“Cheater.” No word triggers more emotion in the world of fishing, whether it be in high-profile tournaments or from anglers trying to pass off a fish as a state record.
Tournament directors and fisheries officials say cheating is still relatively rare; that the majority of fishermen play by the rules. But there are still a few who cheat and become villains in the eyes of thousands of anglers.
The Bass Syndicate of the 1980s
When people think of crime rings, it conjures up ideas of money laundering, prostitution or human trafficking.
It seldom suggests the trafficking of big bass.
But that’s what happened in the 1980s when a group of Louisiana fishermen led by Elro McNeil determined there was big money to be made for big bass.
McNeil obtained bass from a supplier in Florida and modified his truck so that he could transport them live across state lines. Recipients in the ring then used those bass to win tournaments and share the proceeds, according to a 1985 article in the New York Times.
The illegal venture translated to big business in Texas bass circuits, accounting for hundreds of thousands of dollars in winnings. But officials became suspicious when some of the conspirators failed polygraph tests.
A federal investigation was launched, and one of the major findings was that the genetics of the illegal bass didn’t match those of fish found in the sites where the tournaments were staged. The ring unraveled and five of the members pled guilty and received sentences of five years in prison and fines of $10,000.
The Infamous Weighted Walleye Tournament Incident
Jacob Runyan and Chase Cominsky teamed to dominate the Lake Erie Walleye Trail in 2022. They won three straight tournaments at one point, arousing the suspicion of some anglers.
Turns out, that suspicion was warranted. At the circuit’s championship event in September, tournament officials noticed that the walleyes Runyan and Cominsky brought to the scales weighed more than that size of fish should have.
They took a knife to the fish and discovered that lead sinkers and fillets had been stuffed into the walleyes. Runyan and Cominsky were immediately disqualified and incurred the wrath of other fishermen who watched the drama unfold.
Ten sinkers and several fillets were found in the team’s catch, increasing their total by more than 7 pounds.
Runyan and Cominsky later pled guilty to a fifth-degree felony charge of cheating, another misdemeanor charge, a three-year suspension of their fishing licenses, a 10-day jail sentence, forfeiture of Cominsky’s boat, which was valued at $100,000, a fine of $2,500 and up to a year’s probation.
That’s Chicago: Beware of Witnesses
Warning to all would-be cheaters: Always look over your shoulder. Someone might be watching.
That was the case in May 2024, when a tugboat operator watched an angler hide a stringer full of bass along a dock on the Calumet River in Chicago. He decided to video the suspicious behavior, then checked to see if there were any tournaments the next day.
When he confirmed that there were, he contacted a conservation warden, who then monitored the location the next morning and watched the angler, David Watson, take five smallmouth bass off the stringer and put them in the live well of his boat.
When Watson attempted to weigh in three of those fish that had been marked, he was disqualified from the tournament and charged with multiple violations, including attempted theft.
Fishing…At the Aquarium
Matthew Clark could qualify for mention in one of those World’s Dumbest Criminals segments.
When he entered a Bailiwick Bass Club competition in Guernsey, an island that is part of the English Channel, he knew right where to find a sea bass big enough to win the competition: in an aquarium where he once had worked.
So he broke into the aquarium and grabbed the 13-pound, 13-ounce fish and registered it at the tournament weigh-in, according to the English Daily Mail newspaper..
There was only one problem. After Clark was declared the winner and he posed for photos with his prized catch, the runner-up angler recognized the distinct markings on the fish from a recent visit he and his family had made to the aquarium, according to a 2012 article in BBC News.
He notified tournament officials and they contacted the aquarium, who verified that a fish was indeed missing.
Clark was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and an oath of good behavior for two years.
A Disputed Kansas State Record
When Bobby Parkhurst caught a big white crappie in a small Kansas reservoir in March 2023, he apparently earned a spot in the record books.
He had the fish weighed on certified scales in front of a Kansas Department of a Wildlife and Parks fisheries official, and it registered 4.07 pounds—large enough to surpass the existing state record of4.02 pounds.
Ah, but the plot thickened. A bait-shop owner came forward and notified Wildlife and Parks that Parkhurst had brought his fish into his shop first to have it weighed on his certified scales and that it weighed only 3.73 pounds.
Parkhurst allegedly later took the fish to a second site to have it weighed on certified scales and got a higher reading.
That set of long investigation in which the fish was confiscated and examined. An X-ray at the Topeka Zoo found two steel ball bearings inside the crappie.
The original state record was quickly reinstated and Wildlife and Parks released a photo of the x-ray to serve as proof.
Wildlife and Parks sent the case to the Shawnee County District Attorney Office, but officials decided not to prosecute because of a lack of evidence that would hold up in trail.
More Tournament Cheating
Paul Tormanen was considering a rising pro in the early 2000s when he excelled in many regional bass tournaments.
But that fell part in November of 2005 when he was caught cheating in the Citgo Bassmaster Central Open on the Red River in Louisiana.
During practice, a fisherman snagged a bass that had been tied to a stump. He notified law enforcement with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and agents marked the bass and left it where they found it.
When Tormanen attempted to weigh-in the fish during the tournament, he was caught. During questioning, he admitted to catching several bass before the tournament and tying them to stumps to be retrieved later.
Tormanen pled guilty to contest fraud and was issued a suspended sentence of six months in parish jail, a fine of $588.50, and two years of probation. He also was placed on probation for two years, during which time he was required to serve 120 hours of community service.
In addition, B.A.S.S. issued a lifetime ban from Tormanen entering one of its events.
