Lake Mead Anglers Keep an eye out for poachers!

[Eric Ocampo]

On sunday i was in the back of a fairly hidden cut to check on some deep trees i found earlier. While motoring back we noticed a boat anchored in the back next to the trees with three guys in wetsuits and snorkle gear. we proceeded to the spot with the trees and noticed one of the divers was diving in the trees( the trees sit in 23ft and are around 19ft tall) we watched him becuase i thought i saw a speargun. Sure enough we saw him surface with a huge female large mouth bass still full of eggs and impaled with a spear. The diver was definatly trying to hide it from us, showing that he knew it was against the law. We did not confront them as the fish was arleady dead, but i did take down the boat number and called the poaching hotline as soon as we got off the water.
the boat was a white Bayliner about 17-18ft, open bow with a blue bimini.
Boat # NV 7461 KX

We have been having amazing wieghts this spring and it is sad that 6lb female wont be able to spread her genes . Keep and eye out for this kind of activity, these guys definatly knew what they where doing and it is illeagal to spear any fish other than striper and carp.

the poaching hotline# 1800.992.3030 and can be found on the front of your fishing liscence.

Thanks for reading,

Eric

[fishinman]

happy to hear somebody has some guts!

[Andrew Jackson]

Good job Eric. Scum sucking pigs are every where. Hope they get F'd. On a positve side of the story, "trees under water on Mead". That's been a long while.

[DanWarme]

Good job and a smart move to not confront them.
At the very least they had a spear gun....


Hopefully the F&G dept can run them down and catch them red handed.
Boat w/scuba gear, a spear gun, and fish with holes in their sides is a pretty good case.

Least you can take comfort in knowing that a fish that size has spawned at least 4-6 times so she has already passed on genes several times. Pity it isn't more.

[thukidad]

that reminds me of an encounter the CA Delta 3 years back.. My buddy and I had 3 hours to fish so we decide to bank it.. as we got to our spot, i saw three guys, on the bank, in scuba gear, holding a spear.. thought it was kinda funny they had to wear scuba gear to spear crap?? an hour later we came back and found a DFG ranger talking with them, and three large females on the back of there trunk..

me and my buddy celebrated with a beer later.. the look on their faces was priceless

[Eric Ocampo]

I was pretty mad when i saw that. Especially on that spot in particular, i had been waiting for it to load up and was just checking on it. Then to watch a fish of that caliber get pulled off and killed right before my eyes.... its like watching some one kick my dog.

[aranzk]

that reminds me of an encounter the CA Delta 3 years back.. My buddy and I had 3 hours to fish so we decide to bank it.. as we got to our spot, i saw three guys, on the bank, in scuba gear, holding a spear.. thought it was kinda funny they had to wear scuba gear to spear crap?? an hour later we came back and found a DFG ranger talking with them, and three large females on the back of there trunk..

me and my buddy celebrated with a beer later.. the look on their faces was priceless

The look almost makes up for what happened! Hopefully the price they payed was enough so theyll never do it again.

[Deejay quick]

bump

[Chris N]

fuggin hate poachers- how far has Mead come up?

[B Becker]

we are up about 20 feet since November of 2010. Don't know what is going to happen with Powell and the run-off. They seem to be coming up again, and I don't know what we are going to get from them. I thought area 51 was top secret, but our water issues are just as secretive. All I know is Mead looks awesome right now, and the ramps are in great shape. They are dredging the old Las Vegas Marina, so that is supposed to be open by Memorial weekend. All in all, things are good on Mead. Should be a great Open again!!

[Eric Ocampo]

the projections from the water reclamation sight look very promising for fall as well
http://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4000/24m ... -Chart.pdf

[LV Ba$$]

1) I hope that poacher slips with his bow and feels a slight sting.
2) Figures Mead is fuller than where I left it.
3) I aint comin' back for little bit, too many toads to slay in No. Cal!
4) I fish more now than I ever did as a civilian, like 3-4 x's a week, 5 if I really wanted to (earn the time off for sure though).

I WILL be back.