CLEVELAND — Local anglers are worried that allegations of cheating during a popular Lake Erie fishing tournament could overshadow the positive aspects of the sport.
Tuesday, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley said his team met with officers from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources after the heaviest catch during the Lake Erie Walleye Trail (LEWT) Championship was found to contain lead weights and walleye filets.
“I take all crime seriously including attempted felony theft at a fishing tournament. These individuals will be held accountable,” O’Malley said in a statement.
The scandal sparked immediate outrage from fellow competitors and the fishing world.
“That’s terrible because there’s people out here that really love fishing. It’s a real sport,” said fisherman Mike Murell.
In a live video posted Monday night on the Lake Erie Walleye Trail (LEWT) Facebook page, tournament director Justin Fischer pledged to crack down on cheating by implementing new rules at weigh-ins and boat checks. He also said he hoped to redirect the publicity the scandal generated to focus on the positivity he believes typifies the competitive fishing community.
“Tournament fishing represents so much more to me than what’s being highlighted right now on social media,” Fischer said in the video. “These things my anglers do to serve the community astound me.”
“I couldn’t believe it,” Competitor Josh Lewis said of the alleged cheating. “But at the end of the day, there’s 99 percent good out there that hopefully outweighs the bad.”
Lewis praised the generosity of his fellow anglers, pointing to his fundraising efforts for 6-year-old Levi, a Northeast Ohio boy diagnosed with cancer.
“He’s battling a rare form of leukemia,” Lewis explained. “The kid just loves to fish.”
Lewis approached LEWT about allowing fundraising for Levi and his family and said the tournament director was eager to help.
In a previous LEWT event, the boy was brought on stage during weigh-ins and given an honorary MVP award, along with fishing gear.
“The whole crowd went wild and they were all cheering for him. There wasn’t anybody in that place that didn’t have tears in their eyes,” Lewis said. “Immediately after that, my phone just started blowing up with people wanting to donate.”
During the LEWT Championship this weekend, Lewis sold “Levi Strong” hats, shirts and other merchandise for Levi and his family. He said another competitor’s 7-year-old daughter even made a basket filled with handmade candles for an upcoming raffle in Levi’s honor.
“This weekend at the Covered Bridge Festival, she’s going to have a booth set up there and all the money she makes she wants to give to Levi’s family,” he said.
Lewis said the giving he’s witnessed for Levi is typical of the competitive fishing world he knows.
“There’s a lot of good that comes from it,” he said of competitions. “They are very generous folks. A lot of them are always reaching out trying to do something for somebody good.”
If you’d like to help the efforts to support Levi’s family, you can donate by using this link to his mother’s Venmo account.
Watch our original report on the cheating allegations at the walleye fishing tournament below:
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