A routine patrol in a South Florida wildlife management area turned into a much larger fisheries case after a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer found a group on a closed trail, discovered they had not paid the required day-use fee and then uncovered nearly 200 panfish that had been taken by an illegal fishing method.
The April 28, 2024 encounter in Palm Beach County was featured by the bodycam channel Arrest Cam, whose host said the FWC officer was patrolling the J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area when a woman flagged him down because her vehicle had become stuck behind a gate on Trail 14.
According to the channel, the trail was not open to ordinary public vehicle access at the time because there were no active hunting seasons underway, and the group had also entered without using the self-service payment station…