Lake Erie Walleye Cheaters Get Caught in Lake Erie Walleye Trail - Bigwater Fishing Podcast #49 

So many life lessons in this event that will teach young anglers for generations to come. The fact that nobody raised a hand to these guys was the biggest lesson. This was a pinnacle moment for the sport fishing industry and the community handled it perfectly. 👏

man i dont even follow fishing and this story fascinated me today. this is crazy, thank you for keeping it professional

Jason represents excellence in the community. Appreciate him for being proactive and vigilant

Real talk, this made TMZ and other national news, not so much because of the cheating, but rather because of Jason's reaction catching them. That was legend!!

I sympathize with the hosts. That really is a tough spot to be in. Honestly, my hat goes off to Jason for making the call. That took a lot of courage; the fear of being wrong for pulling that benefit of doubt... it's more than a single event or season. It's an entire culture and lifestyle that he had to put on the line.

Might be a good idea to run a metal detector over the catches in big money tournaments

Here’s my 2 cents: I’m an avid walleye angler from Minnesota. Fishing Lake Erie is a bucket list trip for me. I have experience in amateur walleye tournaments, but I’m no pro. The LEWT could easily find 100 guys just like me who would volunteer to tag along on these fancy boats and see talented fisherman do their thing. Randomly assign an observer to a tournament boat each day to make sure nobody knows each other beforehand. You could even take it a step further and weigh/ release the fish on the water in the cooler months when the fish can be released live to protect these fisheries.

Jason Fischer couldn't have handled it any better. His initial reaction is understandable, I would have done the same thing. He'll be a tournament director again. Considering how Jason handled it, the Lake Erie Walleye Trail will recover from this scandal. Jason earned a lot of respect from a lot of people for what he did.

All the anglers need to get together for a lawyer in a joint lawsuit,that amount of tournament winnings cannot be left in the hands of a cheater

Huge kudos to Jason for handling the situation as well as he did. Very sad but a learning opportunity for all of us running events in the fishing industry. At the end of the day, it comes down to angler integrity.

I don’t know anything about fishing but this story turns my stomach. It seems like there is a lot of trust and respect is given to all the anglers. It must feel like a betrayal rather than a robbery.

I like how the one guy literally left his partner holding the bag...

Here's a silver lining. I have never once in my life even thought about competitive fishing and here I am listening to an hour long podcast about it and looking up tournament videos on RU-vid. I think you'll get some positive elements out of this.

Jason Fischer you are TOP SHELF , You are appreciated Thanks for Doing the right thing.

I just saw this on television. Unbelievable!! I had no idea that there were prizes this high in fishing. This could not have been their first attempt. This is one of the most bizarre things that I have heard of. I have been on Lake Erie, awesome lake btw

I was absolutely sick watching these guys get caught... they looked shocked themselves. Just soooo sad. They need to be prosecuted immediately!

Never been in a fishing tournament but this story has made me so angry in general! So glad the anglers didn’t beat those guys up cause then that would of been the story. Great for these guys to come on and talk it over! I do notice some weird “don’t offend the angler with asking to check fish or cut them open thing” but I guess I don’t understand the offense of asking that… if it were me I’d say do whatever you need to prove you win fair and square! Hopefully some good comes out of this !!! Thanks !

Props to the TD for stepping up and checking. Too many people complain afterwards at these events when they know something is wrong. Kudos to him for doing what is right for everyone that fishes that trail and is an example of how to run the show.

You guys are great! Thank You for putting this out there, taking the time and speaking from the heart. Bottom line is that anglers are real people. You have shown this through all you do, not only for yourselves, but to help all the rest of us enjoy the sport.

These guys went from living a childhood dream back to construction/ warehouse workers. They definitely deserve it

Thank you for putting this together. I have mad respect for everybody on the panel. These brothers look hurt deeply! We will get past this, but man what a tough situation.

Great job boys, glad you did this podcast so quickly. Thanks Craig and Jason.

Jason was correct. Any tournament angler can tell right off the hook if a fish that looks 4 lbs should NOT be 7 lbs. great job!! These guys were so lucky they didn’t get hurt. I’m not so sure I would’ve contained myself… You went Worldwide!!

