| 21 September 2011
A summary of trout, redfish and snook citations for the first half of September.
Trout Citations
Bay County
Officer Joe Chambers checked a fisherman who advised they had only caught blue runners. A vessel inspection revealed an insufficient number of personal flotation devices onboard. Officer Chambers again asked if there were any fish on the vessel besides the blue runners and the subject replied that was all they had caught. When asked about a cooler in the vessel, the fisherman advised there was a Spanish mackerel inside that he forgot about. Officer Chambers asked to inspect the fish and the fisherman slightly cracked the cooler lid to retrieve the fish. Officer Chambers observed the tail of a speckled trout. The trout was found to be undersized and a citation was issued for the undersized violation. A written warning was issued for the insufficient number of personal flotation devices.
Okaloosa County
Officers Pete Rockwell, Ryan Nelson, and Alan Kirchinger were on vessel patrol conducting boating safety inspections in Destin Harbor when they observed a vessel operator in violation of the No Wake/Idle Speed Zone. When the operator saw the patrol boat, he increased his boat’s speed, traveling deeper into the harbor. The officers stopped the boat and conducted a boating equipment safety inspection. A subsequent fisheries inspection revealed six undersized spotted sea trout, with the largest one measuring 12 inches in length. The legal size for spotted sea trout is 15 to 20 inches and the daily bag limit is five per person per day. The operator was cited for possession of undersized and over the bag limit of spotted sea trout and for violating the restricted zone.
Officer Andy Maltais was on foot patrol near Destin Bridge conducting saltwater fishing license and fisheries inspections. Officer Maltais observed an adult female leaving quickly from the fishing area carrying a bucket filled with water. An inspection of the bucket revealed an undersized spotted seatrout, measuring 13 inches in total length. The legal slot limit is 15 to 20 inches. The female explained she was instructed by her boyfriend to head to their vehicle with the undersized spotted seatrout and store it there. Officer Maltais went to the shore and spoke with her boyfriend. In plain view, Officer Maltais observed a legally harvested spotted seatrout in a bucket. The man admitted to harvesting the undersized spotted seatrout and was cited for the violation.
Redfish
Volusia County
Officers Duane North, Chris Creese, James Yetter, and K-9 Officer Jeff Gier made numerous fish cases involving undersized and over the bag limit of redfish, and possession of egg-bearing blue crabs. A citation was also issued for reef fish that were filleted and placed in a plastic bag, then hidden in a bait bucket suspended from a pier.
Collier County
RPU Officer Barrett conducted a fisheries inspection on a charter vessel with two customers returning through One Thousand Islands, resulting in several misdemeanor citations issued for possession of undersized redfish and gray snapper.
Taylor County
Officer Clay Huff was on water patrol in the Gulf of Mexico conducting fisheries inspections when he observed a vessel with two occupants fishing. Upon inspection, they were found to be in possession of five redfish. One of the redfish was also over the legal slot limit. The redfish were seized as evidence and the operator was charged with exceeding the daily bag limit of redfish.
Bay County
Officer Joe Chambers was on water patrol when he checked a fisherman who advised he had caught one redfish. A check of his vessel revealed another redfish in the live well. When asked about the second redfish, the fisherman said he puts the extra redfish he catches in the live well to keep them alive to take home so his wife can pick out the fish she wants. He said he intended to release the other fish. A citation was issued for the bag limit violation.
Brevard County
An Oversized Redfish was found in a citation event. (See Snook - Brevard County Section for details)
Snook
Brevard County
Working as a team, undercover and uniformed Officers Jordan Fuscaldo, William Suggs and Philip Glover worked overnight at Sebastian Inlet, making the following cases. Citations were issued in all:
A subject was observed placing a red drum into a backpack, leaving the jetty and entering a van and then returned to fishing. Subsequently, a fisheries inspection was conducted on two subjects as they loaded their gear and a cooler into the van. The subjects advised that they had kept only one fish and showed the officers a ladyfish in their cooler. The officers were given consent to search their van. The search revealed three red drum and a snook in hidden locations. An oversized redfish case was made in the same location.
Pinellas County
RPU Officers Bill Holcomb and Josh Allison observed several individuals in the water fishing with cast nets near 4th Street in St. Petersburg. The officers walked through a clearing in the mangroves and located two coolers full of fish. The coolers contained several undersized snook and an undersized red drum. The subjects were charged with possession of undersized snook and red drum, possession of snook during the closed season and possession of snook taken by illegal method.
Hendry County
RPO Officer Mike Lilley observed an SUV parked along the Caloosahatchee River where it is common to catch large snook. A short distance away, Officer Lilley discovered a subject fishing and joined him. During a conversation with the subject, the officer learned that the subject was an avid snook fisherman and fished the area often. The subject bragged repeatedly about the large size and large quantities of snook he would catch and take home to fillet and eat. The subject advised Officer Lilley that the best time to fish the area was around 6 a.m. Officer Lilley returned to the area early the next morning, but was unable to make contact with the subject. He returned that afternoon and found the subject and his brother spot fishing. Officer Lilley fished with the subjects and learned that they had caught and filleted four snook that morning. During the next few hours the subjects attempted to snatch hook snook, mullet, and even a manatee that swam by. The subjects advised that they would return the next morning at 6 a.m. Early the next morning, Officer Lilley and Officer Andy Taylor arrived on scene and concealed themselves. The subjects did not appear, but arrived that afternoon and were unable to catching any fish. The next morning, Officer Lilley and Officer Taylor arrived back on the scene. The subjects arrived at 7:30 a.m. and soon caught two snook and hid them in the woods under the sand. The officers moved from their location and contacted Officer David Burnsed and Hendry County Sheriff’s Sergeant Mike Favara to assist with the stop. The officers stopped the subjects as they were leaving. A search of their vehicle found the subjects to be in possession of three undersized snook. Both subjects were booked into the Hendry County Jail for possession of snook during an executive closure, possession of undersized snook, and possession of over the daily bag limit of snook.
Lee County
Officer Justin Koble observed three subjects fishing with cast nets at Bunche Beach. He watched as two of the individuals returned to the nearby parking lot. The third subject entered some mangroves. The individuals in the parking lot loaded the fishing gear into a vehicle, left the area, drove a short distance and stopped. The subject, who had entered the mangroves earlier, emerged carrying a bucket that contained what appeared to be fish. RPU Lieutenant Grant Burton and RPU Officer Brian Cazalot conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle as it was leaving the area. The officers found an undersized snook and issued citations for the possession of snook out of season, possession of undersized snook, and taking snook by illegal method.
Collier County
Officers Douglas and Bibeau stopped a vehicle operating after dark within the Picayune Wildlife Management Area resulting in several misdemeanor citations issued to a subject for possession of undersized and out of season snook. During the stop, the officers saw fishing gear inside the vehicle and the occupants appeared nervous. Further investigation revealed the snook wrapped in towel and hidden inside the vehicle.
