FishRook
While thousands of amateur anglers competed in the Big Bass Splash on Sam Rayburn Lake over the weekend of April 20, a group of Texas game wardens conducted their own sort of fishing expedition as they checked those anglers for stolen equipment. Over the course of the tournament, wardens seized over $100,000 worth of stolen boats and motors.
Officials with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department called attention to the busts in a recent Facebook post, which refers to the “saturation patrol” that was conducted at Sam Rayburn over the weekend. Similar to a DUI checkpoint, the patrol subjected tournament participants to a mandatory boat inspection by wardens. It was led by TPWD’s Marine Theft Investigation Unit, which coordinated with game wardens from six different East Texas counties. Altogether, they inspected around 300 boats, 243 motors, and 100 trailers.
