State, local and federal investigators said the trio kept hundreds more perch and panfish than the law allowed. The fish were allegedly caught from the Connecticut River between New Hampshire and Vermont, and the men were accused of selling them to a Whitehall bait shop.The bait shop in turn sold them to companies that buy such fish for human consumption, a practice that is legal.Investigators believe the group had been illegally taking fish from waters around the Northeast for years and selling them to Honey's Bait & Tackle in Whitehall. Neither Honey's nor its owner have been charged.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Until they publicize what was meant by "Illegally Taking Fish", there's no need to defend these guys ! They may have been netting, trapping, using explosives, snagging, shocking or using other illegal means to take the fish. We don't know what means they took the fish ! Besides that, if they repoeatedly took over their limits, whether they sold them or not, throw the book at them ! If guys can afford to go fishing every day and take as many fish as they want, they're most likely not hurting too much financially....or maybe they live in a cave We have some clowns like this right here in CNY ! Over the past couple days, I witnessed one of the groups wipe out a population of big pre spawn bluegills and sunfish and now they're back catching 6 inch fish and keeping every one they catch ! Between 3 and 6 guys lined up 25 feet apart and spreading their gear and 6 buckets in between them as to keep others from fishing the area. Leaving worm containers, garbage and beer cans around the area and using language that caused a few families with kids to leave the area The vehicles they were driving were fairly new and not Kia Rio's ! One was a brand new Chevy pick up, another was a late 2000's Lincoln Navigator ! (Esox V knows the Red Chevy truck and it's owner) These guys all work or are screwing the government with false disability claims, collecting welfare, food stamps and other funding and living better than a guy working 40 hours a week and they still act like scum bag vultures with no ethics, morals or concern for anything but putting more money in their pockets any way they can ! If you want to and can catch a "Legal Limit" of fish and sell them every day, have at it ! IT'S LEGAL and I have no problem with that ! I'd rather have our tax money going to imprison scum bags like these poachers who're infringing on the rest of use than some poor B@stard who got caught smoking a weed who's not hurting any of us, !
Sorry about the spelling guys forgot to hit spell check, just got off a 16hr shift and this topic got me wired, spelling not one of my stronger points. Oh and the statements i made r my opinions and i respect all of yours as thats why we live in this great country, if everyone had the same opinions it would b aboring life and world
My better half is from Vermont and the Connecticut River runs through town. There were signs saying do not eat the fish when I was there last year. Maybe the severity of the punishment has to do with selling over state lines and fish from a unhealthy water body. obviously most waters in NY come with some type of health advisory about eating fish, but I have never seen signs saying "eat no". The other thing I was thinking was maybe other states have stricter laws and they are using the stronger sentences in this case. At any rate, I think abuse to that extent makes you a scumbag! If you want to catch some extra fish or shoot an extra deer to feed your family is one kind of excuse. Shooting 10 deer or catching hundreds of fish over your limit every time makes that excuse lame. Obviously they know how to catch fish in some manner. With all that extra money they should have gotten commercial licenses and worked to feed their families like the rest of the honest fishermen. We have some very generous bag limits in this state considering the size of our population compared to most states. Heck you can get 5 deer and a chance at more if you are willing to hunt in some of the under subscribed deer units. You can catch all the perch you want in parts of Lake Ontario and the ST. Lawrence and probably other places I'm not aware of. There is no excuse for what they did.
We have some very generous bag limits in this state considering the size of our population compared to most states.
Great point considering they were driving all the way to whitehall to sell their catch. The shoulda just fished Lake Champlain/Southbay where there aren't limits on sunnies/perch.
well i say hit them with a gigantic fine and i mean huggge. then make them do community service with the dec to help maintain trails and road upkeep! make them work there butts off so they understand how much time,money and effort goes into upkeeping our land and waters! i dont think prison is the answer for this kind of illegal activity. they wont learn and we wont bennifit from it one bit as sportsman.
