Wardens Bust Men with 808 Crappie!
Will Banning Hog Hunting Stop Invasion?
June 10, 2019
Search For The Guadalupe Bass
June 11, 2019
On May 6, Jasper County game wardens received information alleging three local crappie fishing guides were permitting out-of-state fishermen to violate bag limits. The daily limit for crappie is 25 fish greater than 10 inches in length. An investigation found 808 crappie had been retained by a dozen anglers, resulting in 245 game law violations. Several cases are pending along with civil restitution.
Casting a Wide Illegal Net
A Matagorda County game warden received an anonymous tip on May 3 about a group fishing with a large cast net off the jetties. Once at the scene, the warden made contact with a vehicle and two occupants in possession of an ice chest full of undersized fish and an oversized cast net. During questioning of the subjects, the warden learned they had three accomplices aboard a canoe on the other side of the Colorado River. A second warden arrived and rounded up the other subjects. Once the dust settled on the investigation, game wardens had tallied 125 separate game law violations between the five individuals, including; no valid fishing license, possession of undersized sheepshead, possession of undersized speckled trout, possession of undersized black drum, over the daily bag limit of sheepshead, insufficient number of PFDs, improper lights on vessel, illegal means and methods, and illegal cast net. The appropriate citations were issued, and fish were donated. Cases and civil restitution are pending.
Improperly inDisposed
Back in mid-February, a Rockwall County game warden was notified of a vessel half sunk near a boat ramp. After being pulled from the water it was quickly determined it had been dumped intentionally. The last registered owner told wardens he didn’t want it, and had posted it to an online auction site where it was purchased. The new owner had not registered the boat, but a subpoena served to the online auction site led wardens to the user data of the purchaser. The suspect was discovered to be incarcerated in Dallas County Jail for other charges. The suspect was interviewed at Dallas County Jail and provided a written confession. An arrest warrant was secured for Illegal Dumping over 1,000 pounds, a state jail felony offense.
No Snapchatting Gator Selfies
A Louisiana game warden reached out to his counterparts in Sabine County about several individuals who had posted to Snapchat their alligator catching adventure on the Texas side of Toledo Bend Reservoir. A Texas game warden traveled to Sabine Parrish to assist with the investigation. The cooperation between the bordering states was essential and beneficial to the investigation. While being interviewed, the suspect stated he and the other men were fishing around the Indian Mounds area and caught the alligator on the bank, took pictures of the alligator, and then released it. The individuals each received one citation and couple of warnings.
Live Feed Leads to Poaching Arrests
A Liberty County landowner alerted game wardens of evidence someone had been poaching on his property near Dayton. The wardens set up a live feed, motion detection security camera at the location so they could receive real time cell phone notifications should the suspects return. Within a week, wardens got an alert and via the live video feed observed two individuals on the property carrying rifles. The wardens drove to the scene and arrested both subjects, who admitted to hunting hogs and rabbits on the property without landowner consent. Both were arrested and transported to the Liberty County Jail for booking.
And Space for 15
Webb County game wardens were on patrol when they spotted a late model Ford Expedition that failed to maintain a single lane of travel and appeared to be loaded down in the rear of the vehicle. The wardens followed the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop at which time approximately 15 people bailed out and started running. The wardens were able to apprehend the driver and six subjects. U.S. Border Patrol agents arrived on scene and were able to track down three more individuals who. The driver admitted to being paid $200 to drive the individuals to San Antonio. All subjects were turned over to Border Patrol and the driver was arrested on third degree felony human smuggling charges.
From Staff Reports
4 Comments
We read a lot about people violating game and fish laws but you never see their names or what they get for punishment . Why is that?
The judge let the guides that were poaching crappie on Rayburn with 208 over the limit and 40 undersized fish got off real light with $2700 fine each. They should have at least lost their guide license plus the monetary fine. The guide fees were probably $1500-$2500 or more for the two days.
Why would it take a judge to have their license revoked? Doesn’t the TPWD have rules allowing them to revoke or not issue a license? Guides should be held to a higher standard.
Reading about those guys catching all those Crappie is painful. I am 74 years old, retired from the U.S. Army. In my whole life, I have only caught 1 Crappie… and that was by accident while fishing for Bass with a spinnerbait. Think I need to stop working every day and need to spend some time fishing.