My initial reaction video to this entire scandal: ruclips.net/user/shortsodL-JfVPqZM?feature=share For context: my perspective on this entire ordeal is from the outside looking in as a Great Lakes Salmon angler/content creator. I appreciate many of you that are within the walleye fishing space and have shared info to clarify and/or educate me on certain aspects of what transpired. Thanks!
9:42: "How did he know why to check these fish?" Are you serious. I'm not a fisherman but it was obvious to even ME when their five fish weighed more than SIXTEEN POUNDS MORE than anybody else's five fish? There is NO WAY in hell for that to happen...And every guy there knew it, especially since they did'nt look any bigger.......This wasnt 70 pound sharks being compared to each other, it was some very small fish....
I'm a 58 yr old, retired Alternative/Rock guitar player with, yes, my own RUclips channel and a lot of my friends have seen the video and were also shocked. The director seems like a nice guy and posted a great video. Best wishes to your industry.
Can we talk about something other then politics for a chsnge Get a life dude your gonna be ok 👌 no matter who the president is political remarks no matter who their about just ruins a good day
@@kevinvrba2783 Perhaps reading comprehension is not your strong suit. Please review and note I didn’t reference anyone specifically and my comment was only using politicians in general as the foil to the tournament director to highlight him positively. The only person who made their comment about politics specifically was you. Stay in your lane & you will have much less chance of looking foolish.
@@txhuntsman I guess we found the liberal in the comment haha this guy Kevin lol. Whenever you get the please don't bring up politics are same ppl embarrassed for voting for this shit show
You can tell this disappointed and hurt him as well, he takes this serious and has pride in what he’s doing there. The fact that he apologized to the youth etc makes it that much more wholesome. Shout out to this guy!!
@@danielmartin7838 You don't need to beat the shit out of someone. Jesus , this isn't Nazi Germany. Throw them in jail, yes. These guys fucked up big time. But they might have a daughter or son.
Sincere just wish he wasn't reading so much from a prepared apology, it would have been more sincere coming across the video if he was better prepared. Still respect him for coming out acknowledging everything.
Jason Fisher is an outstanding man and role model. Never met him but his reaction to this disgrace from the two who were caught cheating is human to be mad but to his recovery and subsequent statement to the public and anglers is to commended and praised.
What a great individual he is. I'm not ashamed to say I had tears in my eyes listening to this. I raised 2 boys to be ethical fishermen and I would be proud to have them meet this man.
The fact that you can hear the emotion in his voice as he's describing what fishing means to him, and how much this sport means to him, really sets the bar high on how someone in his seat should be. Passionate, honest, transparent, and humble.
The bad guys are gone. And honestly I believe all the recognition and attention brought to our tournament trail is going to turn out to be a good thing for future events and sponsors
He had every right to be upset using profanity in this case because I would’ve done the same exact thing and that is human. When humans get upset because of cheaters you cannot hold back your words. Kudos to this man we’re not making physical contact because a lot of folks would.
This guy is a true class act...truly a great human being straight up..he was almost in tears!! This sport means alot to some ppl and this was such a stab in the back...godbless this man!!!
Wow this guy is what this old world needs more of someone that truly cares about others because if he didn’t the two guys that got caught would of had a very bad day I am sure that they will fix this and only grow bigger the positive is that everyone now knows how much good for the community these guys do. What a stand up guy!
It must have been so emotional for this guy to get so upset the way he did as he cut each fish open. God man. Such a fair individual, and also allowing the perps to get out of there and telling the crowd to NOT touch them for their own safety. Very very classy.
He prevented mob justice, tempered the escalation as they pulled more and more out, and controlled what could have been a VERY dangerous situation. Same is to be said of the anglers they screwed over for not doing what we all wanted to.
Good call not Ben Avery on the other anglers - there was a lotta of angry people there and who knows what woulda happened if this guy didn’t tell them to back off ( or what shoulda happened) 😏🖖
Good for him for still recognizing the youth are impressionable through all of this. So sad to see the actions of these cheaters, but also good for this guy for handling it like a class act! Well done buddy.
The Director of the tournament Jason Fisher did an excellent job by shouting out *”we got weights in fish“* So they get the infamous shame but at the same time defused the mob so no one was physically harmed.
He did explain what happened in an interview. After they weighed in, some folks went up to him to object and was asking him to check the fish because these guys had history of doing shady shit. So, to appease those raising questions and put it to bed, he had him bring the fish back and as he picked up the first fish, he squeezed along the belly and said he felt hard objects in there which led to him asking for a knife and cutting them open to see what the hard objects were.
But why did it have to come down to complaints from other fishermen? The officials should be monitoring this with anti-cheating protocols. Especially when the fish weighed more than they looked.
@@clarkkent1521 the tournament crew had suspicions also. That team had passed and failed lie detection in the past regarding their cheating when it came to winning. After big money wins, the tournament requires they do the lie detection tests apparently. So it wasn't just the other fisherman. Plus, the tournament directors could easily identify a round about weight of these fish. He said all the ones they had looked like 4 and 5 pounders but came in around 7 or 8 pounds each on the scale and it immediately raised doubt with the director. So it wasn't just the other fisherman. But you're right and I agree, there should be more checks and balances because these guys aren't the only ones that do this. There's all kinds of tournament cheats being caught and getting charged with felonies so I hope these guys do to.
People who put these events on never get enough credit, most are volunteers, not all, but most, they take a lot of crap. I for one want to thank everyone who gives their time for others, umpires, soccer coaches, basketball coaches, and in my case, people who run fishing tournaments, Thank You all.
