Jake Runyan and Chase Cominsky have been as quiet as jailhouse mice in the wake of what’s certain to go down in fishing tournament lore as “WalleyeGate 2022.”
But if they were talking, and I could ask them one question as a reporter, it would simply be this:
Was it worth it?
I know people are innocent until proven guilty in this country. You should never assume someone actually committed a crime until the case has played itself out in court.
I guess it’s always possible those fish they weighed in at the Lake Erie Walleye Trail tournament in Cleveland, Ohio, a couple of weeks ago swallowed all of those big sinkers themselves. Maybe they were some type of strange cannibalistic walleye whose diet consists entirely of lead weights and … other, already-filleted walleye.
But since that seems really, really unlikely, I’m gonna break that rule about assuming and go back to my original question.
Was it worth it?
I understand the total of $28,760 they were trying to “win” with both feet and half their tackle on the scales seems like a big deal when you look at it on paper. But the further you examine it, the more it loses its luster.
Split two ways, after taxes (assuming they bother with those kinds of trivialities), it wouldn’t be enough for either of them to buy a decent economy-sized car. It wouldn’t be enough to pay off most people’s unsecured debt. I know it wouldn’t touch mine.
So, was it worth it?
Was it worth being charged with three felonies that could each carry a punishment of up to 12 months in prison and $2,500 in fines.
Was it worth having your boat seized, as Cominsky’s was by Ohio authorities? Was it worth having your reputation ruined, not only among the angling community but among people who’d never paid one bit of attention to fishing?
Seriously, I got texts the night the story broke from people who couldn’t care less about fishing, but were captivated by the whole situation.
When Mike Iaconelli asked on Twitter what his followers thought the punishment should be, I said these guys deserved a lifetime ban from all organized tournaments — and honestly, whether one is formally imposed or not, that’s what they’ll get.
Unless they have massive plastic surgery and fish under assumed names, tournament directors will never allow them near one of their events again. They couldn’t endure the revolt from the other competitors.
I also responded to Ike’s question that I believe these guys deserve at least a five-year suspension of their fishing privileges. Ironically, it looks like the one misdemeanor they were charged with — the one related to the raw fish fillets they had on their boat to stuff down the walleye’s throats — might take care of that too.
If convicted of that crime, reports say their licenses could be suspended “indefinitely” — and never has that word felt more permanent than it does in this case.
Even if they pay their fines. Even if they do their time and get out early for good behavior. Even if, by some miracle, Cominsky gets his boat back, a new hobby might be in order for both of them.
While they might come out someday and answer emphatically “No,” the Cleveland scheme wasn’t worth it, I doubt seriously they’ll answer the long list of other questions the fishing community wants to ask.
Most importantly, how long have they been doing this and how much money have they made by putting more than just fish on the scales?
Those are, in fact, just assumptions because we’ll never know for sure. They couldn’t afford to say if they wanted to, for fear of the lawsuits they’d face.
But think about how bold you have to be to turn a 4 1/2-pound fish into a 6- or 6 1/2-pounder. A bass angler couldn’t imagine doing something like that because he knows any angler who’s caught a few bass knows the difference at first glance.
It’s hard to imagine that kind of gall in any sport.
What about football? Instead of simply having a receiver get a headstart, can you imagine a team just starting a play with that receiver already standing 50 yards downfield in the end zone by himself?
Or baseball? Instead of swinging a bat to hit a home run, can you envision a batter catching the baseball, running full speed toward the outfield and dunking it over the right field wall like a basketball?
I can’t — unless, of course, those teams and those players had been getting away with slightly less-severe atrocities for years. If that was the case, there might come a point when they just figured they were never gonna get caught and say “Why not?”
These guys got caught — and I’m glad that’s all they got at the weigh-in.
The venom-fueled barrage of F-bombs hurled at the one angler who was still standing near the scales was as predictable as the sunset.
I’m not being overly dramatic at all when I say most anglers would think hard about robbing a convenience store before they’d consider cheating to win a fishing tournament. So, when someone gets caught redhanded doing it, naturally it leaves everyone redfaced.
But I’m glad the fishing community showed restraint through the anger that made for one of the most viral videos in fishing history.
I hope people will show that same restraint when they see them around town.
The tournament officials did their jobs. Now let Ohio law officials do theirs.
If you’re gonna do anything to these guys at all, just ask them one question for me.
Was it worth it?