$100K in Stolen Fishing Equipment Recovered by Tx Game Wardens

We are in that time of year where folks in Dallas, San Antonio or Longview, Texas will pack up their fishing gear and head out to the many lakes across Texas to do some weekend fishing. Some will fish just to get out of the house and relax. Others will fish to fill their freezers for a few dinners. Others will fish because there will be some money on the line because of a big tournament. This can also make for a nice place to catch some thieves. That's what game wardens did during a recent tournament on Lake Sam Rayburn.

Sealy Big Bass Splash

The Sealy Big Bass Splash celebrated its 40th anniversary on Lake Sam Rayburn a couple of weeks ago. This tournament is the biggest amateur fishing tournament in Texas. It brings together fishermen and fisherwomen to the lake in the hopes of reeling in that winning bass. For this year's tournament, held April 19-21, an 11.30 pound bass was the winning fish.

unsplash.com

For Texas Game Wardens, they took the opportunity to reel in some catches of their own, stolen fishing equipment. Game wardens conducted numerous inspections during the tournament and were able to confiscate over $100,000 in stolen boats, motors, trailers and more. No word on how many arrests were made in connection with these thefts.

The Texas Game Warden Marine Theft Investigation Unit worked with San Augustine, Sabine, Angelina, Jasper, Tyler and Nacogdoches County Game Wardens for these inspections and equipment recoveries.