That’s a man with Deep integrity in his soul…..you cannot buy it, sell it, or wish for it….you have to be it. Also, you’re video is well presented and you do a good job. Thank you sir and tight lines
Jason is a great guy!! Works hard and deserves to be rewarded with success in the future. For his community which he obviously loves. And, for his family.
I think this absolute Legend, needs to realize there is no such thing as bad publicity. I can tell you know that there is a group of 12-15 of us that are gonna make the trip to the USA to fish this tournament for fun (and our support) next year!
Class act ! What a guy. Appreciate the apology but it was understandable. These guys were creeps. Id have been really mad as well. I think he handled it very professionally
This guy isn’t giving a statement just to hype up his tournaments so he doesn’t lose his anglers. You can tell, just by the look on his face, that he’s a genuine, humble guy and is truly upset, hurt, that these two clowns cheated. I have to respect him for coming out like this to address his anglers, the kids and the families of these guys. Sorry this happened to you, man. I’m sure that you’ll be fine in the long run. It’s so unfortunate for other anglers that could win big in the future, just for someone to doubt their win. It sucks, man. I’m sure everything will work out for everyone. I hope these two idiots are prosecuted for ALL of the money they’ve stolen in the past….yes, all of it. 🤬
Yeah agreed….this man is hurting in his soul. Trying to keep fishing alive and strong is hard enough with all the other things out their to do….he’s passionate and it shows.
@@supersaiyaman11589 the only two problems with them paying it back is one, they’ve more than likely blown it. People that need to steal money, don’t know how to save money, hence their reason to steal all the time. The second reason, is they’d be put on a payment plan, because we all know they don’t have all of the money up front or even most of it. I’m sure that they have new cars, prob a house and all kinds of toys and shit people like them feel they deserve. So in reality, they don’t deserve shit, let alone a payment plan. They would get off too damn easy that way. Fk it, we’re already paying with our tax dollars for pieces of shit in prison. What’s two more, ya know?!?
Any time money is involved in a contest, someone will be tempted to cheat. That being said, the tournament director caught those who allegedly cheated and, correctly, turned the matter over to law enforcement. He then issued a heartfelt response that showed his passion for the sport, his own shortcomings, albeit minor, as a human being and pledged to make things right in the future. What more can be asked of him?
You are a champion in your own right. I am inspired by your leadership style and this will only build your tournament and build your reputation as a leader and tournament director. What more can be said, you are inspirational👍
What's scary is how many times did these knuckleheads pull this stunt? They ruined so many lives in the past, taking away someone else's win story. No need to apologize, you are doing a great job honoring the rest of the, "real winners" in the tournaments. The good memories and the sponsors and most of all, the love and dedication for families affected by health issues. God bless you all.
edit: spelling/ grammar Nobody in there right mind is mad at the tournament runner for being animated initially.. he got his bearings almost immediately; calmed down and got help from a cop in the tournament to take control of the situation. Thats a good guy.
Raw emotion is what made it go viral and we all respect that. It showed just how wrong this was, not just 2 cheaters in a random tournament. And the fact that it went viral probably scared countless fishermen from trying the same thing.
He said in another video that he's been weighing wall eyes for a long time and he knew something wasn't right so he had to check. He Himself said that checking could also be a bad thing for him and make him look bad if he ended up wrong but it was too suspicious to not check when a certain size bag was weighing more than what it should've with the size of fish that were being weighed.
The director explains how he came to find the weights and his suspicion on bigwater fishing. He knew by size that the fish weight was not adding up and asked them to stay for pictures and so he could investigate things further. He explains everything on the interview.
I showed my kids the video....i want them to know that type of behavior is never tolerated in any setting...they love fishing and should know never ever do something like that ever....
He was cursing around little kids. And also little kids might see the video. I don't know if you think cursing around little kids is okay but it's not.
I think that Jason Fisher is a stand up guy, and a class act. You can tell he isn't fooling around with the cheating in these tournaments. He is sincere when he talks about doing good things for the kids, and he's all right in my book!
I am a lifelong fisherman. I’ve never fished for Walleye. Never fished in any kind of competition. Don’t know anything about it. The impact that a couple of dirtbags can bring to an organization like this is tremendous. I could tell by watching this video that your Director was visibly upset. For him to come out and make a public statement like this is commendable. Like the video maker says, it shows what kind of character this guy has. He’s an honest standup type of guy. I believe you guys will move past this, recuperate and be better for it. Tight lines to all of you.
Michaell!!! You busted your algorithm into pieces!!! Well done buddy. Bet you're just as excited seeing these roll in as you are slamming a king out the yak!
Hats off to this directors sincere apology and heart felt promise to address cheating going forward. One comparison and a question, All major tournament trails especially those that pay out large sums of money require winners to take polygraph test immediately after the tournament and before any money is issued. Were these cheaters ever subjected to polygraphs in prior tournaments?
Very well said Sir!! Has I listened to you talking about this situation I couldn't help but feel like you were taking the blame. No matter how hard anyone try to prevent things like this from happening there will always be someone trying to cheat when big $ is on the line. I personally believe you did an outstanding job at handling this.
This is an honorable guy! You can hear the passion and disappointment in his man's voice, I want to fish in one of his tournaments now and I'm not even a fishermen.
Mad props to the director and I'm hoping this is a shout out to anybody who even thinks about cheating. Them to frauds are gonna regret this everyday for the rest of there lives and I'm pretty sure most kids have heard this language before but I bet those that have heard the video are thinking to themselves " I don't wanna be them guys that cheated" .
