GREED

By Sr. Agent Jamie Hagan

On January 31, 2004, Sr. Agt Darren Bruce and Sr. Agt. Jamie Hagan were on patrol on Poverty Point Lake in Richland Parish. The word was out that over the limit of crappie were being taken. Sr. Agt. Bruce and Sr. Agt Hagan observed two men fishing in a small aluminum boat around a treetop in the lake. As they began to approach the boat the two individuals began to act a little strange.

The man in the front of the boat bent down and seemed to be focusing his attention on something in the bottom of the boat. The other subject never took his eyes off the agents As they approached the vessel the agents noticed a dip net in the front of the boat that had approximately 25 to 30 crappie in it. They also couldn’t help but notice that the floor of the boat was full of crappie. Then the million dollar question was asked. How many crappie do you have in the boat? The question was answered with a very unsure number or “guesstimation”.

The answer was around 90. Well the counting began. White perch were from one end of the boat to the other. The ice chest in the boat wouldn’t even hold a can of vienna sausage as it was stuffed with crappie. When the count was over the two subjects had 129 crappie. The limit being 50 per person, they were 29 over the limit.

The two men were issued citations and released. The crappie were donated and made their way to the dinner table of a needy family.