SOUTHPORT, North Carolina — After two fishermen, Jacob Runyan, 42, and Chase Cominsky, 35, competing in the Lake Erie Walleye Tournament were caught and indicted for stuffing their walleye with weights and other debris, fishing tournaments around the country are taking measures to prevent the same from happening to them.
The U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament in Southport, North Carolina decided to hire a polygraph team to ensure honesty during their tournament. The winner, Mike Hayes, had to pass a lie detector test before claiming his over $50,000 prize.
Polygraph examiner, Stan Fulmer conducted the polygraph on Hayes and has seen some of everything from, "flying fish from another location, people giving people a fish that they did not catch to weigh in, bringing up fish from another state or catching a fish the day before."
Fishing tournaments are big business and participants are paying to enter the competition. The U.S. King Mackerel Tournament took place in North Carolina earlier this month and gave out prizes totaling more than a quarter of a million dollars.
Mike Hayes gave his reaction to the scandal at the Lake Erie Walleye Tournament, "a major no, no, those people with will probably never fish in tournaments again."
Whether or not Runyan and Cominsky will be able to fish again hasn't been confirmed, however, one of the men had a boat and trailer seized and both men have been charged with cheating, attempted grand theft, possessing criminal tools, and unlawful ownership of wild animals. They could face jail time of up to a year and/or fines up to around $3,000.
Watch: 2 fishermen indicted for allegedly cheating during walleye tournament
RELATED: 2 fishermen indicted for allegedly cheating during walleye tournament
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