Jason there is absolutely no need for an apology from you! You put on one of the best tournaments states wide.. You didn’t do anything wrong.. you just keep doing what you are doing and the tourney will do nothing but grow with your continued leadership! You caught a dishonest team that should never be allowed a license again.. YOU did nothing wrong.. YOU have passion for what you do and that is what it takes to be the leader you are.. DONT ever apologize for someone’s else’s lack of honesty in something as simple as catching a fish..I will gladly fish your tournament anytime and fishing Erie has always been on my bucket list.. if I never make it I apologize.. good luck to you and congratulations for stopping what could have stolen from many families for many years! Keep the kids involved sir.. they need it 👍
I am not a part of the fishing community but I am shocked that the fish are not cut open to check for weights or cheating during the weigh-in portion of the competition, especially the top 5-10 competitors.
The Texas Huntsman gentleman is ABSOLUTELY correct in his statement ! The tournament director is a Gold Star ⭐️ Class Act ! I see this angling organization actually Growing because of how Jason Fisher handled this scandal. Nobody was physically harmed and the cheaters were sent “packing”. Also, I’m VERY confident that the proper changes will be made & trust & integrity will be restored ! Well done 👍🏻 Jason !
I actually loved his initial reaction because it was raw emotion. It looked like a WWE scene and I was all about it. Mr. Fisher handled himself with lots of restraint and honorably.
Deep respect to this guy! Sure, he was angry on the day but then everyone else looked pretty pissed! Doing so much for anglers, young and old, local familes and charities... Keep up the good work and don´t let these two cheats screw up the great job you are doing!
There’s an interview he did where he explains how he knew. He said all the anglers were bringing in 4lbers. So 20-22 lbs was good. These guys brought up 7lb and 4-5lbs. They had 33lbs !!! He knew from experience something was up. He asked for the fish and felt something hard in its stomach. Asked for a knife, and the rest is history…
My hats off to you sir! I'm sure the brotherhood of fisherman will continue to support you and the club and carry on the great citizenship that they have. Best to All
I agree dude didnt need to apologies for speaking the way you did in the initial video I saw, the fact that you did speaks volumes about your character. I assure you that you handled it far better than I would have because there would have been major drama up in that place had I been the director. Lee E. in Full Metal Jacket would have looked like a amature DI compared to me!!! The fact that you did makes me have mad respect for you! Hats off to you keeping things under control when the truth came out becuase I remember when getting stoned wasnt against the law...IT WAS THE LAW! Guys like these two is why I dont compete and just fish for personal enjoyment and take a kid with me every chance I get instead.
There is a great video on RUclips by Big Water Fishing where he does an interview and goes into great detail about all the events of that day. You’ll love it and Thank You for your great insight and honesty
9:42 Here's the first hand account of how the tournament director knew to check the fish - it was pure experience, as he had done a lot of fish weigh-ins in previous tournaments. The size of the fish didn't match the weights expected, so then he ran his hand over the fish and felt objects. Interview here: ruclips.net/video/Jk4Q4TwKhLY/видео.html
Never mind the fact it was missed for the last two years. Doesnt take a genious to realize a 20" walleye cant weight almost 14pounds. They missed that most obvious of cheats.
@@ChiCityYaker it really is a fascinating sight into the world of fishing. I am not a fisher(wo)man, but this was just some kind of crazy that made it onto Reddit and took off like wildfire!
@@reidsimonson I get the feeling that this is such a small world, the competitive fishing world, that they want to believe that everyone who is there is trustworthy, that cheating only happens in the bigger sports. Maybe some tournament directors didn’t want to open up the can of worms because this is exactly what would happen. This poor guy looks like he wishes he hadn’t been there that day to catch the guys, but he saw the work that needed to be done and he stepped up to the plate. In his interviews, he looks absolutely sick that this has been going on. He did his job, but he really doesn’t like the position these jerks put the fishing competition trail in.
If the NFL, just one example, would acknowledge they are not kid friendly at all with their language. F-bomb is the second most used word in the NFL. Down, Set or Hut may be first. This guy a class act. Great video on this event. TY
It was discovered when other angles were weighing the same amount of fish that weighed half as much as the cheaters and that the cheaters were also suspected of cheating in the past.
They got caught during during a Lake Erie Walleye Trail Tournament not the Fall Brawl. Two extremely different events. The LEWT is a professional event and the Fall brawl is open to the public with a $30 entry.
U are an awesome, humble man and honestly u had no reason to apologize especially over the BS that transpired!!!! But for u to own the language and your reaction said a lot about you as a person and a man. Thank u for your being the wonderful person that you are and mostly for looking out for these events and their future!!!!! Our youth can look forward to entering these competitions and that they will be run honestly and everyone else will have a fair shot at winning!!!! Please tell me these JOKERS also lost their sponsors as well as sued for the $ from other competitions that they competed in!!!
That's nice that he apologized for the language but I like many don't think he needed to. In the end, he handled it professionally and I hope those guys are punished for all the stealing they did.
I have no real interest in angling but this guy seems like a top bloke! In reality he personally didn't even do anything wrong other than using some colourful language but it takes a true leader to accept responsibility in a situation like this and let a negative inspire you to do things better in the future! As for the swearing sure it's inappropriate but I can see this guy REALLY cares about the sport and is passionate about it so I can understand why he was so angry and disappointed when the cheaters were exposed. For people like me who don't follow the sport now the only thing that comes to mind when I hear somone fiscussing fishing is this scandal so I get why he wants to redirect the attention and highlight all the good in the community
He needs to save his tournament now because of those weasel cheats. Well done to him. I hope the honest competitors will continue to support him and help him grow his tournament bigger and better beyond this disgraceful cheating saga. All the best to him ahead.
