Ever been to the spillway at Pymatuning Reservoir on the PA/OH border?
Posted on 06/11/2010 5:38:27 AM PDT by Howard Morrison
SANDUSKY, Ohio -- Six fishermen from Tennessee and Georgia will have to pay a high price for violating Ohio fishing regulations.
The men were fined $16,000 and had to forfeit three bass boats, trailers and two freezers full of fish for overfishing in Lake Erie.
(Excerpt) Read more at wlwt.com ...
What were the limits?
Five!
Looks like three Game ‘n Fish bureaucrats needed new bass boats.
Maybe, or maybe they really were overfishing. From the article:
“Ohio law only allows fisherman to catch five bass fish per day. The men had caught 146”
Glad they were caught. 146 bass is a lot of poaching going on.
I assume they were not commercial fishermen? I am a sport fisher and believe there is a limit even if I am catching quite a bit... especially in fresh water. Not because the government says so, but as a courtesy to fellow anglers. Salt water is a different story...
I could see catching 146 perch. But bass?
Boys Walleyes are the fish to catch. Best tasting fresh water fish around! But nobody should have 146 in the freezer.
Ouch
Too bad they didn’t want some of the carp - the shores of Lake Erie are swarming with them. You can walk in and scoop ‘em up by hand.
I prefer bass that are just over the legal size for eating.
They just needed to paint “RESEARCH” on the side of the boats and everything would have been OK.
How do you say “you ain’t from around here, are you?” in yankee?
“One of the fined man, Charles Burkhart, told the Chattanooga Times Free Press he and his buddies thought the limit was only five fish per trip onto the water.”
Oh please. What planet do they usually fish on that has limit laws like that? Is there anyplace that makes their law “per trip onto the water?!”
Who the hell would eat fish from that lake anyway? Isn’t it pretty filthy?
Not really. Striped bass had been overfished. There's a lot of pressure on the stocks, even from rod & reel sportfishermen. That's why there is a daily limit of 2 per person and a minimum (typical) size of 2. Rules vary by state, though.
There is a penalty for the taking of the king’s deer...
Ever been to the spillway at Pymatuning Reservoir on the PA/OH border?
Yeah, I with you! I love that perch...in the fryin’ pan on to my plate!
All in all, the whole penalty is outrageous at about $500 per illegal fish.
Fish from Lake Erie is pretty doggone good. I love the perch!
Thirty years ago the lake was a mess.It’s pretty clean now.
Agreed. The punishment FAR exceeds the damages of the crime. It's not like they robbed a bank or hurt anybody. It's fish, for cryin out loud.
Oy. Minimum size of 28”, not 2. Duh.
“Isn’t it pretty filthy?”
Nope. In fact it’s pretty clean these days. Also, as the shallowest of the great lakes, it flushes the fastest.
Yup!
My parents used to take us there as kids. And I took my daughter when she was little!
Lake Erie had beautiful clear water when I first saw it in the 1980’s. I know it had the reputation of being dirty but that must have been a long time ago.
The seizure of the boats are what raises my eyebrows. This is war-on-drugs methodology. Fines, jail time, and public service. As a court, pick one. Seizure of personal property is a voluntary action (As in used to post bail, and then skipping bail). I didn’t think any court could do this.
I could be wrong.
Enormous amounts of money were spent cleaning it up. Sewers, paper mills, steel mills and refineries routinely dumped their wastes into this lake for decades. The water is clean now and supports a great walleye population, which you can see, is well guarded by the bordering states.
Exactly. Stealing the boat is ridiculous.
I could see catching 146 perch. But bass?
___________
We used to catch well over 100 peacock bass on a fairly regular basis out of Lake Gatun in Panama when we were catching for the Albrook Chapel fish fry. Seemed as though there were never any fewer bass in the lake.
Colonel, USAFR
What has happened to Sportsmanship?
Or, you could paint 'save the whales' on the side of your boat and terrorize them. Don't need no steenking badges...
I saw a deer hunter get his car confiscated because he shot a doe during buck season, admited his mistake at the management area check-in station, where he was handcuffed.
Even in Tennessee bureaucrats can be Nazis if we let them.
It's a racket generally known as assett forfeiture.
Some poaching laws are absolutely draconian in this regard.
Painting SEIU on the boat would have worked too.
"Welcome to Ohio. Now hand over the keys."
Is anyone trying to say that the boats are “weapons” ? Are they being seized as evidence ?
I suppose as long as they don’t take the guy’s plasma TV, it can be sorta justified. But that’s just kinda wrong. As evidence, right or wrong to me - it’s gonna happen. but as just a way of generating revenue I can definately protest.
They did a great job and it’s worth guarding. Five fish for a limit is OK by me. Many businesses up by the Lake depend on the summer tourists and fisherman for their livelihood. The more people who can enjoy the area the better.
146 bass is a heck of a lot of fish to catch in 1 day. If the reporting on this story is as accurate as typical newspaper reporting on gun rights issues then I’m very suspicious of the facts that have been presented.
Well, lets put it this way.... bluefish, weak fish, etc.
Nope...no need to seize them as evidence; the fish would serve handsomely in that capacity. They are being seized as the "instruments of the crime," in as much as they were used in the commission of the crime...kind of like a get away car at a bank robbery, or a cat burglar's lock pick set.
IMHO, it would be like seizing somebody's car for speeding.
Michigan has a 6 billion dollar per year sportfishing industry. You can bet we’re protective of the lakes.
According to a guy I know that does pond management, if a body of water has a healthy population of bass, one should take out 100 pounds per acre of 12”-14” fish per year.
Peacocks probably require more harvesting because they have more time in their prime metabolic temp per season.
“All your bass are belong to us!”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.