish regardless of species though a metal detector in live weigh in tournaments. Most live weigh in formats for bass penalize anglers for dead fish anyways, and it’s obvious a fish is going to die if you are stuffing lead weights down the throat. The difference in this particular case is that all the walleye from Erie are kept anyways and they’re already dead.

 

This sort of incident simply moves the needle closer to an immediate catch, weigh/measure, photo, and release format. I don’t know of a single walleye tournament here in MN anymore that isn’t using that format

[12poundbass]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

it’s obvious a fish is going to die if you are stuffing lead weights down the throat

Good point. I never thought about this.

[padlin]

They pled guilty yesterday, you can google walleye tournament cheater if you want more info, I didn’t want to post the link.

[12poundbass]

5 hours ago, padlin said:

They pled guilty yesterday, you can google walleye tournament cheater if you want more info, I didn’t want to post the link.

Slap on the wrist is all they got. Pretty pathetic.