In my opinion Mr Fischer has nothing to apologize for in his apology you could clearly notice that he was almost taking the blame for others actions that he had no control over. Mr Fischer you are a humble man who puts his heart and soul into this tournament. I know that you feel bad for the language and actions that occurred but I'm sure that any red blooded honest American in the heat of the moment would have handled the situation exactly the same my hats off to you sir
my biggest admiration about this man is how he announced that he wanted the cheater to leave the tournament and wanted nobody to touch him on the way out. very big to do that.
For starters, all that stuff would have created lumps and hard spots on the fish, they wouldn’t feel balanced. Most fisherman get to be a very close judge of weight before they put the fish on a scale. When everything suddenly looks way off base with a basket of fish it would be easy to catch a cheat. Soon they will simply use a baggage X-ray machine to scan the fish before they go to the scales.
I was thinking the same. I dont walleye fish but have been bass fishing for 20 years. Big difference in a 3 pound bass to a 5 pound bass and so on. Im sure walleyes are the same.
Me and my dad was just talking about x-ray. But I don't see them putting x-ray at every weigh station. A tourney like the fall brawl is a lake wide tourney. The cost would be astounding. Something like the L.E.W.T that would work. One weigh station every fish get x-rayed. Either way I'm interested to see what they come up with to curb the cheating.
@@donaldmartin4980 still super expensive and would only pick up metal. What about the guys that stuff ice in their fish, or even other fish and filets. Using lead is old school and the cheaters have mostly moved on from such lazy tactics. These guys just got comfortable threw some giant ass lead eggs in their fish thinking they would never get caught. Jason the director knew something was wrong from the jump, decided to feel the fish and felt the eggs. Had they only used the filets chances are he would have never felt them and they would have won. His words.
2nd place guy asked him to check the fish as they were smaller looking that his bag, you can actually hear 2nd place guy in the crowd just before the weights were discovered giving off about how his bags fish was bigger looking.
Supposedly the fish were dead, and they donate dead fish to a food bank or soup kitchen. The 2 guys were acting weird about sending the fish off, and apparently they got upset enough for the officials to figure something was going on.
respect to the tournament director for sure , He just wants to stay professional and some people thought the reaction was unacceptable but we all know we don't hold anything against him. WE GET IT ! They have stole thousands if not millions over the years so id be yelling and screaming too . All those guys pour blood sweat tears and the money they didn't have in these tournaments to try to win and get recognition and a check but these cheaters were taking that from them ! The hard working true fisherman out there were getting screwed by these guys !
Why did I tear up listening to him speak … he can be my director any day!! … can we get a presidential candidate with his kind of class and who isn’t 65+ years old
![Pro-Walleye Tournament Anglers Caught CHEATING at Fall Brawl! [Video Reaction]](/img/1.gif)
My initial reaction video to this entire scandal: ruclips.net/user/shortsodL-JfVPqZM?feature=share
For context: my perspective on this entire ordeal is from the outside looking in as a Great Lakes Salmon angler/content creator. I appreciate many of you that are within the walleye fishing space and have shared info to clarify and/or educate me on certain aspects of what transpired. Thanks!
9:42: "How did he know why to check these fish?" Are you serious. I'm not a fisherman but it was obvious to even ME when their five fish weighed more than SIXTEEN POUNDS MORE than anybody else's five fish? There is NO WAY in hell for that to happen...And every guy there knew it, especially since they did'nt look any bigger.......This wasnt 70 pound sharks being compared to each other, it was some very small fish....
Love me some salmo trutta!!! Esp the brownies!
I'm a 58 yr old, retired Alternative/Rock guitar player with, yes, my own RUclips channel and a lot of my friends have seen the video and were also shocked. The director seems like a nice guy and posted a great video. Best wishes to your industry.
I wish our national politicians had this kind of integrity. First Class. I would fish in this young man's tournament anytime.
Absolutely 💯!
i offer you $10k to let me do to the rivers as i please.
Can we talk about something other then politics for a chsnge Get a life dude your gonna be ok 👌 no matter who the president is political remarks no matter who their about just ruins a good day
@@kevinvrba2783 Perhaps reading comprehension is not your strong suit. Please review and note I didn’t reference anyone specifically and my comment was only using politicians in general as the foil to the tournament director to highlight him positively. The only person who made their comment about politics specifically was you. Stay in your lane & you will have much less chance of looking foolish.
@@txhuntsman I guess we found the liberal in the comment haha this guy Kevin lol. Whenever you get the please don't bring up politics are same ppl embarrassed for voting for this shit show
You can tell this disappointed and hurt him as well, he takes this serious and has pride in what he’s doing there. The fact that he apologized to the youth etc makes it that much more wholesome. Shout out to this guy!!
They weren’t the only ones cheating,they just got caught
Hurt? America needs her men back. This guy should have broke their nose to make the "hurt" visible on the face of those who cheated
@@danielmartin7838 You don't need to beat the shit out of someone. Jesus , this isn't Nazi Germany. Throw them in jail, yes. These guys fucked up big time. But they might have a daughter or son.
@@outdoorcasey simp
@@outdoorcasey and their daughter/son will be taught the same shit. They need to be made an example of.
He is a fine young man. His apology was an honest one and shows true character. Stay true to yourself and keep improving gentlemen.
Sincere just wish he wasn't reading so much from a prepared apology, it would have been more sincere coming across the video if he was better prepared. Still respect him for coming out acknowledging everything.
