Persistent Fisherman Strikes Again to Dismay of Authorities
By Mike Trautman, Argus Leader Staff, October, 1993

Caffeine addiction, nicotine fits, chocolate fixes – everyone knows somebody who’s hooked on something. One person just can’t seem to stop fishing.

A Sioux Falls man has been ticketed nearly a dozen times for casting a line when he’s not supposed to. He has done it so often after being told not to that two judges have sent him to jail to stop him.

"He suffers from Moby Dick syndrome," the Lincoln County State’s Attorney said. "He continues to chase that big fish."

Since July 1990, the violator has been ticketed a half-dozen times for fishing without a license and four more times for fishing while his privileges were revoked in southeastern South Dakota. The most recent incident was Friday.

For reasons unknown to prosecutors and judges, the violator can’t keep his hook out of the water.

"He likes to fish, and he just can’t help himself," said the Lincoln county Circuit Judge who earlier tossed the violator in jail for 30 days for fishing violations. "It was about the third or fourth time he had been told not to, and he did it anyway.

He has been caught with a rod and reel – but no license – at Lake Madison and Lake Alvin, but his favorite fishing hole seems to the Big Sioux River.

On Friday, wildlife conservation officers caught him fishing in the Big Sioux River Spillway in Sioux Falls, and ticketed him once again for fishing without a license and while his fishing privileges were revoked.

The violator knew that his license was revoked, but thought that he could fish during the South Dakota Free Fishing Weekend, according to a case report filed by Officer Dan Plut.

The problem was that the weekend didn’t start until Saturday, but irregardless, the violator isn't suppose to fish while his privileges are revoked.

Persistent Fisherman Strikes Again In Pierre

On October 26, 2000, the TIPs phone rang to report that a man was fishing the Missouri River by Pierre and may have over his limit of fish. The violator was again charged for fishing without a license. Court was set for Nov, 6, 2000. This is the violator's eighth arrest for this charge in the past ten years.

The Hughes County Judge sentenced the violator to 10 days in jail plus $36 in court costs. His fishing privileges were revoked for one additional year.

This makes the violator the most arrested man for fishing violations in South Dakota. He has been arrested eight times for fishing without a license, six times for fishing while under revocation, once for fishing trespass, once for failure to exhibit his fishing license and once for failure to appear.

That brings his total to eleven arrests with seventeen charges. Six different conservation officers have arrested him since July of 1990. He has served a total of seventy-two days in jail with other jail time suspended if he quit violating the fishing laws. He also paid fines ranging from $40 up to $200 per charge and had his fishing privileges revoked for seven different years.