Thread: Fsihing Scofflaw Busted in LA!

New Orleans man pleads guilty to selling redfish, speckled trout, other game fish | NOLA.com
By Todd Masson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
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on November 25, 2014 at 4:11 PM, updated November 25, 2014 at 4:14 PM

A New Orleans man pleaded guilty Tuesday to illegally selling a host of inshore fish to undercover agents with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Paul Haptonstall, 35, was fined $3,730 by Municipal Court judge Desiree Charbonnet, and received a 120 suspended prison sentence.
He was cited June 13 after agents received complaints about Haptonstall selling redfish in the New Orleans area. Redfish enjoy game-fish status in Louisiana, and fish caught here are not available for legal sale.


Agents set up a sting, and reported buying 138 redfish, 11 black drum, three sheepshead, two speckled trout and two catfish from Haptonstall. Some of the fish were undersized according to Louisiana's legal limits, agents said.

More than a few guys could go down for doing the same thing around here!
REPORT FISHING VIOLATIONS @ 251-476-1256, or
251-968-7576 (Gulf Shores/OBch)
251-861-2882 (Mobile/Dauphin Island)

giving fish away is OK, isn't it?? My family and a few friends reap some of my catches(groceries) when I return home through out the year till gone.
I would assume it is like giving fish away on the pier that someone catches and doesn't want to keep . except mine has been cleaned and shrink wrapped ....that they are given

Of course 'giving' fish away is fine so long as the angler is still under the limit (if applicable).

There are quite a few elderly widows in the small church my wife and I attend as well as our neighborhood. They all look forward to an occasional gift of a couple of boneless filets. One or two them prefer catfish over anything else and I do catch an occasional catfish on my crappie jigs and save it for them (of course I clean them first). I think all of you guys that are pretty good fishermen will benefit from a similar gift to elderly widows in your area.