Nothing to apologize for. Director did a great job and no one would fault him.
He was cursing around little kids.
@@R-Lee- and I'm sure their parents do to..... who cares
@@RegulaRegz732 a lot of parents care
@@R-Lee-
Show me where your feelings override his Constitutional Rights...
@@R-Lee- Go to hell demon. This guy is a pro, he handled it great. Nobody is perfect.
Jason Fisher is an outstanding man and role model. Never met him but his reaction to this disgrace from the two who were caught cheating is human to be mad but to his recovery and subsequent statement to the public and anglers is to commended and praised.
What a great individual he is. I'm not ashamed to say I had tears in my eyes listening to this. I raised 2 boys to be ethical fishermen and I would be proud to have them meet this man.
This is a rock solid human. Wow. Awesome statement.
Apologizing for his language is something very very few would ever think to do. 👏🏻👏🏻
The fact that you can hear the emotion in his voice as he's describing what fishing means to him, and how much this sport means to him, really sets the bar high on how someone in his seat should be. Passionate, honest, transparent, and humble.
You did nothing wrong sir. Glad to see your heart is in the right place
You can tell this cut him pretty deep. This guy is a hero and being new to fishing I have a huge respect for him.
Thats my exact thought, this cut him deep and it shows.
Very respectable man. I'm not even a fisherman but if I was I'd want this guy running the tourneys forsure. Keep going man
FACTS!
The bad guys are gone. And honestly I believe all the recognition and attention brought to our tournament trail is going to turn out to be a good thing for future events and sponsors
Way more cheaters than those 2 guys....they just got caught
@@bigloads3600 true but that's every tournament possibly but you know that
Ya the metal detecting wand needs to be used on everyone's sack before they weigh....sad but that's what it is
@@brianshort2101 Cheaters would just keep cheating with nonmetallic items
@@commoncorysense1809 what is non metallic and weighs enough and is small enough to even fk with or try to stuff fish with?!?
He had every right to be upset using profanity in this case because I would’ve done the same exact thing and that is human. When humans get upset because of cheaters you cannot hold back your words. Kudos to this man we’re not making physical contact because a lot of folks would.
This guy is a true class act...truly a great human being straight up..he was almost in tears!! This sport means alot to some ppl and this was such a stab in the back...godbless this man!!!
You can tell he was truly mortified and took it extremely personal when he found the weight
Azerbaijan pride!
Wow this guy is what this old world needs more of someone that truly cares about others because if he didn’t the two guys that got caught would of had a very bad day I am sure that they will fix this and only grow bigger the positive is that everyone now knows how much good for the community these guys do. What a stand up guy!
It must have been so emotional for this guy to get so upset the way he did as he cut each fish open. God man. Such a fair individual, and also allowing the perps to get out of there and telling the crowd to NOT touch them for their own safety. Very very classy.
He prevented mob justice, tempered the escalation as they pulled more and more out, and controlled what could have been a VERY dangerous situation. Same is to be said of the anglers they screwed over for not doing what we all wanted to.
Good call not Ben Avery on the other anglers - there was a lotta of angry people there and who knows what woulda happened if this guy didn’t tell them to back off ( or what shoulda happened) 😏🖖
Good for him for still recognizing the youth are impressionable through all of this. So sad to see the actions of these cheaters, but also good for this guy for handling it like a class act! Well done buddy.
The Director of the tournament Jason Fisher did an excellent job by shouting out *”we got weights in fish“* So they get the infamous shame but at the same time defused the mob so no one was physically harmed.
Director, I salute you! I will show my kids your video because you are a man that stands up for truth, honesty, and integrity. 🙏
Jason is a great dude. Does a lot for his community as well. I’ve known him personally for along time.
Tell him that the people don't think that he did anything wrong!
He did explain what happened in an interview. After they weighed in, some folks went up to him to object and was asking him to check the fish because these guys had history of doing shady shit. So, to appease those raising questions and put it to bed, he had him bring the fish back and as he picked up the first fish, he squeezed along the belly and said he felt hard objects in there which led to him asking for a knife and cutting them open to see what the hard objects were.
But why did it have to come down to complaints from other fishermen? The officials should be monitoring this with anti-cheating protocols. Especially when the fish weighed more than they looked.
@@clarkkent1521 the tournament crew had suspicions also. That team had passed and failed lie detection in the past regarding their cheating when it came to winning. After big money wins, the tournament requires they do the lie detection tests apparently. So it wasn't just the other fisherman. Plus, the tournament directors could easily identify a round about weight of these fish. He said all the ones they had looked like 4 and 5 pounders but came in around 7 or 8 pounds each on the scale and it immediately raised doubt with the director. So it wasn't just the other fisherman. But you're right and I agree, there should be more checks and balances because these guys aren't the only ones that do this. There's all kinds of tournament cheats being caught and getting charged with felonies so I hope these guys do to.
He was on another podcast where he talks about how he knew, but basically he said that he knew by just looking at the fish and feeling them.
This guy rocks. Love to see such integrity and humble attitude for a tournament director!
People who put these events on never get enough credit, most are volunteers, not all, but most, they take a lot of crap. I for one want to thank everyone who gives their time for others, umpires, soccer coaches, basketball coaches, and in my case, people who run fishing tournaments, Thank You all.
That’s a man with Deep integrity in his soul…..you cannot buy it, sell it, or wish for it….you have to be it. Also, you’re video is well presented and you do a good job. Thank you sir and tight lines
Jason is a great guy!! Works hard and deserves to be rewarded with success in the future. For his community which he obviously loves. And, for his family.
