Poacher on Crowsnest River at Lundbreck Falls BUSTED

[bmbilon]

Yesterday, July 1, I was fishing right under the falls at Lundbreck when a bait rig got plunked in from the tourist viewing deck on the canyon rim above. I was obviously pissed that this idiot had the nerve to;

1. Cast his line directly into the water I was fishing

2. Did the above using bait in waters where bait is restricted, C&R only

3. Continue to do so after I gave the “are you ****ing kidding me” death stare with accompanying hand/arm gestures

My first thought was to go up there and snap his rod and maybe his neck etc. but being a law abiding citizen I decided calling RAP and reporting the unlawful use of bait was the appropriate remedy to the whole unfortunate scene. No cell service at water level so I’d have to go up to the rim either way. But before I could do that, the poacher hooked into a large (22-26”) bull trout and began attempting to haul it from the pool up to the canyon rim where he was positioned. This is probably 50 feet. I immediately started yelling at him to stop. Which he didn’t. I got my net out and yelled at him to steer his line towards the net (fish was already dangling in the air at this point) hoping that some reason might prevail and that it could be safely landed and released. He refused that too. After a minute or two of yelling with no response from the poacher I got the phone out and started recording video. Once his bobber was at the end of his rod he started trying to walk backwards to pull the fish up, no longer able to reel any further. It was obviously a struggle and in the video you can see the fish go higher into the air and then lowering back down several times. Another minute or two of his stupidity passed before his line finally snapped from the friction of dragging it over the guard rail and the fish fell 20-30+ feet, hitting rock at the edge of pool and splashing back into water, probably no longer alive or certainly dying shortly thereafter.

I ran up to the canyon rim, recording again, and confronted this ***hole who, incidentally, was now trying to rig up another bare/snell hook when I tore into him about what he’d just done. As I walked away dialing RAP I could hear him asking me if I got any pictures, he actually thought I was taking photos for him to keep as souvenirs. A CO was dispatched and I got in my vehicle and followed the poacher, who was on foot, and watched where he went. The CO found him, charged him to failure to release a fish in least harmful way, and is organizing evidence to hopefully lay an additional charge for the use of bait.

Keep an eye out for this guy and if you see him doing anything questionable call it in.

 

PW for videos is protect our waters (no spaces). If any issues with the video links let me know 

 

 

 

[Dangus]

Good job. Pretty frustrating...but youll feel a little better knowing he got caught and you can buy something purdy with the cash. 

[Dxh]

Wow. You held your composure there pretty well. Can't say I would have stayed so calm. Thanks for making sure this guy was fined. He should have his license suspended imo (If he he even had one)  

[TightLinesJ]

Says I need a password to watch the video, good job turning him in!

My bad......i got it now hahahaha

[fishpro]

Jeez some people are so clueless and ignorant, good job getting him busted for it.  Hopefully the fines end up being a sufficient deterrent in the future.

[bmbilon]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to read the post, if any of you are in the Lundbreck Falls stretch of the Crow watch out the for this individual and his bacon-slinging buddies- other anglers are reporting seeing this same group using bacon (or some other fatty meat) as bait the night before in the same area. 

Also, despite the ease of reporting and getting an officer dispatched it's often very difficult for F&W officers to get charges to stick. "beyond a reasonable doubt" is a high burden of proof) so record everything you can, reliable evidence (rather than fists lol) is the best weapon against these guys!!

[fishinglibin]

He is a fricken idiot goof. Hope it was a huge fine. That was a slab. Biggest brown I ever caught was there. People crapped when I put it back.

[ÜberFly]

Good job, be sure to get the "file number" to collect your reward.

How can they put the face to the video, so to speak, you don't actually see anyone reeling in the fish?

[bmbilon]

Thanks UberFly- The guy’s face is visible in the second video if you give that one a look (the one where I’m ‘talking’ with him. Incidentally, he was caught by the F&W officer just off the description of what he was wearing / looked like. The video wasn’t provided until after he’d already getting a statement / partial admission from the poacher.

55 minutes ago, ÜberFly said:

Good job, be sure to get the "file number" to collect your reward.

How can they put the face to the video, so to speak, you don't actually see anyone reeling in the fish?

 

[ÜberFly]

10 minutes ago, bmbilon said:

Thanks UberFly- The guy’s face is visible in the second video if you give that one a look (the one where I’m ‘talking’ with him. Incidentally, he was caught by the F&W officer just off the description of what he was wearing / looked like. The video wasn’t provided until after he’d already getting a statement / partial admission from the poacher.

