there are 3 that patrol bell county. bernstien. 254-636-6741
wilson 254-239-4032 and valchar 254-534-4216 they are trying to get a 4th..

it is your duty as a sportsman to report poachers who are robbing our resources from our children.

Calling the game warden about undersized and over the limit fish being kept up at Texoma Dam many years ago helped the GW's monitor and gather enough info on the suspects to "sting" them for more than $60,000 and loss of fishing equipment and privileges. The culprits were also selling game fish to Asian restaurants in the DFW area causing them to be fined and their restaurant license taken away. See what one simple call to a GW did? It got the ball rolling up there.

That's it right there. We are not game wardens or traffic cops for that matter. ( I have an issue with DFW drivers ) It pisses me off too but getting personally involved puts you at more risk than you know. Call,video, license number, whatever you can do to support. The game wardens appreciate it more than you know too. They feel pretty personally involved with their job to protect Texas game.

Crapicat, this group on Belton is out there every night it's not raining or blowing too hard. And they're on the banks at Temple Lake Park early every morning once the white bass move in. What they are doing has absolutely nothing to do with their hunger and everything to do with dollars.

I remember when that happened, we called the warden and later a warden called us back and told us to play it cool because they wrre on location in plain clothes. They were stashing fish in the culverts and had vans moving the fish.

Then why haven't the game wardens been notified?

I watched them hit the barge at Joe Pool hard one year, going down several times a day. I also watched them park in the store parking lot and check everybody who came up from the slips and the barge.

So it seems as if they would be hitting these two spots if it is known this is going on.

Do you have a digital camera with a date/time stamp and a telephoto lens? It would be easy to gather evidence from a distance.

I did that on a drug dealer on the Mississippi Gulf Coast once who set up in a local fishing pier area. Had a nice set of pictures without anybody being aware I was taking them so there wasn't any danger to me. Resulted in several arrests and cleaned up that area so families could use it to fish and picnic again.

Ken, thanks for responding to my comment...I was trying to draw a distinction between violators that are hungry and those that profit from their illegal activities...I hear there are a couple of guys (a group actually) that fish over by the FTW Nature Center (regularly) and have the same agenda (i.e.., selling their catch to the Asian restaurants and to individuals in the Asian community...word has it that a white man (I know who he is) started the process and watches for the wardens to protect their activities. He even boasted that fishing is much more profitable than working. FYI, I really hate to see this activity as much as others do. They need to have the law book thrown at them.

That said, if a man/woman (family) is hungry and keeps a couple shorts to make a meal, then a simple fine should be sufficient to REMIND him/her that there are laws in place to ensure plenty of fish in the future. Further, if a person has a short due to incorrect measuring and the fish can swim away, then no harm no fowl...In each of these aforementioned instances, different circumstances should dictate different levels of corrective action.

Hope this information clarifies my position.

I have watched the game wardens at Joe Pool do the swim test on undersized fish. They did not count those that swim away in the ticket.

I have mixed emotions about this practice. If somebody has one or two fish that are a 1/4-1/2 inch undersized and all the other fish in the basket are legal, then I would say not give a ticket for those that swim away but give a verbal warning.

If somebody has 6"-8" crappie in their basket then it was not a mistake and they should be ticketed.

If somebody has twenty or thirty undersized fish in a basket they should be given a ticket for each of those fish, regardless of how many of them can swim away.

You might make a measuring mistake when you have fish that are almost legal in a basket full of legal fish. You might make a measuring mistake on all fish that are within a 1/2 inch of being legal. But you don't make a measuring mistake with 6" or 8" crappie in your basket.

I also believe that just issuing fines and taking fishing equipment is not enough to provide a message for most of these guys. They need to lose the vehicles they used to get to the fishing area and if they are using a boat, they need to lose the boat.

I'm sorry but in my opinion and experience, only harsh measures work on most that have this mind set. So I am not easygoing when it comes to law breaking, especially when it is obvious the law breaking is willful, with full knowledge of the law.

I try to not put any crappie in a fish basket that is under 11", they will lose some length if they stay in the basket too long cause there tails will get worn.

Don

Had this in Lewisville one time while fishing for sandies. I was catching a lot of dink and this boat moved within five feet of me and the six 'gentlemen and a woman' started catching the dinks as well and throwing them in the cooler. I told them the legal size limit was 10" but they acted like they didn't understand. I took out my phone and started to take video making sure that I got their boat numbers and some of the smaller fish that were going in the box. One of them noticed me taking video and asked in better engrish what I was doing so I told them the video was for the GW and my protection. They looked at each other and then jumped in the box and started putting all the fish back in the lake and headed for the ramp.

Called Operation Game Thief and sent the video to them.

I don't have that problem because I don't hardly ever keep any. I don't like cleaning them.
But I agree with everyone that stated "just call the game warden" they are like gods-you don't mess with them.
I would hate to have an outstanding warrant as stupid as that. Some just don't want to play by the rules

Come on no one speaks more broken english then ketchen ! Sorry couldn't help it!

LOL, well I have to say he speaks FLUENT broken english! Enuff said...

Might not slow'em down, but it is the right thing to do! Call the GW!

Report it always..... The Runaway Bay Marina was a hotspot for guys keeping small fish. Our Wardens shut that down good. Also, people setting up under the 380 bridge in the middle of the night. Our wardens could be seen going in at dusk, the poachers would set up after 10 or so and have a heyday. Warden Nixon would double back and show up under that bridge at 2AM, Idiots never saw it coming.

All because one morning (4am) I was going on a bait run and one of the "fisherman" had to show off his box full of small Hybrids, under Crappie and Sand Bass. "We killed them under the bridge" He bragged......