I think this absolute Legend, needs to realize there is no such thing as bad publicity. I can tell you know that there is a group of 12-15 of us that are gonna make the trip to the USA to fish this tournament for fun (and our support) next year!
Thank You
Class act ! What a guy. Appreciate the apology but it was understandable. These guys were creeps. Id have been really mad as well. I think he handled it very professionally
This guy isn’t giving a statement just to hype up his tournaments so he doesn’t lose his anglers. You can tell, just by the look on his face, that he’s a genuine, humble guy and is truly upset, hurt, that these two clowns cheated. I have to respect him for coming out like this to address his anglers, the kids and the families of these guys. Sorry this happened to you, man. I’m sure that you’ll be fine in the long run. It’s so unfortunate for other anglers that could win big in the future, just for someone to doubt their win. It sucks, man. I’m sure everything will work out for everyone. I hope these two idiots are prosecuted for ALL of the money they’ve stolen in the past….yes, all of it. 🤬
Yeah agreed….this man is hurting in his soul. Trying to keep fishing alive and strong is hard enough with all the other things out their to do….he’s passionate and it shows.
jail time would be a waste of taxpayer money however making them pay every cent back plus a fine on top of that than being banned would be approprate.
@@supersaiyaman11589 the only two problems with them paying it back is one, they’ve more than likely blown it. People that need to steal money, don’t know how to save money, hence their reason to steal all the time. The second reason, is they’d be put on a payment plan, because we all know they don’t have all of the money up front or even most of it. I’m sure that they have new cars, prob a house and all kinds of toys and shit people like them feel they deserve. So in reality, they don’t deserve shit, let alone a payment plan. They would get off too damn easy that way. Fk it, we’re already paying with our tax dollars for pieces of shit in prison. What’s two more, ya know?!?
I'm a retired army officer, I'd follow this high character young man anywhere, this angling organization is fortunate to have him.
Normally I would question an officers sense of direction lol but I think your on point on this one
Nobody cares that you were in the army. That’s irrelevant asf in this convo. Smh.
@@martellparks1450 nobody cares that you don't care but you still felt the need to make the point 🤡
Thank You Sir for posting this video, he is very passionate about his platform! Fish On
Class act… We need more TD’s like this guy…
Any time money is involved in a contest, someone will be tempted to cheat. That being said, the tournament director caught those who allegedly cheated and, correctly, turned the matter over to law enforcement. He then issued a heartfelt response that showed his passion for the sport, his own shortcomings, albeit minor, as a human being and pledged to make things right in the future. What more can be asked of him?
You are a champion in your own right. I am inspired by your leadership style and this will only build your tournament and build your reputation as a leader and tournament director. What more can be said, you are inspirational👍
What's scary is how many times did these knuckleheads pull this stunt? They ruined so many lives in the past, taking away someone else's win story.
No need to apologize, you are doing a great job honoring the rest of the, "real winners" in the tournaments. The good memories and the sponsors and most of all, the love and dedication for families affected by health issues. God bless you all.
edit: spelling/ grammar
Nobody in there right mind is mad at the tournament runner for being animated initially.. he got his bearings almost immediately; calmed down and got help from a cop in the tournament to take control of the situation. Thats a good guy.
Raw emotion is what made it go viral and we all respect that. It showed just how wrong this was, not just 2 cheaters in a random tournament. And the fact that it went viral probably scared countless fishermen from trying the same thing.
He said in another video that he's been weighing wall eyes for a long time and he knew something wasn't right so he had to check. He Himself said that checking could also be a bad thing for him and make him look bad if he ended up wrong but it was too suspicious to not check when a certain size bag was weighing more than what it should've with the size of fish that were being weighed.
The director explains how he came to find the weights and his suspicion on bigwater fishing. He knew by size that the fish weight was not adding up and asked them to stay for pictures and so he could investigate things further. He explains everything on the interview.
I showed my kids the video....i want them to know that type of behavior is never tolerated in any setting...they love fishing and should know never ever do something like that ever....
We are human, we're all guilty of acting on emotions, thank you for the apology but it wasn't necessary my man, good on ya ole boy👏👏👏
He was cursing around little kids. And also little kids might see the video. I don't know if you think cursing around little kids is okay but it's not.
Classy Guy. I agree with you brother, this shows his character and I don't fault the guy at all.
He needs to copyright the phrase, “We got weights in fish!”
Hilarious 🤣🤣
I think that Jason Fisher is a stand up guy, and a class act. You can tell he isn't fooling around with the cheating in these tournaments. He is sincere when he talks about doing good things for the kids, and he's all right in my book!
I am a lifelong fisherman. I’ve never fished for Walleye. Never fished in any kind of competition. Don’t know anything about it. The impact that a couple of dirtbags can bring to an organization like this is tremendous. I could tell by watching this video that your Director was visibly upset. For him to come out and make a public statement like this is commendable. Like the video maker says, it shows what kind of character this guy has. He’s an honest standup type of guy. I believe you guys will move past this, recuperate and be better for it. Tight lines to all of you.
This is a guy who puts honor and integrity above all else, if everybody had half as much of both the world would be a muh better place.
The way you react shows a lot about your character, subscribed 🤘👌
Michaell!!! You busted your algorithm into pieces!!!
Well done buddy. Bet you're just as excited seeing these roll in as you are slamming a king out the yak!
Hats off to this directors sincere apology and heart felt promise to address cheating going forward. One comparison and a question, All major tournament trails especially those that pay out large sums of money require winners to take polygraph test immediately after the tournament and before any money is issued. Were these cheaters ever subjected to polygraphs in prior tournaments?
