A German man on vacation with his family in Austria learned an important lesson recently: Don’t try to impress your kids by pretending a frozen fish is one you just caught from a pond. Authorities are now convinced the man is a poacher because of the trout deception.

Alexander says he and his wife cooked up a prank to play on their two kids, involving two frozen trout, already gutted and ready to cook, purchased from a grocery store, says Germany’s The Local (via Huffington Post).

He then tied the fish to the end of poles and dangled them in the pond until they were thawed enough to look freshly-caught, in order to fool his kids. However, another pondgoer spotted him and reported the fishing to police, who arrested the couple for illegal fishing

Apparently, it’s against the law to even put a rod in the water without a license, say cops, no matter what you’ve tied to the line.

The dad’s fate will be decided after the man who reported him comes back from vacation, as he claims he told the guy it was a frozen fish. If convicted, he could spend six months in jail.

Of course, he’s already had the punishment of having to fess up to his children and admit that Daddy lied. Ouch.

Dad faces poaching charge for fake fishing [The Local]

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