Idaho fish story tale of crime, too

(CBS/AP) SANDPOINT, Idaho - Here's a fish story from Idaho that doubles as a crime tale, too.

A man from Coeur d'Alene has been ordered to pay more than $6,800 in restitution after he tried to pass off coastal trout, as lake trout.

For shame.

Christopher Pluntz pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor theft charge Wednesday, after he defrauding a bounty program that pays fishermen who catch trout in northern Idaho's Lake Pend Oreille.

The Coeur d'Alene Press reports Fish and Game officials thought something was fishy last year after the 44-year-old angler turned in 443 rainbow trout heads, and collected a $15 bounty on each.

Investigators examined the heads and determined that the rainbow trout were a coastal variety, not the type found in Lake Pend Oreille.

The bounty program aims to help the lake's struggling kokanee trout population.