Man responsible for wasted fish near Gillette turns self in

A man who dumped hundreds of fish at a spot east of Gillette turned himself in to authorities just hours after after the Wyoming Game and Fish Department asked for information about the incident.

The roughly 400 rotting fish, mostly crappie, had been discovered on Monday in rural Campbell County. They'd apparently been there for a few days and still had all of their meat.

A male crappie is shown at the Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery in this 2014 photograph. Photo courtesy Spencer Neuharth, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, the Game and Fish Department issued a news release asking for information about the wasted fish, sending it out to the more than 8,800 citizens, conservation groups and media outlets on its email lists.

"Within a couple of hours, the individual responsible for dumping the fish called me and turned himself in," South Gillette Game Warden Dustin Kirsh said in a Thursday afternoon update from the department, adding, "I would really like to thank the sporting public for providing tips and information on this case."

The department's update said nothing about why the man had so many dead fish or whether he'd been cited for a crime.

fish, Wyoming Game and Fish