Six fishermen plead guilty for excessive fishing of smallmouth bass: Outdoors NotebookBy D'Arcy Egan, The Plain Dealer May 07, 2010, 7:30AMPORT CLINTON, Ohio -
- Six southern fishermen had a banner week of smallmouth bass fishing on Lake Erie last week, and it could cost them their boats, bass and plenty of cash after being cited for overbagging 141 smallmouth bass.
The men, from Tennessee and Georgia, were under surveillance for a few days before Ohio wildlife officers arrested them last Friday.
"It was the largest case of overbagging Lake Erie bass I'd ever seen," said Gino Barna, head of Lake Erie law enforcement. "Few Ohio fishermen, especially the hardcore bass anglers, keep Lake Erie smallmouth bass. We observed these six men making two or three fishing trips a day, bringing back a daily limit of bass each time."
The daily limit when they were fishing was five per day.
Cited were: Freeland Leffew, 66, of Soddy Daisy, Tenn., and his son, Michael Leffew, 38, of Hixson, Tenn.; Samual Stephens, 58, of Soddy Daisy, Tenn.; Freddie Warren, 63, of Wildwood, Ga.; and Charles Burkhart, 67, and Samuel Carroll, 65, both of Ringgold, Ga.
Ohio's closed bass season on Lake Erie began Saturday. Bass caught through June 25 must be released.
Port Clinton Municipal Court Magistrate Louis Wargo accepted guilty pleas on all 30 charges from the six men on Monday. Wildlife officials confiscated three bass boats, two chest freezers, 155 bags of frozen fish and 20 unfrozen fish. A pre-sentencing report is due Tuesday, with sentencing June 2.
In addition to court fines, the Division of Wildlife is seeking restitution of $50 per fish, or $7,050, forfeiture of boats and freezers and a three-year revocation of their fishing licenses. Ohio is one of 34 states belonging to the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact.
Oddly enough, the men said they had also caught a few walleye, which they released.
I didn't know there was a market for smallmouth bass meat?? I sure wouldn't choose them over walleye.
that s the strangest story I have heard ?? I mean - theyre killing them ? I woulda thought maybe they were taking live fish to stock their southern ponds but wtf ? Could they be selling them on the market for sea bass ??????
color me baffled,
Me too. But then again... they ain't from around here, are they...
Frank Scalish comments at Bassmaster...
See link
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/opens/news/story?page=b_blog_opens_Scalish (http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/opens/news/story?page=b_blog_opens_Scalish)
I couldnt have said it better.
Very nice job
They brought frickin' freezers with them!!! >:( >:( >:(
Have you ever been in a fish market in the south? I've seen some where "If you can catch it, they sell it."
I cannot believe these guys. I'm from TN and I fish Lake Erie and ALWAYS catch and release. I was on Erie a couple of weeks ago; caught allot of fish and their still swimming!!
I don't know how anyone could eat 5lb smallmouth when you have a lake full of perch.
I want to apologize for how "sorry" these unsportsmanlike people from Tennessee have acted and I want to assure all of those reading this post.... NOT all of us are like "these" particular guys from TN.
I fish Erie 3 times a year and have Never kept a smallmouth. I hope they ban these guys forever. Poachers like this ruin their own lakes; then they want to go and try and ruin somebody Else's water. The northern lakes are protected and that's what makes them such GREAT fisheries!
Just had to "sound off" about the disgrace these guys did to themselves and the south!
It is always a few bad ones who try to mess things up for the bulk of us who just want to enjoy our fishing. I can't imagine anyone eating that much bass. Yuck. Walleye and perch taste so much better.
Do you know how long it would take to fillet and eat over 150 bass? They must have been selling it to the markets or something. They must not have been that hard off to have to break the law just so they could feed their families either. You don't drive from Tennesee hauling bass boats without throwin out some change. Could you imagine seeing them do this? I bet the officers were just grinding at the bit to take these jerks down.
Quote from: tociar on May 12, 2010, 10:08:08 PM
I cannot believe these guys. I'm from TN and I fish Lake Erie and ALWAYS catch and release. I was on Erie a couple of weeks ago; caught allot of fish and their still swimming!!
I don't know how anyone could eat 5lb smallmouth when you have a lake full of perch.
I want to apologize for how "sorry" these unsportsmanlike people from Tennessee have acted and I want to assure all of those reading this post.... NOT all of us are like "these" particular guys from TN.
I fish Erie 3 times a year and have Never kept a smallmouth. I hope they ban these guys forever. Poachers like this ruin their own lakes; then they want to go and try and ruin somebody Else's water. The northern lakes are protected and that's what makes them such GREAT fisheries!
Just had to "sound off" about the disgrace these guys did to themselves and the south!
I learned a long time ago in my travels with the Military that you can't stereotype a group of people together by their home region...I have met some great people from the TN/Kentucky area....
If they got caught doing it on Erie imagine how many smallmouth they have yanked out of Dale Hollow which is much closer for them. I don't get it either why anyone would want to eat bass when they could catch walleye and perch.