Very well said Sir!! Has I listened to you talking about this situation I couldn't help but feel like you were taking the blame. No matter how hard anyone try to prevent things like this from happening there will always be someone trying to cheat when big $ is on the line. I personally believe you did an outstanding job at handling this.
This is an honorable guy! You can hear the passion and disappointment in his man's voice, I want to fish in one of his tournaments now and I'm not even a fishermen.
Mad props to the director and I'm hoping this is a shout out to anybody who even thinks about cheating. Them to frauds are gonna regret this everyday for the rest of there lives and I'm pretty sure most kids have heard this language before but I bet those that have heard the video are thinking to themselves " I don't wanna be them guys that cheated" .
Exactly
Jason there is absolutely no need for an apology from you! You put on one of the best tournaments states wide.. You didn’t do anything wrong.. you just keep doing what you are doing and the tourney will do nothing but grow with your continued leadership! You caught a dishonest team that should never be allowed a license again.. YOU did nothing wrong.. YOU have passion for what you do and that is what it takes to be the leader you are.. DONT ever apologize for someone’s else’s lack of honesty in something as simple as catching a fish..I will gladly fish your tournament anytime and fishing Erie has always been on my bucket list.. if I never make it I apologize.. good luck to you and congratulations for stopping what could have stolen from many families for many years! Keep the kids involved sir.. they need it 👍
I am not a part of the fishing community but I am shocked that the fish are not cut open to check for weights or cheating during the weigh-in portion of the competition, especially the top 5-10 competitors.
The Texas Huntsman gentleman is ABSOLUTELY correct in his statement ! The tournament director is a Gold Star ⭐️ Class Act ! I see this angling organization actually Growing because of how Jason Fisher handled this scandal. Nobody was physically harmed and the cheaters were sent “packing”. Also, I’m VERY confident that the proper changes will be made & trust & integrity will be restored ! Well done 👍🏻 Jason !
I actually loved his initial reaction because it was raw emotion. It looked like a WWE scene and I was all about it. Mr. Fisher handled himself with lots of restraint and honorably.
I think his emotions went to higher level as these 2 guys are his friends fir a long time so he was very disappointed on top of everything
Deep respect to this guy! Sure, he was angry on the day but then everyone else looked pretty pissed! Doing so much for anglers, young and old, local familes and charities... Keep up the good work and don´t let these two cheats screw up the great job you are doing!
There’s an interview he did where he explains how he knew. He said all the anglers were bringing in 4lbers. So 20-22 lbs was good. These guys brought up 7lb and 4-5lbs. They had 33lbs !!! He knew from experience something was up. He asked for the fish and felt something hard in its stomach. Asked for a knife, and the rest is history…
My hats off to you sir! I'm sure the brotherhood of fisherman will continue to support you and the club and carry on the great citizenship that they have. Best to All
I agree dude didnt need to apologies for speaking the way you did in the initial video I saw, the fact that you did speaks volumes about your character. I assure you that you handled it far better than I would have because there would have been major drama up in that place had I been the director. Lee E. in Full Metal Jacket would have looked like a amature DI compared to me!!! The fact that you did makes me have mad respect for you! Hats off to you keeping things under control when the truth came out becuase I remember when getting stoned wasnt against the law...IT WAS THE LAW! Guys like these two is why I dont compete and just fish for personal enjoyment and take a kid with me every chance I get instead.
Class act Mr. Fisher you have nothing to apologize !!! Apology accepted !!
This guy is heartbroken because the people participating in his favorite sport can’t be trusted in an honor system
The big water podcast interview JASON and there’s a full detailed explanation on how that all went down. Thank you for your video
This gets better and better
crazy right!
@@ChiCityYaker its is ...lol
There is a great video on RUclips by Big Water Fishing where he does an interview and goes into great detail about all the events of that day. You’ll love it and Thank You for your great insight and honesty
Hey thanks! Yeah a few comments directed me to it and I'm just now seeing it.
I have a few best friends who fish. One of them does tournaments a lot. That guy was right to react the way he did.
his language was more than acceptable, thats a good dude right there... those two dudes were lucky nobody went bang bang on them
9:42 Here's the first hand account of how the tournament director knew to check the fish - it was pure experience, as he had done a lot of fish weigh-ins in previous tournaments. The size of the fish didn't match the weights expected, so then he ran his hand over the fish and felt objects. Interview here: ruclips.net/video/Jk4Q4TwKhLY/видео.html
super clutch, thanks for sharing!
Never mind the fact it was missed for the last two years. Doesnt take a genious to realize a 20" walleye cant weight almost 14pounds. They missed that most obvious of cheats.
@@reidsimonson...Exactly! 😉
@@ChiCityYaker it really is a fascinating sight into the world of fishing. I am not a fisher(wo)man, but this was just some kind of crazy that made it onto Reddit and took off like wildfire!
@@reidsimonson I get the feeling that this is such a small world, the competitive fishing world, that they want to believe that everyone who is there is trustworthy, that cheating only happens in the bigger sports. Maybe some tournament directors didn’t want to open up the can of worms because this is exactly what would happen. This poor guy looks like he wishes he hadn’t been there that day to catch the guys, but he saw the work that needed to be done and he stepped up to the plate. In his interviews, he looks absolutely sick that this has been going on. He did his job, but he really doesn’t like the position these jerks put the fishing competition trail in.
