AUSTIN, Texas -- The following excerpts are from recent Texas Parks and Wildlife game warden field reports.

Neither Rain Nor Sleet Nor Snow...
Despite the wind, cold and rain in mid-February, wardens patrolled the Gulf of Mexico checking for violations during the opening of shrimp season. They apprehended a Gulf shrimper pulling illegal trawls with undersized net mesh. The captain claimed he forgot to switch the nets and said he didn't think game wardens worked in bad weather. The wardens confiscated $8,300 in shrimp cargo.

Stuck to the Scene of the Crime...
An Aransas County resident decided to open an unlocked gate to get to ranch country through some private property. His vehicle became stuck and when he returned with a second vehicle, sure enough, the second one became stuck as well. The next day he contacted the Rockport game warden office to find out how to retrieve his vehicles -- legally of course.

A Little of Everything...
A warden received information from a local police department detective that someone was selling fish in downtown Orange. The warden located a man with three ice chests of catfish and gaspergou, two ice chests with raccoon and rabbits and one ice chest filled with shrimp. He had no licenses and had been filed on previously for similar offenses.

Open Up, It's the Law... All Right Then, It's The Game Warden
While conducting a warrant sweep in Galveston County, wardens stopped at a residence and found a man who falsely identified himself as the wanted person's brother. He would not open the door because he feared they were police officers there to serve an unpaid speeding ticket warrant. When told they were game wardens serving outstanding Parks and Wildlife warrants, he immediately opened the door and began to apologize for his previous behavior. Fines totaling more than $800 were paid.

Close, But Not Quite...
In early March, wardens seized oversized black drum ranging from 31 to 38 inches from five different individuals. One person tried to get away with keeping one of the oversized fish by trimming off about two inches of the tail, making it exactly 30-inches. Tail trimming doesn't work, according to the game wardens.

The Voice of Authority
Acting on a tip, a pair of wardens teamed up to try to catch illegal netters on the Pedernales River. One warden arrived to stake a surveillance spot three hours before the subject was to arrive, around sunset. The violator arrived and began to set out the net just below the warden. Much to the netter's surprise, a voice from the dark informed him who was watching and what to do with the net. The man was issued citations for fishing by illegal means and methods and for not having a life jacket. Three hundred feet of gill net were seized.

Fishing Without a Pole or a License...
A Collin County warden observed a man in the Trinity River bottom grabbling fish. After about 20 minutes, the warden approached the grabbler and the rest of his group as they crossed an open field back to the highway. When the grabbler was asked to produce his fishing license, he replied that he was not fishing. The warden then asked what he planned to do with the fish he caught and the grabbler said, "Oh, I'm catching and releasing."