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Catching bass out of season nets fines and bans

Inspection revealed that the anglers had hidden a bag containing nine largemouth bass inside a collapsed portable fish hut
2020-ice-fishing-lake-nipissing
File photo

Illegal fishing near Parry Sound has proven costly to a couple of Newmarket anglers.

Seng Chiong Choo pleaded guilty to catching and retaining bass during the closed season and fishing with extra lines and fined a total of $2,500. In addition, he is prohibited from possessing an Ontario fishing licence and engaging in any fishing activity in Ontario for two years.

His fishing equipment was forfeited to the Crown.

Bao Yi Dai pleaded guilty to catching and retaining bass during the closed season and fined $1,500. She is also prohibited from possessing an Ontario fishing licence and engaging in any fishing activity in Ontario for one year. Her fishing equipment was also forfeited to the Crown.

The court heard that on January 8, conservation officers watched Choo and Dai ice fishing on a small lake within the Parry Sound District. Officers watched the two anglers catch and retain multiple bass and Choo was observed angling through the ice using five lines.

The anglers were stopped as they were leaving the area and produced a bucket containing only black crappie and yellow perch for inspection. A further inspection revealed that the anglers had hidden a bag containing nine largemouth bass inside a collapsed portable fish hut.

Justice of the Peace Christine Leclair heard the case remotely in the Ontario Court of Justice, Parry Sound, on March 7, 2023.