A poacher in New Mexico has taken illegal harvest to staggering new depths. After getting an anonymous tip, Department of Game and Fish Conservation Officers found more than 1,600 rainbow trout in the home of Bounchanh Bounsombath of Clovis, New Mexico. That’s more than 160 times the legal possession limit.
Bounsombath, 62, was arrested Monday, May 12, and admitted to catching all the fish at Green Acres Lake and Denis Chaves Pond in northwest Clovis.
“Never in my whole career have I encountered this before,” Col. Robert Griego said. “The extreme excess of this case is aggravating. The department stocks these fish for all sportsmen and women, young and old, with the desire that everyone will have the opportunity to enjoy the fish.”