ECOs received a report about anglers catching and keeping black bass at Hempstead Lake State Park on Long Island in violation of a State regulation allowing for the catch and release of the freshwater fish. ECO Pabes responded to the complaint and located two subjects. Neither of the anglers possessed a freshwater fishing license and both eventually admitted to catching and keeping three black bass, which Officer Pabes found in a shopping bag. The ECO issued tickets to the anglers for freshwater fishing without a license and possessing fish during the closed season, returnable to Nassau First District Court. ECO Pabes seized the three fish and donated them to a wildlife rehabilitator to feed birds of prey.
