Chattanooga anglers say viral Ohio fishing tournament cheating scandal is 'unheard of'

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A fishing cheating scandal has rocked the fishing community, with a video of Ohio fishing tournament contestants with lead stuffed fish going viral and making international news.

We spoke to local Chattanooga anglers who come to places like this, and they say this type of cheating is unheard of.

“They ought to be turned over to the authorities and lose their fishing license for life," says Jamey Jones, pro staffer at Jack's Bait & Tackle Shop.

For a moment contestants, Jake Runyan and Chase Cominsky had it all, with $29,000 on the line.

But, a tournament director was suspicious of their 34 pounds of Walleye fish.

To his surprise inside the filets were handfuls of lead sinkers.

“We compete to win money. You know, we hardly ever break even anyway... it's like stealing," says Jones.

Jones says the cheating scandal had him in disbelief.

He’s competed in local angler competitions for over twenty years and he says he’s never seen anything like this in Chattanooga.

As an organizer of some of the largest local bass tournament circuits, Shane Frazier says he also hasn’t seen cheating in Chattanooga angling, but it is not unheard of in the sport.

"I mean, the fact that they put eight pounds of weight in for fish is just insane," says Frazier.

The Walleye cheating scandal has brought to light the use of lie detector tests in Professional Angling.

Frazier says when tournament organizers are suspicious of cheating, they don’t hesitate to pull out a polygraph.

“We will polygraph our winners, sometimes we'll do like a random place, you know, 'Hey, today, we're going to randomly polygraph fourth or fifth place,'" says Frazier.

While Frazier admits that the cheating anglers have painted the fishing community in the wrong light, he thinks local tournaments may be more on guard when it comes to cheating.

"It's a good reminder, you know, that that this can happen, you need to polygraph, you need to, you know, hold your anglers accountable," says Frazier.

The Ohio duo have won over $300,000 in fishing competitions in the area, defrauding competitors and the events themselves.

This could lead to stiff penalties. The two could get arrested and even be charged.