Great show guys I’m in Tasmania Australia & people were talking about what happened here Bloody terrible but this will only make your Tournament’s even better Cheers

Great podcast, I hope this gives clarity to the people that have doubt with these tournaments. Props to Jason for putting it all on the line for his tournament.

Great pod cast. Jason you handled this very well. It was good hearing from Craig an Jason. Jason hope you can get some rest an get ready for the Brawl

Jason -- GREAT job. You handled this situation under pressure better than 99% of us would have. I do have to ask, why are you not suing these cheaters, in addition to whatever the metroparks does, on behalf of all the participants?

Jason i will be honored to let my young black son to come to your camp and fish the right way. You have a lot of class my brother. Keep up the good work. I fish here in Ne. At 2 rivers national park. God bless you.

Great interviews - honestly these guys make me want to drive from NY to participate in their tournaments. Bad apples are everywhere … keep up the good work!

Appreciate all three of you coming on here and discussing. I was very interested to hear these perspectives. I support what each of you do in support of our shared compassion for walleye fishing on the big water.

This will be a future episode of American Greed. Lol. You handled it very well

While this situation is indeed frustrating because of these cheating anglers…I’m hoping it will bring many new anglers in by the publicity reaching some who have a deep love of the sport, weekenders if you will, that may not have ever known about even local tournaments. The video reached news outlets that I would have never imagined discussing a fishing incident. Enjoy the fall weather and may great ice fishing soon be ahead!

As a former Podcaster, walleye tournament angler, and walleye tournament director I really enjoyed this episode! Respect to LEWT, Brawl, and Slam.

Thank you for having real pros on. I'm a novice, but you guys inspire me. I believe in playing by the rules. Thank you again for helping to educate me.

By handling this in the open, I think will help reduce the occurrence of cheating in the future. I applaud these two tournament officials for facing this head-on so quickly in the public eye. Jason - cutting open those walleye on the spot was the best way to handle it. The fishing tournament world needs to be aware that this crap unfortunately happens. And also, well done in getting those cheaters out of there without suffering a beat down. Hopefully now the law can satisfy us with a fitting penalty. You have my full admiration and respect Jason.

Certainly the anglers would be mad, but how mad would the director of the tournament be? Jason did a way better job of handling this than I could have done. He took the high road. Those guys tainted his tournament and disgraced themselves and the sport. They are now finding out it was not worth it. I mean they are in serious trouble over this and it is going to have a lasting impact on the rest of their lives. Are these guys fathers? This is going to affect their family also. Great job to Jason and the other anglers for calling them out.

Great interview! I just fish for fun & love of it. This made me mad AF. Just poor excuses for human beings 💔.

Thank you for interviewing the two gentlemen. They are good honest people. This will work out as a benefit for all future tournaments. God bless them.

You did a great job! As a Bass Tournament Angler I respect the job you have as a Tournament Director. You did a great job in a horrible situation.

Glad you checked these fish as I believe this has been going on for years! Not just this tournament but a lot of others as well.

These guys are doomed. Might as well move out of state and sell their boats .

I watched the raw footage and the director handled the situation incredibly well by telling them to leave and probably saved them a beating.

Jason, you handled it well. It was a gut punch. If I had a chance, LEWT is the tournament I’d definitely want to be at. From this, there will be tighter scrutiny at all tournaments. The sport is great nothings going to change that. They have to deal with the law now, and are branded for life. You handled it well. Good job!

New rule: Cut open the fish as you weight them. Simple. That doesn't prevent all cheating but it will definitely stop cheating with weights or fillets or even ice if you cut it open right after weighing it. If cutting open all 5 fish is too much trouble, you could simply cut open the heaviest fish of each team. That would probably be the fish with the added weight.

You handled like a pro you saved them from a ass beating.

I have no interest in fishing or their tournaments. So I sat here and listened to this whole podcast. Well done, gentlemen!

I wanted to say I haven’t fished in a long time but you guys have definitely got me into it with your passion and all around being good guys. I’m around the area but don’t have a ton of money, will definitely support however I can.

