Where’s Waddy
Game wardens and commercial fisherman have always been at odds with one another, but the rift was exacerbated considerably after the prohibition of gill nets in Texas bays in 1980 and the statewide banning of the sale of redfish and trout in 1981.
The 10 to 12-year period following those landmark laws is often referred to as “the redfish wars” by some. And though no one I know of was killed in any of the battles that took place, there were certainly some epic confrontations and close calls, especially at night.
Mind you, this was all before things like virtual reality, global positioning systems and smart phones numbed and dumbed down the hearts and minds of the masses. Men back then were more aware of, and in-tune with, their surroundings. They had to be. Commercial fisherman and game wardens were no exception.
They operated their boats in darkness using whatever landmarks that were available: an island, a silhouetted windmill or the blinking light of a distant channel marker. They looked, listened and felt their way around and hoped for the best.
That’s exactly what Game Wardens Gary Palmer and Jim Lindeman were up to on a windy spring night on Alazan Bay sometime in the early nineties.
They were drifting along in their twenty-foot patrol boat, watching and waiting and passing the time as best they could.
Around midnight, they heard a boat come into the area and shut down. Through binoculars, they could tell the two commercial fishermen onboard about a twenty-twofoot skiff with knee-high gunnels were running a gill net. As Gary and Jim drifted closer, they readied a spotlight and prepared to make their presence known.
“Let’s go boys!” Gary said as he started the boat and showered down on the throttle and made a beeline for the fishermen.
Jim hit them with the spotlight as the fishermen showered down and ran the other way. The chase was on.
The wind and waves in the three-to-four-footdeep water made for a rough ride. A chase that seemed, at the time, to go on and on, probably only lasted a couple of minutes.
As Gary drove the wardens’ boat close to the port (left) side of the fishermen’s, the lead boat hit a wave wrong and sheered violently to the right, ejecting the port side passenger overboard directly in front of the wardens’ boat. As Jim tells it, “I mean, right in front of us and dead square between the red and the green (navigational) lights on our boat. We thought for sure we’d run him over.” Both operators shut their boats down immediately. “Waddy’s out of the boat! Waddy’s out of the boat!” the fisherman yelled. “We know!” the wardens yelled back as Jim scanned the water with the light looking for signs of life.
As the light scanned back on the fishermen’s boat, Jim saw that the unsubmerged fisherman wasn’t so concerned about Waddy that he was going to miss the opportunity to start throwing all the illegal fish out of the boat while the wardens searched.
Thankfully, Waddy popped up moments later. Unbeknownst to the wardens, Waddy’s eyes were misaligned (similar Marty Feldman who played Igor in “Young Frankenstein”).
When Jim saw him, he yelled, “Are you ok?” as Gary exclaimed, “Oh my God — we ran over his head!” Nonplused, Waddy said, “It’s ok. I always look like this.”
The wardens helped Waddy into their boat. When they turned back to the other fisherman, they saw that he was still throwing fish out! Waddy was taken back to his buddy and a fishless boat. It didn’t matter; Waddy and friend went home with a pile of tickets in lieu of a pile of fish. The wardens went back and picked up their gill nets too.
You know, I don’t think that Gary and Jim have ever been much for finding Waldo or even know what that’s all about, but I assure you, they’re dangedsure glad they found Waddy alive and well after he went into the water.
And what about that rift I was talking about? Truth be told, I don’t think there’s much of one. Game wardens and commercial fishermen, especially back in the day, were more alike than any member of either group would likely admit. For the most part, each group is made up of individuals who are hardworking, self-reliant men and women who appreciate God’s creations, the outdoors and a whole lot of other things that can’t be found or experienced in any sort of virtual reality, global positioning system or smart phone.
