Danny - chill out. Connecticut law allows for recreational fishermen to take bait for personal use, under current regulations there are no creel limits on bait.

The officer checked them and they told the officer that they were catching the bait for personal use. They had CT all waters licenses so there was NO violations found by the officer. There is no violation until they cross the state line. It takes 3 to 5 vehicles to follow 1 vehicle without being spotted. These guys had 2 or 3 vehicles so that means we would need 10 to 15 vehicles (and officers) to follow them. Tailing someone long distances works great in the movies or on TV, but in real life, not so much. We don't have the staffing to do it, the USF&W Service doesn't have the staffing (they have one (1) agent for all of CT). The State Police can't follow them with their helicopter as operational costs have grounded it except for emergencies.

Due to the limited number of officers that we have we prioritize our response activities. First priority is public safety, resource protection comes after that. The officers who work in that part of the state are responsible for Long Island Sound from New Haven to the Greenwich/NY border along with all the shoreline towns. They are also responsible for law enforcement in Silver Sands and Sherwood Island State Parks.

The public is screaming for reductions in taxes and in the state budget. As a result, budgets have been severely cut and staffing levels have been significantly reduced. Until the economy gets better that's the way it is.

I did talk to the Director of Marine Fisheries about this issue yesterday. They are going to look into the possibility of a creel limit on bait for personal use(for example, 50 or 100 in possession)in the upcoming regulation package. This would still allow recreational fishermen to catch bait for personal use, but hopefully stop the people like the ones you guys are complaining about.