“We would like this story to be publicized to give the justice that all honest anglers deserve,” said Mitch Zinally, 38, a Toronto angler who has been competing in Canadian tournaments since 2017. “It paints the rest of us as dishonest,” said teammate Brandon Kadosky, 35, who lives in Richmond, Ont. The duo — a multi-species fishing team that has fished together from coast to coast — recently competed in an online Canadian tournament with “basics of it based on the honor system,” Kadoski said. It was the fifth year they’ve competed and the third year they say they’ve caught others cheating. One year, they say someone tried to submit a frozen fish. Another, they say someone submitted a fish that wasn’t their catch. and this year, they say they have evidence that another competitor cheated by manipulating the tape measure – by cutting it – that it used to measure a fish, changing the length of its appearance. They also claim that tournament officials knew about each case and “swept it under the rug.” Because of their fears of personal and professional repercussions, Zinally and Kadoski asked that the tournament not be named, but CBC News has seen video, screenshots and social media posts about the alleged incident and where it took place. CBC News reached out to tournament officials for comment, but had not heard back as of Wednesday night.
Cheating is not uncommon in competitive fishing
The charges come as an Ohio fishing tournament turned ugly last week after an apparent cheating scandal. A video posted on social media showed the tournament director for the Lake Erie Walleye Trail (LEWT), cutting up the winning catch of five walleye and finding lead weights and preparing fish fillets inside them. While last week’s incident may be the first to go viral, it wouldn’t be the first time a fisherman has been caught cheating. As the trade magazine Sports Destination Management notes, “the problem of cheating in fishing tournaments is nothing new; in fact, it’s probably as old as fishing tournaments themselves.” The fish at the center of an alleged Canadian cheating scandal is seen in this June 2022 photo submitted by Mitch Zinally, a Toronto fisherman. He claims the tape measure was cut to make the fish look bigger. (Submitted by Mitch Zinally) The stakes are high in the sport, with lucrative prizes, sponsorship opportunities and fame on the line. Polygraphs are commonly used to ensure that fishermen are honest about their catches. On its website, the Competitive Sports Fishing League (CSFL), which is based in Stouffville, Ont., notes that lie detector tests can be used when there is any question. “If challenged, any entrant must agree to take a lie detector test and pass before receiving their prize. The cost of the test will come out of the repayment structure. If a team protests and wins, the protesting team will pay the cost of the test,” the CSFL states in the 2022 rules and regulations. As ESPN notes, anglers have been caught using frozen fish, fish hidden in secret compartments and fish tied to secret fishing lines. Anglers have also been caught moving fish from one area to another, physically altering fish, tampering with measuring devices and putting weights on fish, according to Sports Destination Management. In a photo from the Lake Erie Walleye Trail Facebook page, Jason Fischer, tournament director for the Lake Erie Walleye Trail, is seen disqualifying an angler from a walleye tournament after discovering lead weights in his Sept. 30 catch. (Lake Erie Walleye Trail /Facebook) And the consequences can be steep. In 2008, a Port Dover, Ont., fisherman. was charged with fraud after placing a 1kg weight on a salmon he entered in the Salmon Masters Derby. Norval Boufford told the Globe and Mail that he had originally weighed the fish to impress his wife. but then he was caught when he entered the same fish in the derby. In 2014, two Alabama anglers were given one-year suspended prison sentences after they won the Night Owls Fishing Tournament by using pre-caught bass to cheat the competitors, according to WAFF 48, a local news website. As for the fishermen charged in Ohio last week, Cuyahoga County District Attorney Michael O’Malley confirmed his department was investigating “attempted felony theft.”
“The things people will do are unreal”
The allegations at the Canadian tournament, the resulting disagreement between the competitors and the overall negativity led officials to decide not to televise the contest, which was set to be televised, according to a taped conversation aired by CBC News between Kadoski, Zinally, and two tournament officials. In another taped conversation shown by CBC News, an official tells Zinally there’s no way to prove the cheating happened because the defendant dropped out of the competition. In general, cheating in fishing competitions ruins the sport for everyone, Zinally said. Not only do other teams miss out on prizes and opportunities, but it deters young people from competing. “It completely ruins it. It’s like, why even try,” Zinally said. Kadoski said he’s even heard stories at bass tournaments of people hiding fish in underwater baskets. “The things people will do are unreal.”
