Thats a shame, should have got alot more of a fine and jail time.

 

Our judical system is a joke!!! You didn't really expect them to get in any trouble did you? You have to remember, Coloumbus is the same place that had a cop on the force with 5 DUI arrests, one of which he got while on duty. No wonder our jails are so over populated. THERE IS NO PUNISHMENT FOR ANY CRIME!!!!!

 

where did you hear that news?last i heard was they never even showed for their hearing a few weeks ago.

 

I was disappointed too. Who knows how many fish they took out before they were caught. Maybe (hopefully) they will hit the restaurant harder.

Joel

 

Its in the metro section of todays dispatch.

 

odnr should of shot them when they had the chance. COuld of said they were running or somthin

 

thanks boss.
they didn't hit them hard eneough
the restaurant should be shut down,along with a hefty fine.
since they are not citizens,they should be deported after they pay their fines.
i think that should be the case for anyone who comes to this country and breaks the law.if these morons want so much to become citizens,they first need to know they can't break the law.and if they do break any laws before they ghain citizenship...............adios amigos.
ship them back to where they come from.
this is a prime example of why some people love to come to this countrty.in their own countries,the law deals much more harshly with them,so they come here knowing they can get off easy,and continue to do so.
i have an ex brother-in-law who came from germany,and was deported after umpteen arrests and several jail/prison sentences.it was no time till they caught him coming back into the country,because he knew he'd never last as a criminal in germany
sorry about the rant,but this kind of thing lights my freaking fire fast.
i don't care where you come from.if you want to be an american,act like one or stay the hell out

 

Ditto Misfit

 

I agree completely!!!

 

how many fish do u suppose they got before they were caught?

 

Can any of you get an E-Mail address for the judge and/or the local DNR district office E-Mail? We could send a number of well thought out comments and even ask the question if deportation was or will be considered. Copies of our E-Mails could also be sent to the local newspaper. Can anyone help?

 

The bad thing is had that been a local or a citizen of the usa we probably would have been in jail. And do you really think these guys will pay that $800 how much you want to bet they skip town or lay low and do it agian somewere else.

 

http://www.fcmcclerk.com/Overview/clerk/env/env.htm

Franklin County Environmental Court Judge Harland Hale. Phone for his office is (614) 645-8740.

with the number of voters we potentially represent, maybe we can make a difference

 

Nice job on the info Fins. I did a little research myself. Mr. Jiahe Weng (39) is listed at 1446 Bethel Rd and has a fairly clean record (in Franklin County). Mr. Hua-Xin Ye (28) has pending actions against him from the city of Columbus and Nationwide Insurance. Seems in addition to being a bad little boy for poaching our beloved saugeye, he's a bad driver. Plate # YSHR126. He is also listed at the same address as Mr. Weng. Don't have a phone number for the fellers, but I thought I would providethe address if anyone had room on their boat for the next Hoover fishing trip.

 

if they were fishing with dynamite they would both be locked up!gill nets are not much different in my eyes as everything that enters the net is killed

Gill nets are permitted in the Ohio River under KY commercial regulations.
Make a stink about that guys !!

 

(2) Gill net or trammel net.

(a) May be used only in Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and overflow lakes directly connected with each river or as specified in 301 KAR 1:140. Minimum mesh size is three (3) inches in the Mississippi and its overflow lakes and four (4) inches in the Ohio River and its overflow lakes.

(b) May be fished weighted or as a flag net.

(c) Shall have one (1) commercial gear tag attached to each 100 feet or part thereof.

(3) Commercial trotline.

(a) Shall have more than fifty (50) hooks placed no closer than eighteen (18) inches apart.

(b) Shall have one (1) commercial gear tag attached.

(c) Shall be no longer than 3,000 feet, including staging, and shall be fished separately, not tied together in a continuous line

 

Remind me not to cause any problems for Sheephead Master

 

In addition to the earlier information, based on the intelligence I have gathered, the saugeye poachers and restaurant they work at and stock (or did stock) with Hoover Reservoir saugeye, is the Panda Inn Chinese Restaurant on Bethel Rd. (614) 459-2229. Not that I would go to a place called the Panda Inn, but I just wanted to provide the information to other members who may want to boycott this particular establishment over suspicion of poaching saugeye and selling them to unknowing customers. If you do go, be sure not to divulge any of Misfit's secret spots to Weng and Ye.