He is passionate about the sport. Those cheaters deserve to be prosecuted
This is why I quit fishing Redfish tournaments, people were pre fishing and putting the fish in traps located in the mangroves
What kinda of low life cheats at fishing
If the NFL, just one example, would acknowledge they are not kid friendly at all with their language. F-bomb is the second most used word in the NFL. Down, Set or Hut may be first. This guy a class act. Great video on this event. TY
Metal Detectors could be new sponsors. This director did a great job.
It was discovered when other angles were weighing the same amount of fish that weighed half as much as the cheaters and that the cheaters were also suspected of cheating in the past.
They got caught during during a Lake Erie Walleye Trail Tournament not the Fall Brawl. Two extremely different events. The LEWT is a professional event and the Fall brawl is open to the public with a $30 entry.
U are an awesome, humble man and honestly u had no reason to apologize especially over the BS that transpired!!!! But for u to own the language and your reaction said a lot about you as a person and a man. Thank u for your being the wonderful person that you are and mostly for looking out for these events and their future!!!!! Our youth can look forward to entering these competitions and that they will be run honestly and everyone else will have a fair shot at winning!!!! Please tell me these JOKERS also lost their sponsors as well as sued for the $ from other competitions that they competed in!!!
This young man's commitment is real. He's a winner!
That's nice that he apologized for the language but I like many don't think he needed to. In the end, he handled it professionally and I hope those guys are punished for all the stealing they did.
I have no real interest in angling but this guy seems like a top bloke! In reality he personally didn't even do anything wrong other than using some colourful language but it takes a true leader to accept responsibility in a situation like this and let a negative inspire you to do things better in the future! As for the swearing sure it's inappropriate but I can see this guy REALLY cares about the sport and is passionate about it so I can understand why he was so angry and disappointed when the cheaters were exposed. For people like me who don't follow the sport now the only thing that comes to mind when I hear somone fiscussing fishing is this scandal so I get why he wants to redirect the attention and highlight all the good in the community
From what I heard. One fisherman protested the fish which in turn had the director investigate it further. Then he proceeded to cut the fish open.
He needs to save his tournament now because of those weasel cheats.
Well done to him. I hope the honest competitors will continue to support him and help him grow his tournament bigger and better beyond this disgraceful cheating saga. All the best to him ahead.
He’s a natural leader and the kind that soldiers would run through a brick wall for . Honesty, integrity and compassion.
In my opinion Mr Fischer has nothing to apologize for in his apology you could clearly notice that he was almost taking the blame for others actions that he had no control over. Mr Fischer you are a humble man who puts his heart and soul into this tournament. I know that you feel bad for the language and actions that occurred but I'm sure that any red blooded honest American in the heat of the moment would have handled the situation exactly the same my hats off to you sir
He’s on other RUclips videos explaining how it all came down. Just an FYI.
my biggest admiration about this man is how he announced that he wanted the cheater to leave the tournament and wanted nobody to touch him on the way out. very big to do that.
Very nicely presented. They need to start running a large magnet over these fish at the weigh-ins.
For starters, all that stuff would have created lumps and hard spots on the fish, they wouldn’t feel balanced. Most fisherman get to be a very close judge of weight before they put the fish on a scale. When everything suddenly looks way off base with a basket of fish it would be easy to catch a cheat. Soon they will simply use a baggage X-ray machine to scan the fish before they go to the scales.
I was thinking the same. I dont walleye fish but have been bass fishing for 20 years. Big difference in a 3 pound bass to a 5 pound bass and so on. Im sure walleyes are the same.
Me and my dad was just talking about x-ray. But I don't see them putting x-ray at every weigh station. A tourney like the fall brawl is a lake wide tourney. The cost would be astounding. Something like the L.E.W.T that would work. One weigh station every fish get x-rayed. Either way I'm interested to see what they come up with to curb the cheating.
That's how he found it. He felt the lumps and cut it open
@@cliffcraig5043 they only need the small size like the one they use for carry on bags at the airport.
@@donaldmartin4980 still super expensive and would only pick up metal. What about the guys that stuff ice in their fish, or even other fish and filets. Using lead is old school and the cheaters have mostly moved on from such lazy tactics. These guys just got comfortable threw some giant ass lead eggs in their fish thinking they would never get caught. Jason the director knew something was wrong from the jump, decided to feel the fish and felt the eggs. Had they only used the filets chances are he would have never felt them and they would have won. His words.
Give this guy props for catching and revealing the Cheaters.
Love people with character. I understand why you were so upset. Thank you for having integrity.
You don't know anger until someone lifts 45k out of your pocket.
I'm more curious to know how the 2 guy that were caught are living now after 5 day of this
2nd place guy asked him to check the fish as they were smaller looking that his bag, you can actually hear 2nd place guy in the crowd just before the weights were discovered giving off about how his bags fish was bigger looking.
Supposedly the fish were dead, and they donate dead fish to a food bank or soup kitchen. The 2 guys were acting weird about sending the fish off, and apparently they got upset enough for the officials to figure something was going on.
Solid solid man. I'll be looking for more. I hope this is a Jumpstart for him
respect to the tournament director for sure , He just wants to stay professional and some people thought the reaction was unacceptable but we all know we don't hold anything against him. WE GET IT !
They have stole thousands if not millions over the years so id be yelling and screaming too . All those guys pour blood sweat tears and the money they didn't have in these tournaments to try to win and get recognition and a check but these cheaters were taking that from them ! The hard working true fisherman out there were getting screwed by these guys !
Agreed the apology for cussing was 110% unneeded
Why did I tear up listening to him speak … he can be my director any day!! … can we get a presidential candidate with his kind of class and who isn’t 65+ years old
Just call him Mr. "WE GOT WEIGHTS IN FISH"!! One of the greatest lines in history.