MACHIAS, Maine — Posting a photo on Facebook of the big one that didn’t get away is apparently not always a good idea.
Jordan Wright, 26, of Lubec has a date in Machias District Court in May to explain how he came into possession of a 29-inch, 8-pound North Atlantic salmon while ice fishing last month in restricted waters of rural Washington County, a violation of both state and federal law.
Wright was charged March 3 with unlawfully possessing Atlantic salmon, a Class E state violation. That summons was issued after an investigation by both the Maine Warden Service and special agents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that determined that Wright took the fish in early February from Second Hadley Lake in Township 18-ED.
The fish was seized during the investigation.
Under state and federal restrictions, North Atlantic salmon that measure more than 25 inches in length cannot be taken from the chain of lakes and streams that empty into the East Machias River watershed, said Maine Warden Service Lt. Dan Scott.
Scott said Wright was identified through a tip from what Scott termed “a concerned sportsman.” Scott wouldn’t confirm that a Facebook post helped incriminate the suspect, which is what an independent source told the Bangor Daily News. Another source said Wright did not post the Facebook photo to boast of his catch but because he wasn’t sure what species of fish he had landed.
The specifics of what Scott termed on Monday an “open and pending case” investigation will be laid out at Wright’s scheduled May 2 arraignment.
“It’s not uncommon for law enforcement to use cellphone records, Facebook posts and Twitter postings in conducting investigations, as that’s how people communicate now,” Scott said.
A Class E violation, Scott said, is punishable by a fine as high as $1,000 and as many as six months in jail. The minimum penalty, he said is $500.
The article fails to mention the reward that may be collected through ” operarion game thief” ! A sharp person could make a living turning in his poacher friends !
Don’t bet on it…I ratted out a whole family poaching deer, moose, Canadian Geese. Never saw a penny.
Though that is a program I’ve been told that many people still call in anonymously, or decline the reward. Not sure how much truth there is to that but it is what I heard.
I declined, Told em to give it to the kids programs
A true sportsman would expect no reward, but would just be happy the violator gets caught.
Could make a good living in Washington county
big bust here
It’s a summons……he didn’t get arrested. I think Mr. Walsh needs to get his facts straight first before reporting. Mr. Wright was not fishing in restricted waters…….if he was, there were no notices/signs stating this! Mr. Wright also didn’t “post a photo of the big one that didn’t get away.” It was posted to see IF ANYONE KNEW WHAT KIND OF FISH IT WAS!
Mr. Walsh, you really should report an unbiased article of the news……..and since you haven’t talked to Mr. Wright, this IS a biased report!
i don’t see the sense in the man power to make this happen its just a fish… who cares. ..not me especially if he did not know what he had
In a message dated 3/5/2012 10:14:15 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, writes:
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middlemarch wrote, in response to bdymaniam:
It’s a summons……he didn’t get arrested. I think Mr. Walsh needs to get his facts straight first before reporting. Mr. Wright was not fishing in restricted waters…….if he was, there were no notices/signs stating this! Mr. Wright also didn’t “post of photo of the big one that didn’t get away.” It was posted to see IF ANYONE KNEW WHAT KIND OF FISH IT WAS!
Mr. Walsh, you really should report an unbiased article of the news……..and since you haven’t talked to Mr. Wright, this IS a biased report!
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Exactly! Thank you. There are far worse crimes in Washington County than this!
Yeah but it is the law if you dont know what you are catching you should throw it back, or stop fishing. They usally dont have sign saying dont fish here lol thats up to the fisherman to know, read the law book if your not sure where your fishing. Im sure they are worst crimes in washington county but they still give out speeding tickets so whats your point. I would facebook it,
Everyone makes mistakes……some worse than others. Most learn from them….some don’t.
Yeah thats true he will get a fine and move on not a big deal. But you cant just let him go because is not the worst crime in the world but maybe one of the dumbest to post it in facebook
True, I will agree with you there!