I’m glad you were able to get these guys on here Ross, I’ve been watching everything on this unfolding all the way from Saskatchewan Canada 🇨🇦 . Just found the whole thing very interesting & the differences from walleye tournament rules across both countries. I totally believe people out there push the limits to try & get an advantage, athletes do this in every sport. But to blatantly cheat, is taking it to the next level. Those participants that did is will never be able to get away from it, this will follow them. From fishing career to personal life it will be a dark cloud. There has to be a level of respect among fellow anglers. If an angler doesn’t respect the sport or fellow anglers then it isn’t a place for them.

Really well spoken, thorough and level headed analysis of the situation. Nice podcast, new sub earned!

Great podcast! Running a tournament is a tough thing to do, as soon as you put in a new rule somebody will figure out a way to break it. The one thing that struck me was Jason mentioning that these guys were his friends… sadly they weren’t friends, if they were they wouldn’t have cheated in your events. Glad there is a light be brought into this, hopefully it leads to good changes and discourages other cheaters from doing it. You’ll get caught eventually

Watching from Florida, avid salt fisherman. I can tell you that all of us outdoorsman are watching this unfold. Curious about the future and how this plays out.

Great job Ross, Craig and Jason. If Craig and Jason are buddies and the Slam and Brawl run at the same time… have identical rules for both tournies… one polygraph….one weigh station for both.. and every fish weighed gets cut open. That eliminates alotta headaches and would reinstate trust in the derbies

This tournament cheating incident may look bad for now but 99 percent of the anglers are fishing the right way so keep your heads up and continue to promote the positives in fishing.Fish hard guys.

Thank you for showing this. Thank you Jason for taking your time. To explain for us to understand. This needs to be explain. I love it...

I fishing bass tournaments and not walleye tournaments. I want to give a big shout-out to Jason you did a awesome and amazing job. I know God had his hand on you. Awesome job. My prayers are with you.

My gut feeling is these fall derbies just got fairer. I’ll share my moment I thought I might place in the brawl. 2020. We had kept two open slots for our ‘tournament winners’. It was the last Saturday of the tournament and we had been fishing East of Kelly’s. We were running in fast towards mazurik when some large marks high in the water column appeared on the graph while cruising at high speed. We were trying to get in before dark. I told my buddy we owe it to ourselves to check this out. We set a shallow spread and within a few minutes hooked up and brought my pb walleye to boat. I quickly measured it at 11.22 lbs. ‘this is a placing fish’ I said as I realized I had not hit the ‘tare’ button on the digital scale. I weighed it correctly and it was only 9.74 lbs. I didn’t bother to register it but later found out it would have cashed in special category caught from Grady White boat or by veteran. Check all the categories before deciding to not weigh a fish is my advice.

These guys do a great job under unbelievable circumstances and pressure. Love the passion they have for the city and it’s citizens benefiting from the money generated and the young cancer patient and family that will get a financial and emotional boost. Thank You both for making this World a better place.

Glad I found this interview. Nice work. The raw emotion is what made it so awesome to see.

You definitely handled this as well as possible! Those guys will pay with lost careers. Sure hope their sponsors drop them and issue statements very soon

Thanks for doing what you do fellas. Sorry for the unwanted spotlight on your tournaments. 🐟🐟

Maybe a vet clinic or odnr or somebody could donate time to bring in a portable X-ray to start scanning the winning catches to verify they are not cheating. Might even be able to get area hospitals to bring in a mobile X-ray. They could promote their brand while they’re out there too.

Actually I thought Mr. Fischer handled things really well. Sure he was royally upset at those two idiots for cheating and ruining his tournament, but he got himself under control almost immediately and handled things professionally and well. If I owned a tournament I certainly would point at Mr. Fischer and say 'this is how it's done'.

You both are stand up guys. You can only do so much to stay within the rules. Keep doing what you're doing. Job well done.

It’s not just the money that the cheaters “won” it’s also the sunk cost that the others competitors spent and lost. Edited to add: Some people seem to be confused about the sunk cost factor. I’m not just talking about the admission fee to enter the contest. I’m talking about the money, time, energy and mileage spent on taking up a sport like this. The hours spent practicing. The mileage spent travel to and from bodies of water to practice. The cost of the equipment. Gas money. Money spent on accommodations. Time spent away from families. Maybe time spent away from a 9-5 and losing hour and money that way. All of the sunk cost spent and wasted preparing and practicing even before any of the contestants showed up at the competition.