 

Didn’t see a second vid...

I’ll take a look!

[ericlin0122]

omg... he is a retard.

[angelamc]

That was hard to watch.

[jtaylor]

NICE!!!!

[BigFoamy]

Oh man thats so messy. Then when you see the guy in the second video, its not a surprise...

[jgib01]

Sick feeling in my stomach watching that.  Good work on the call to RAP.

I was fishing downstream of there yesterday and saw several signs of possible bait fishing (broken bobbers, discarded containers).  I know the bobbers aren't automatically an indication of bait (could have been a spin caster using it with a subsurface fly, for example) but you have to wonder.  Incidentally, I have seen an incredible increase in enforcement in the South in the last couple of years.  Have had my license checked more in the past year than in the 4 previous put together.  Ran into a CO last weekend on an out of the way stretch of another river down here... I always express my appreciation to them for the work they are doing, and they clearly have lots more of it to do.

[DonAndersen]

You comment reflects what I found up this way. From 0 checks  for near 60 years of angling to 4 times in one summer. 

You might think someone finally gives a crap about our resources.

Don

[jgib01]

On 7/12/2018 at 7:32 AM, DonAndersen said:

You comment reflects what I found up this way. From 0 checks  for near 60 years of angling to 4 times in one summer. 

You might think someone finally gives a crap about our resources.

Don

Also wonder how this scenario would have played out in days of yore.  Perhaps could have gone like this... call to RAP... RAP dispatcher connects with officer in Pincher Creek... the one guy on shift is busy dealing with another matter on the South Castle... takes about an hour for an on-call CO to get there (not the CO's fault, just the way it is)... meanwhile buddy is long gone, but the caller meets with the CO and gives a statement anyway... CO says they will do what they can with the info and thanks the reporter... no resources to do any thorough follow-up investigation, so it gets closed as unresolved after a few months.  This is all speculative on my part of course.

[Dangus]

Last week, Saw some guys that looked like they bonked one at bankside. Called it in, get a call back from a guy in cochrane and that he can’t get a hold of the guy around fish creek.  So, the guys went home and a had a fish fry.

month or so back was below the dam on the elbow with the dog, saw some skids rigging bait (and pink Powerbait nuggs Floated by) called it in.  Officer didn’t even know the access to get down to the base of the dam.  Made me wonder how so few officers Don’t know about popular access points.  Especially since I’ve personally called in two poaching events at that spot this spring and summer.

not blaming them, but still frustrating.

[bcubed]

Must have been bad luck for the fish creek one. i've been checked thrice this year by them (was given *hit for not having a signed copy of my license [had the pdf on my phone], but just a warning). They're usually the easiest to get enforcement from

[Dangus]

6 minutes ago, bcubed said:

Must have been bad luck for the fish creek one. i've been checked thrice this year by them (was given *hit for not having a signed copy of my license [had the pdf on my phone], but just a warning). They're usually the easiest to get enforcement from

Ya I’ve been given *hit for that too.  They said it’s cause they can’t scan it. I made a PDF and signed it digitally, and they can scan it from their phone.  I tested it out with one of them. 

[bcubed]

I signed it and took a photo as thats what the CO told me to do... Funny as i was checked at Upper K this spring and the guy didnt bat an eye at the unsigned PDF

[Dangus]

18 minutes ago, bcubed said:

I signed it and took a photo as thats what the CO told me to do... Funny as i was checked at Upper K this spring and the guy didnt bat an eye at the unsigned PDF

If a guy is geared up with a couple thousand dollars of gear...pretty safe bet. 

Probably look a little closer if you haven’t taken the plastic off the foam handle of your Shakespeare extra heavy spinning rod.

[FinnDawg]

I got checked in the city, and had forgot my licence in my jacket coat that I didn't bring that day by accident. He was a pretty chill dude, he said it's no biggy in the city because they have cell service. Gave him my drivers and he checked it online asked me a few questions and went on his way.

[reset]

They dont even ask me anymore. Didnt think i looked that old sheesh!

[Vitalshok]

Called one in the other night a family bombing bait got a call back from a Cochrane guy he said I’m in Canmore on a cougar call I said they will be gone by the time you get here.Then I get a call from a high river guy about 20 mins later and he says I’m just west of Longview right now so I said I don’t think your going to make it either so basically wasted tons of fishing time on the phone.Where is the Calgary cops that’s the question there are tons of visitors in town for the stampede you would think someone would be on duty but that’s a big NO.How ever I sent the one fish cop pictures of the van the people and a pin drop for location and I’m sure they will be back there soon.