Walleye is a very popular dish among gourmets. Originally from North America, this fish from the large perch family known for its nutty aftertaste, which can reach a size of 75 cm in adulthood, is also at the center of a scandal that is shaking the world of fishing sports in the United States.
fish twice as heavy
The events take place last Friday on the shores of Lake Erie, one of the five Great Lakes in North America. It is there that the Lake Erie Walleye Trail is organized, a very famous fishing contest that attracts participants from many neighboring states and that promises the winner the handsome sum of 29,000 dollars.
As CNN explains, things turned ugly when event organizer Jason Fischer was shocked by the weight of one of the teams’ catches at the final weigh-in. While the weight of the five fish was estimated at 20 pounds (about 9 kilos), they show the score of 34 pounds on the scale (about 15 kilos).
“I thought it just wasn’t possible. I physically felt the fish, I could feel hard objects inside the fish,” says Jason Fischer, who decides to cut the fish open.
He discovers several lead eggs and nets there. “We have weights on the fish,” she shouted at the moment of discovery, which has since been immortalized in a video that has since gone viral.
ongoing investigation
The crowd, somewhat angered by this discovery, demands that the police be called and is about to physically attack the cheaters. These, who declined to comment, are now the subject of an investigation.
According to a professional fisherman interviewed by the New York Timestraps would be commonplace in the world of sport fishing, especially since the techniques are numerous: delivery of pre-caught fish, fishing in prohibited areas, catches filled with ice that will then melt and erase the tracks. .
For his part, Jason Fischer is disgusted by this cheating, especially since the offending team has already won several competitions that he was able to organize. “They will never be allowed to participate again,” he concludes.
Source: BFM TV