The sad part is the real winners got over looked in the publics eye. These sorry SOBs stole their spotlight

Host of tourney shouldn’t have to apologize he saved these guys from being pitchforked by a mob. This shouldn’t put a shadow on tourneys but help to shed light and improve fishing tourneys. This man handled this as a champion!

I saw the video and I think you handled that really well. You advised the crowd not to do anything and that was the right thing to do. I can understand the anger the others felt about losing to cheaters.

I've been hoping to hear from you about this....unreal them doing that...unreal...just fish and be honest those are the two biggest things in tourney fishing it's just a shame and feel bad for the tourney organizers that have to deal with these scumbags

IDEA. Every fish must be donated. Each anglers catch goes into a bag with their ID and the results aren't official until the fish are processed. You could still do the winners celebration with the unofficial results like in Nascar.

The different lie detector result issue is easy to answer. The machines are not reliable. That's why tests/results are generally not admissible in court proceedings. So sorry this happened. My late father loved fishing for Walleye on Lake Erie and it's tributaries. He hated the sleaze who would keep snagged fish and skirted other rules. You did a great job in a difficult situation.

I walleye fish Erie a lot, and over the years have gotten pretty good at it. Am a law enforcement officer from Kittanning PA. Never entered a tournament, but I would enter yours’re, don’t be so down about it, you were a class act, and handled the situation very well!

Thanks Ross, its great hearing from the horses mouth. You can really see how heavy this whole situation is weighing on them.

TD Jason sounds like an honest loyal stand up dude and did everything he can to keep this trail running without derailing the entire thing. I feel bad for him and what he has gone through but want to give props to him for his professionalism in this interview and also how he conducted himself the day of the scandal.

The TD is a pure class act..such a great human...to some ppl angling is much much more then a sport!! Its means alot more then that to me...when you catch a 24 inch brown trout out of a tiny little city creek and you burst into tears because you know your father the man who thought you how to fish is looking down on you amd would be so proud,its times and the feelings like that that make it mean alot to ppl....this was such a stab in the back to soooo many people...never been a walleye angler but the way i feel for trout i know some feel the same for walleye....godbless this man!!!! I hope and prat the LEWT comes back even stronger through all this

This guy handled it the best way possible! I’m not into fishing but I saw the video shortly after it happened. He handled it perfectly! Great job!

From the Outside of Tournament fishing but looking in, I think you Jason handled this situation very well! I think at next year's u are going to have a lot of guys just like me who will be just spectators!

Jason should be running all the Fishing turniments, Awesome job Jason 👊🏻

I don’t know one thing about fishing and I’ll probably never watch it or follow it again after this but oh man! What a crazy incident, it was lovely to listen to all of y’all

Great to hear from the ‘horses mouth’ the backstory to that clip online. I’m in my 50’s, f, Canadian soccer mom person & have never fished in my life, but this story is mind blowing! I thought fishing was as innocent as farming. Bless you all.

I appreciate Adam Savage taking time to offer his perspective.

What happens if guy is 100% honest but they say he failed polygraph? There is a reason why they are not used within our court system. They should never be allowed in a tournament period!

Jason played his hand as well as he could to this point and continues to do so after the fact. He's a class guy and his passion for what he does is clear. He and Craig have great things yet to come as they move on continue promote their sport and local causes on land.

Jason, and all organizers of events have a huge job, organizing and policing everything. Cheating is only one aspect and comes in many forms, which is extremely difficult to detect. Well done Jason. Keep your head up and be proud of what you did.

