In a bizarre twist on illegal fishing tactics, Georgia game wardens busted a man using an antique crank telephone to electrocute fish in a rural creek, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
The incident occurred around 7:30 p.m. on Friday, August 15, when Sgt. Matt Garthright and Game Warden Chason Brogdon were patrolling public fishing spots in Wilkes County, about 110 miles east of Atlanta. The officers noticed a man and a woman acting suspiciously near the water.
“As they approached, they observed the male subject moving away with a wooden box in his hands,” the DNR reported in a Facebook post. “As they got closer, the man threw the box into the creek.”
Sgt. Garthright retrieved the box, which turned out to be a vintage crank telephone—a relic of early telecommunications once used to signal operators. But in this case, it was being used for something far less innocent: shocking fish.
The man, a 29-year-old from Mississippi who was in Georgia for work, was charged with “Shocking Fish,” an illegal method of taking fish by means of electric current. According to experts, the technique can temporarily stun fish, causing them to float to the surface where they can be easily scooped out.
What is Electrofishing?
Electrofishing is a fishing technique that uses electric currents to temporarily stun fish, making them easier to capture. Electrodes placed in the water emit a controlled electric field, which causes fish to swim toward the current and become momentarily immobilized. While commonly used by scientists and wildlife agencies for fish population surveys, electrofishing is illegal for recreational use in most places due to its potential to harm fish and aquatic ecosystems if not properly managed.
While researchers use controlled electrical currents to harmlessly stun fish for study, poachers have adapted the technique to illegally harvest large numbers of fish with crude, homemade devices — often using car batteries and metal rods.
Yes, even the occasional hand-crank telephone was a common tactic years ago. The method was used on the Army base where my father went through basic training in the late 1960s. They used to call it “Skoal can shockers” because they built the anode in a tobacco tin.
This practice, which became more widespread in the 1970s, is especially harmful in freshwater ecosystems, as it indiscriminately stuns all aquatic life within range, including juvenile and endangered species. Using crank phones to fish is an outdated — and outlawed — method that once had a niche following in the rural South. It’s now illegal due to the harm it causes to aquatic ecosystems.
Neither the man nor the woman had a valid fishing license at the time. Wardens gave them the opportunity to purchase licenses online to come into compliance. However, the crank phone was confiscated on the spot.
The Georgia DNR reminds anglers that all fishing methods must comply with state regulations — and that innovation doesn’t always equal legality.
