Nothing makes wildlife officers happier than upholding their oath to care for Tennessee’s wildlife. After nearly 180 hours of work, much of which was undercover and all of which was on top of normal duties during spring fishing and turkey season, TWRA officers have their man. Anthony Melson from Savannah, Tn., in Hardin County was cited Wednesday morning on multiple charges including untagged commercial nets, fishing commercial nets within 100 yards of the mouth of a stream, failure to check roe nets within 24 hours, failure to keep the fish carcasses with matching roe and a navigational light law violation, all on Guntersville Reservoir.
Officer Griffith noticed commercial fishing activity when responding to a 911 call regarding boaters stranded by storm waters on Friday. Officer Griffith returned to inspect the nets with his partner, Officer Vandergriff. Illegal activity was noted and a full investigation took place involving several TWRA officers.
Illegal activity regarding wildlife robs from all Tennessee residents. Officer Griffith said, “Any time you catch someone taking advantage of the Tennessee’s resources, it feels great to know you’ve made a difference”.
TWRA officers Russ Vandergriff, Marty Griffith, Joe McSpadden, Mark Patterson and Sergeant Brandon Selvog all worked long hours and are commended for a job well done.