Jason, I'm so sorry that you and everyone else had to go thru this. As a tournament angler, I fish Bass and I have been fishing tournaments for 30 plus years from local derbies, team derbies, pro-am to being a co-angler in the B.A.S.S Opens circuits. The 2 guys that did this, they will get what's coming to them, whether it be criminal charges or fines, the one thing I can guarantee is they will most definitely never be able to fish another tournament anywhere again. I do have to say that 99% of the people fishing any tournament, whether walleye, bass or whatever species don't cheat, tourney guys typically have a very strong code to be honest and abide by the rules, no matter what! But unfortunately, they're will always be some people or person that doesn't care about anything else but the glory or the prize. So for anyone out there who's questioning themselves about getting into tournament fishing, don't do it please, don't let a few ruin it for the rest. There is a comraderie amongst us, we become part of a giant family who love to fish and compete! I also have to say that Jason, you were amazingly professional and handled that volital situation with calmness and class. Keeping the mob off of those guys was impressive at the least. So giant kudos to you sir. I know it's heartbreaking and maddening to see these 2 guys who you consider as friends do something like this, for fame, fortune or just plain ego. Please don't sit there with hindsight and say I should of or could of, you run these tournaments believing that guys will police themselves and play fair by the ruels! There is really nothing more that you could do differently to stop them. I wish you guys the best going forward, lines tight my friends. Much respect! Joe Shaw

They needed to beat them then they would have never forgot what they did. I have no room for thefts. The one yahoo lives like 20 min from me I would love to have words with him and I don’t even fish tournaments.

Good job on checking@...Puts a real bad taste in my stomach about all the fishing tournaments...so sad to have to spoil the reputation of some great fishing contests, and all the supportors to this.

We do it for the love of the Sport . Great job guys 🙏🏼

Well Done guys!! Don't let bad apples spoil your efforts!!

WE GOT WEIGHTS IN FISH!!! Is one of the best delivered quotes of all time! It will go down in the history books!

These guys obviously just both had a very hard time with this. Jason just looks beaten down. They are both great, genuine guys and just want the sport to be fair.

As much as trust should be a consideration in the community, I mean we all have a passion for these events and feel there is a certain brotherhood, I truly think it's time for X-rays at the weigh ins.

I feel bad he blames himself but he's human! If anything he deeply believes in truth and justice. Doing the right thing. He's a man filled with integrity !!!! Thank you. Any sponsors that might use that to not support your event. Don't matter. Honestly it'll look bad on them and they'll won't be trusted by their own customers. But I hope that's not the case ofcourse. Thank you so much for your channel and wonderful interview God bless you guys🙏🙏🙏😊😊😊❤️❤️❤️

It's too bad every judge wasn't observant as Jason,I know what it feels like to loose from cheating, and ur right it's not about the money,its the love for the sport and being the best,but great interview as well much respect for u all, and especially to fisher for handling it the way he handled the situation,this actually makes me want to sign up for his tournament.

I don't care about fishing, but I'm here. Nobody may want to admit this, but this is probably the best thing to happen to professional fishing in many years.

I was blessed to be raised by a daddy that loved fishing. All of our family getaways were around water. Dad fished and we swam or tubed. I have enjoyed over the years hearing the excitement when dad landed a big one! I have also enjoyed picking on him about exaggerating how big his catch is.That comes with fishing but to see someone do something so dirty makes me so mad. Especially knowing how much effort and time these people who seriously love the sport put into what they are doing. My dad absolutely loves this sport and it is disgusting to try to cheat hardworking folks. They should be stripped of every title and charged with fraud. They also should have to give every penny back because no way in hell this is the only time they have done this.

Man that was sad to watch. Those two men were heart broken over it. It’s got to be like loosing your best friend 😢. There will always be that one person that’s has to ruin it for others

Tough situation for Jason. Those guys passed a lot of polygraphs. If he cuts those fish open and they’re not stuffed, it’s all bad for him. Glad he was able to catch them red-handed and put an end to it.

Kudos to Jason and Craig for doing their best to preserve the integrity of the sport. Instead of polygraph, what about a 5 sec scan of each fish such as a portable sonogram. Think about the belt/scanner all carry-on luggage at airport goes thru, but on a much smaller scale. Sounds crazy, but 100% accurate in preventing fraud.

The anglers were incredibly restrained. They weren't a mob. There were just several people who were justifiably pissed off.

A simple rule change would be that any fish that aren’t donated will be cleaned immediately in front of tourney official.