Another walleye fishing tourney marred by cheating scandal

Another fishing tournament is in the spotlight because of a cheating scandal – this time involving Lake Erie walleyes that had allegedly been stuffed with smaller fish to make them heavier.

Peter Smith, 57, a competitor at the Bart’s Cove Walleye Duel July 29-30 in Dunkirk, N.Y., was disqualified after director Mark Mohr discovered that two of Smith’s walleyes appeared to have been stuffed with smaller fish.

One contained a 12-inch walleye with its tail portion removed. Another contained a fully intact white perch. Both smaller fish had lip holes, indicating that they had recently been caught.

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Mohr told Outdoor Life: “The 12-inch walleye, it looked to me like they tried to stuff it and it wouldn’t go down, so they cut the last three inches off. It was suspicious because the fish was still really bright, and then I picked it up and could see a hook mark in its lip.”

Grand prize for the event, which boasted a field of more than 30 teams, was an all-inclusive Panama fishing trip valued at $14,500.

The incident is under investigation, at the request of tournament organizers, by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Folks might recall that two men were sentenced to 10 days in jail in May after being found guilty of felony charges stemming from their actions during a walleye tournament on Lake Erie in October 2022.

The men were found to have stuffed lead weights into fish they had caught.

–Images courtesy of Mark Mohr/Facebook