 

This is what was in the paper.



2 fishermen fined for netting saugeye
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Bruce Cadwallader
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Two Columbus fishermen were placed on probation yesterday and ordered to pay restitution to the state for illegally netting more than 100 saugeye in March from Hoover Reservoir.
Environmental Judge Harlan D. Hale ordered Jiahe Weng, 39, and Hua-Xin Ye, 28, to each pay $800 in fines after the men entered guilty pleas to catching more than the legal limit, using an illegal net and fishing by unlawful means, all fourth-degree misdemeanors punishable by 30 days in jail.
Hale said he suspended jail time in lieu of five years of probation. He fined each man $300 and ordered each to pay an additional $500 to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which stocks Ohio lakes and rivers with game fish, including saugeye.
A state wildlife officer saw the men using the net before dawn on March 30 near the east side of the dam.
Officer Brad Kiger, who issued the citations, found 108 saugeye, two white bass and a shad in the net.
He said yesterday there is a limit of six saugeye per day per pole in Ohio.
Nets were banned years ago.
The two men used a net with diamond-shape webbing that often catches fish by the gills and won't let them move. The net is usually kept in place with floats.
"It's illegal to even possess one of these nets. Everything that goes into it will die," Kiger said. "It was a really good case because we actually found them tending the net."
The men's attorney Sam Law, who speaks Chinese, also served as their interpreter yesterday in court. He said they have been seeking U.S. citizenship.
The men said they worked for a North Side restaurant that sells saugeye. That business is under investigation by the Department of Natural Resources, Kiger said. bcadwallader@dispatch.com

 

thanks for the link fins. I just sent my e-mail and I would suggest that everyone else do the same. Perhaps some sort of petition and letter from OGF is in order here? We could send it to the judge, members of our state legislature and the INS. Maybe some coverage from Buckeye Sportsman?

 

It seems like everyone is attacking the judge in this case and perhaps we're missing the real underlining problem, we need better laws and penalties in place. Granted the judge could have given the maximum penalty in this case but he had other things to consider. For starters it was a first offense. A heafty first offense granted, but first offense regaurdless. Also, the offenders are a couple of guys just trying to make a living. I'm assuming they haven't been living here long and were just doing what they were told. They may have known their activities were illegal but still followed orders for fear of losing a job. Perhaps a fine and probation was enough to put the fear of God into these guys.

In my opinion we should be petitioning the state legislature for either harsher or more appropriate penalties. Perhaps offenders like these guys should be sentence to community service working with the DNR. Let them see firsthand the consequences of their actions. But, right or wrong, all of this is just my opinion. What does everyone else think?

Jef

 

we need better laws and penalties in place.

NO!!! We do not need another law on the books becasue of this case. I predicted this would have been the outcome when this all went down. I never imagined they wouldn't recieve any jail time, but I knew they wouldn't be felons, which is to harsh of a punishment. 5 years probation may seem like a slap on the wrist, but it's far from it. Probation is a big pain in the arse, + if you violate any law (speeding even) while on your probation, you then are in violation of your probation.

I think these guys were 100% wrong, but I think the punishment they recieved could have been tougher (30 days in jail or something?) but I don't see this as them "getting off" either. The last thing we need to come out of this is to add another law to the fishing regs.

 

Before passing judgment on the harshness (or lack thereof) of the penalties imposed on these guys, wait to see what happens with the restaurant. If, as Jeff suggests, the judge thought they were coerced by the restaurant to commit the crime, then I would expect the restaurant to get hit hard. I think we have only seen half of the picture so far.

Joel

 

I was below Griggs one evening about a week ago and ran into a fishing buddy of mine and his father who fish below Griggs alot more than I do...my buddys father said that there was a couple guys below there with a gill net....walking that little pool below the rapids...said they had a couple nice smallmouth in there as well as many small saugeye...I seen 3 or 4 groups of guys walking out with stringers full of dink saugeye 8-10"...I caught a couple in that range but didnt have a second thought about throwing them back...was below Deer Creek on the 3rd and it was the same story only there was also these guys keeping borderline channel cats as well...and believe me Im being generous saying they were borderline...it wouldnt bother me if they put a size and bag limit on everything...even Carp.

 

probably has to do with the trade agreement with china?? yu know take care of everybody but Americans! !!!! politically correct crowd??? round em' up---run em' out!!!