Bass fisherman takes heat for big catch

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Is it a sport Deborah Rebisz and Jeff Bane have enjoyed since elementary school.

"You never know that one day you could be looking at your personal best," said Rebisz.

The two have to get out on the lake early in the morning before the summer heat sets in.

"Being out here and doing what you like to do and enjoying it," said Bane. "Catching fish is just a plus."

But anger has set in over a fellow fisherman boasting about breaking the law on the Austin Bass Fishing Forum -- a website for avid anglers.

Under a screen name, 25-year-old Dustin Heathman described the best fishing trip of his life.

Click here to read original post and responses.

On June 21, Dustin wrote he "HAD A BLAST" by himself on Lake Austin and "put around 40 fish in the boat with 22 keepers."

He attached five pictures to prove it of 15 large mouth bass laid out on the back of his boat. That's three times the legal limit.

"Four people on a boat, twenty fish he can take home," said Bane. "One person on the boat, five fish he can take home."

Immediately, the fishing community started to strike back with comments like "You broke the law!"

Another tried to warn him: "...might want to get rid of the post and pictures."

Someone else wrote, "you will continue to get a well deserved bashing."

Dustin tried to defend himself by saying he deserved to keep that many because he usually throws fish back. He also said he had family in town to feed who wanted a fish fry. Neither excuse went over well.

"When you get a post that's got what 600 replies to it over something you did wrong, it's probably not a good idea," said Bane.

Sure enough, the bragging is coming back to bite him.

Travis County Game Warden Christy Vales caught wind of the online confession after more than one person contacted the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and turned him in.

"I think the thing that upset us the most is just the total disregard for the legalities of fishing and the fish that he caught over his limit," said Vales.

She is still working on the case, but says Dustin will have to pay for the extra fish he took home. The fine has yet to be determined, but can range anywhere from $25 to $500 per fish.

The penalty is a reminder there's a reason size and stringer limits are in place.

"It creates spawning. It creates trophy fish. There's a lot of biology that goes into that, but mainly it's to ease the stress of catching fish over that limit," said Vales.

With only five Travis County game wardens to enforce all of the state wildlife laws, they rely heavily on the public to keep an eye out for anything fishy.

Rebisz and Bane believe at least one fisherman has learned his lesson.

"I bet he won't do it again," said Bane, but the fact still remains there's a lot of people out there that will."

They hope others are keeping an eye out, too, to ensure there will be enough fish for future generations.

"My grandsons' who I'm going to bring fishing all the time -- if there's no fish to catch, that's a huge miss out to me."

Dustin Heathman has been out of town for work ever since viewers pointed KXAN News to his posts on the fishing forum. We have been trying to reach him for about a month, but he never returned calls or Facebook messages.