KIAMICHI KATFISH KAPER
By Jay Harvey, Choctaw County

On May 5th 2001, Game Warden Wendell Smalling and I, Game Warden Jay Harvey were on routine patrol in southeastern Choctaw County. (Note: is there ever such a thing as "routine patrol"?) We decided to drive down to a spot on the Kiamichi River where people sometimes launch boats at a large rock shoal. At the launch site we found a jeep pickup with an empty boat trailer. Wendell recognized the truck as belonging to a violator we'd arrested in the past. We ran the tag through the Sheriff's Office and confirmed our identification. It was about 4:30 p.m. so we decided to wait until the boat arrived.

Approximately two hours later we heard a boat approaching from upstream. We both hid in some trees about 50 yards from the water. A john boat drove up with three men aboard. The boat reached the shore and one man got out and began walking up the bank towards the jeep
and Wendell's hiding spot. When the subject saw Wendell,he headed back down the bank and began motioning the other two men to leave. At this point Wendell and I ran down the bank to the boat.

Upon reaching the boat we both saw a bright orange extension cord rigged as a shocking lead laying on the front seat of the boat. Also immediately noticeable was the whole bottom of the boat covered in fish two and three deep in places. Two large dip nets, an extra battery and a large plastic tool box all were also in view. All these items let us know these guys had been shocking fish.

After we got all three men secured and searched, I got in the boat and opened the tool box. In the box was a five-bar telephone rigged to an electric motor. Surprise! Surprise! We took down the three men's personal information and began writing citations. Each man received three citations, one each for possession of a shocking device, illegally taking game fish and over limit on blue catfish. Oh did I forget to mention there were 95 Blue catfish and 7 Flatheads in the boat?

After receiving their tickets the men were allowed to leave and we inventoried the contents of the boat, loaded it and drove it to Hugo to be placed in storage.

Of the three men, the 35 year old owner of the boat was a two-time convicted game violator, the 49 year old had Notice the shocking; been arrested numerous times in the past including spot lighting violations, taking illegal deer, and shocking fish (twice). The third man, a 37 year old claimed this was the first time he had ever been caught doing anything wrong. (Heard that before?)

The following Monday I processed the evidence photos, filed the tickets and met with our Assistant District Attorney, Joe Watkins, about the case. He was appalled at the amount offish that had been taken and assured me we would forfeit the equipment.

This case just goes to show that being "out there" and "in the place at the right time" is what leads to catching these violators when no tip-offs or information has been received. I hope the next time I can't decide what to do or where to patrol I (or whoever I'm working with) picks a spot like the one Wendell and I found that lazy Saturday afternoon in May.