[Capt. Debbie]

I love hearing theses stories of scumbags being caught

Originally Posted by AndyS

Marine Region Highlights
On May 4, 2025, CPO Raguz received
an Operation Game Thief complaint regarding two fisherman keeping undersized tautog during the closed season at the Manasquan Inlet. CPO Raguz responded to the area and was able to locate the fishermen. CPOs Woerner and Bahrle arrived on scene to assist and were able to make observations of the fishermen. The officers were able to locate the fishermen's vehicle and apprehended the two men as they made their way off the jetty. Upon inspection, 29 tautog were located throughout the vehicle, of which 23 were undersized. It was also determined that the fishermen failed to register with the Saltwater Registry Program. Court mandatory summonses were issued to the fishermen, and court is scheduled for late June.
On May 18, 2025, CPO Bahrle received a complaint that a group of seven
fishermen were keeping undersized and over limit black sea bass in a large
cooler on a local party boat. CPO Woerner arrived to assist CPO Bahrle, and
the two officers were able to apprehend the fishermen as they exited the vessel with a very large cooler. The inspection revealed that the fishermen kept a total of 110 black sea bass, of which 79 were undersized. Current New Jersey regulations allow fishermen to keep up to 10
black sea bass with a minimum length of 12.5 inches. Summonses were issued to the fishermen for the violations.
In mid-May, Lt. Harp was conducting surveillance of a large group of anglers targeting bluefish on the "T-jetty" in
Atlantic City when he observed two anglers that appeared to be targeting tautog. The anglers had a cooler hidden in
the rocks, which they were cautiously sliding tautog into when other fishermen were not watching. Upon inspection, Lt.
Harp apprehended the men with a total of 38 undersized tautog during the closed season. Multiple summonses were issued, and the angler's fishing
equipment was seized.