I think almost every lake I’ve been to, at the boat landing there is a sign of what you can and cannot fish. And it was not restricted waters. This reporter needs to get his facts before publishing.
alot of Maine’s waters are restricted and not posted, thats why they hand out books listing restrictions and regulations every year. its a licensed fisherman’s responsibility to know what the restrictions are on the waters he fishes and the fish he catches.
Exactly just like anything else there are rules and laws that go with any thing you do, the participant takes on all responsibility of knowing the laws of their activity and all repercussions for breaking the laws.
it jest another way for the govermint to get payd and if that wasent the case than thay would post the lake with signs
“Wright was charged March 3 with unlawfully possessing Atlantic salmon, a Class E state violation. That summons was issued ”
it doesn’t say he was arrested , just a summons. what’s the fuss about….
bdymaniam posted “big bust here.” All I did was post that Mr. Wright was issued a summons. I thought maybe bdymaniam misunderstood, that’s all. I wasn’t being critical of the post. Why are YOU making “a fuss” over something that was posted TWO days ago? It’s really uneccessary at this point.
I’m not. LOL just stating that Walsh didn’t write he was arrested.
My thought was that bdymaniam was making a smart remark on that post.
The fella probably works for a salmon farm and was just messing around with peoples heads saying he caught the fish there when it probably came from a pen hahahahaha
No he doesn’t work for a salmon farm. And he didn’t take it from one, either! If someone were going to take one, they would have taken more……..and NOT posted it on FB, cuz he would have known what it was. hahahaha NOT!
What did he think it was a white perch maybe a bass if you dont know what your catching you should not be fishing.
Maybe if you don’t know the whole story……BOTH sides, you can’t form an opinion of what took place. And since Mr. Walsh didn’t take the time to get both sides, no one else should either.
Its pretty clear he took a oversize fish and put it on facebook who cares if he didnt know its still the law thats all i need to know.
your right a law is a law and if you tell me you have never brock it than you r a lier we have all brock the law but its a fish i can think of a hand full of drug dealers in the area and the law also knos but y stop the dealers when thay can stop the fisher men besids the drug dealers r like job security for the sharifs dip
Yeah, cuz people want to steal ONE fish from a salmon pen, just to mess with peoples heads!
Someone took a whale skull up to Moosehead and left it there…
Geez, he thought it came from a “Chicken of the Sea” can!
People make mistakes all the time. Some get caught, some don’t. People in glass houses shouldn’t…….
‘ throw stones…..”
The regulations from lake to lake around here are a little outrageous. The allowable “take” changes from place to place. Anyone would really have to read the law book in regards to each lake they fish, every time they go. Those are the breaks. Yes, there are far worse criminals out there to “stick it to,” but unfortunately, this guy is probably just going to have to bend over and take the fine.
You should take a look at some of the old law books from 30 years ago or so, when you could only fish on a certain day of a certain week in a given month. That is outrageous, talk to some older guys and see if they can remember those rules on some waters. The law book is pretty easy to navigate through, you open it to your county and find the body of water. It’s all in there, if you have any confusion call the warden for clarification.
Mr Walsh – are you saysing it is legal to catch and keep an atlantic salmon- a lsite endangered species- less than 25 inches? or are you saying that since both landlocks and atlantics share the same scientific name these officers are using the endangered species act to entrap someone who kept an ” oversized” landlock- which is nothing but a new law which attempts to make for bigger fish in the lakes. Or do the officers look the other way if you happen to catch an atlantic less thne 25 inches. The rule book has a guide to tell you how to differentiate. Did someone really determine it was a “north atlantic salmon” that migrated into the lake or a landlocked. This smells real fishy to me and if it is what i think an example of realyy desperate and poor law enforcement and a bad judge
Are you familiar with that watershed? I’ve spent time in that area fishing the lower portion of Hadley lake. The likely hood of catching a large land lock of that size in that watershed is highly unlikely, in fact reports of salmon caught there are rare. The reasoning behind the length limit is an arbitrary way to let sea run atlantics go while still being able to allow fishing in a popular body of water. People have seen sea run salmon in the East Machias river so they do get into that body of water. Ignorance of a law is not an excuse, and it has been on the books for a while now.
