A SWIFT KICK IN THE BOX

By Sgt. Remy Broussard

The day before had been an uneventful if not monotonous day of patrol. Just not a lot going on but it was a good day to catch up on making contacts and surveying the area for later patrols. Lots of fish had been reported being caught, but the weather had just not been cooperating for the majority of the recreational fishermen to benefit.

On this particular morning myself, Sgt. Remy Broussard, Senior Agent Chris Harp, and Sgt. Bobby Buatt were taking an often traveled route through an area known as Kelso Bayou near Hackberry.

As a general rule commercial fishermen are a little different than the most of us. Their job, by nature, causes them to venture out in dangerous weather and conditions that most sportsmen would just as soon avoid. So, we usually are not alerted to any potential problems when we see a crab fisherman out on the water in inclement weather. Today would prove to be another story.

As we rounded a curve in the bayou we noticed something a little out of the ordinary. A crabber whom we were familiar with was tied up to a butterfly barge and was fishing with a rod and reel. In addition, he had a partner fishing from the barge. Anyone who works around commercial fishermen knows that their time on the water is usually not filled with the pleasures of sport fishing.

As we spotted the two of them they likewise spotted us coming. Quick as a cat out of a truck motor the fella on the barge turned away from us and made some unnatural movements before returning to his boat. As we drew near the barge we began to see what appeared to be a silvery slick of some kind originating from the area of the barge.

Chris bailed off onto the barge just in time to see the crab box begin to vanish beneath the surface. The key word is "begin". The box was quickly retrieved in addition to the 3 or 4 undersize Black Drum still remaining inside of the box.

Upon closer inspection we observed that the "slick" was comprised of some 20 or so undersize Black Drum and a few Red Drum.

In an effort Roland Martin would have been proud of, Bobby and myself began scooping small fish from the bayou as the current attempted to carry the evidence downstream. After a few gravity defying movements we eventually gathered up a total of 18 Black Drum and 2 more Red Drum.

In the meantime Chris had been dolling out a wealth of information to the two subjects….in the form of their Miranda Rights. This quickly led to the full cooperation of both individuals and their admission of guilt.

Seems these two fishermen decided that crab bait was getting too expensive and thought that they could save a little money by catching their own bait. Well, believe me when I say that they were definitely not saving any money on this particular day!

Not only were the fish seized, but the two drove away with a total of 7 citations. These citations were ranging from undersize and over the limit of Black Drum and Red Drum, to fishing without a non-resident fishing license. This along with losing a rod and reel until the fines are paid were probably not what these two had in mind for a "Valentine’s Day Surprise".