yes – i know they are there also, if in fact it is an arbitrary setting as you indicate that is reasonable. But there should also , if there is not be a warning and clear statement in the rule book . In other water s there can be simple landlocks greater than 25 inches
It is in the law book and specifically for Washington county there is an exemption from the 25 inch length limit on salmon for a select number of lakes. It can be found in the general law page, and at the beginning of the Washington county regs.
ok thats fair – this guy deserves it then – gloating about poaching was a bad idea
The S-33 code also clearly states a maximum length limit of 25 inches on salmon and brown trout on water with the S-33 code. There are also signs at access point on that particular body of water about salmon, I’ve seen them. Could of been torn down since then but they are pretty common in that part of Washington county.
the man was fishing threw the ice how are you going to tell what you have till you bring it threw the hole? and a big fish like that more then likely swallowed the hookand put in one hell of a fight. iam sure there was not much life in it when he landed it.so what do you do throw a fish back thats dead or take it home and fire up the grill? some times it cant be help catching a fish and it dies. I dont no if this was the case but the law is not fair sometimes
You hit the nail on the head!
if a fish you’ve released dies, it’s still part of your limit.
That depends how ethical of a sportsman you are.
touche’ lol
I’ve caught a bunch of fish open water and ice fishing that had line hanging out of their mouths from where someone else cut the line because the fish swallowed the hook. I’m sure some fish die but if you are quick about it and don’t play the fish out or try to wrench the hook out you can successfully release fish. But people catch fish of that caliber all the time and release them all over the world, and there is video of them being released, so it can be done.
Too bad the law in Washington County weren’t as diligent about following up on a drug tip as they are about following up on a tip about an illegal fish!
Very different departments
I KNOW that. But all departments of law help each other out.
If you don’t know what you are catching then don’t keep it. Thats right up there with…shooting at what you think is a deer but you can’t really tell. Facebook gives you no privacy because it is PUBLIC.
So, what if you couldn’t get the hook out of it without killing it…..then what? Facebook has privacy settings. I’ve never had any problems with mine. It all depends on WHO your “FRIENDS” are!
Do you need a hook back so badly that you can’t cut the line off. Fish digestive fluids are strong enough to take care of a hook, it’s the soft plastics that stay in fish stomachs.
the state record for landlocked salmon is a 22lb. 80z. fish caught in sebago lake by edward blakely of darien,ct. in 1907. how can i or anyone else beat this record if the laws state no salmon over 25in. may be kept?? a 22lb landlocked (or atlantic) salmon i suspect, would surely measure more than the 25in. max. mr. blakely’s “landlocked salmon” imho,was an atlantic salmon that was impounded by the creation of a dam. to mr. wright….i hope it fought like a runaway train!!
It only applies to specific waters, and I would be very surprised to see a new record caught that will be in contention to beat that, especially with all the changes in the states waters from management, invasives, pollution, etc…
the law book was probly wrote by a pirson thats naver sean a salmon i worked on a salmon sight and it looked nothing like a atlantic salmon it was cald a black salmon ether way its a fish god pot tham hear to eat not look at
I hope you are being facetious
Nice friends. Hope he figures out which a-hole ratted him out…
Yup……pretty much!
Is this a backwoods version of a covert operation? the local law and useless overpaid federal yahoos from USFW should use the thousands of dollars in surveillance equipment and “tactical” gear that the taxpayers funded to prevent armed home invasions and stop the prescription drug epidemic in Washington County instead of sitting on their useless behinds looking at Facebook and finding “informants” so that they can make a criminal out of an ordinary guy who just happened to catch a fish that was 4″ too big. The agencies harassing this guy obviously have too much time on their hands so how about saving hardworking Mainers a few million dollars and replacing these overzealous thugs with well trained sheriffs who know how to arrest the real criminals?
There was MORE of an investigation of this incident than has EVER been put into stopping the drug problem in Washington County. ONE damn fish………THOUSANDS of drug dealers and TENS OF THOUSANDS of illegal drug activities going on…..including drugs coming through the borders at Lubec and Calais……24/7!