Can I Recommend A Spot For The Dec?

[deaknh03]

Ridiculous ~ arousing or deserving ridicule : extremely silly or unreasonable : absurd, preposterous.

The Game Warden did not see it that way.

We are hearing one side of the story. The Officer's version of these events may be different and why he determined that there was a violation and acted accordingly.

After listening to and witnessing many years of stories and events myself, I will admit that I'll always give the LEO's version quite a bit more credence.

A-Jay

Lets not forget, there are three sides to every story....yours, mine and the truth.

[Bluebasser86]

Yeah. And the ones that are there waste their time trying to nitpick a bass tournament weigh-in instead of finding people who are keeping every fish they catch and stealing from the system. I've even called them before and they do something 5 hours too late if at all. Come bass tournament launch or weigh-in you can be sure they will be there hawking.

Because tournament bass guys never break the law right??

 

It's a hard job to do. Not only are they spread extremely thin, but proving that a crime was committed is very difficult a lot of times for a Game Warden. In most cases, their victims can't tell their side of the story, so they have to find other evidence to prove someone broke the law, not always easy to do.

 

As far as not showing up when you called, maybe they were staked out on someone who was already breaking the law and they were trying to get enough evidence to make an arrest or write a citation to that person? That goes along the same lines as "Never leave fish to find fish". Most of the guys I know that do the job are avid outdoorsmen themselves and hate to see the laws being broken as much as we do, but the black and white truth is when they have huge patrol areas to cover, they simply don't have enough time to cover it all and stuff is going to slip through the cracks. 

[STPC]

As far as response time goes for game wardens, the have very large areas to cover in my area.  This is typically several counties and if they have more than one complaint to handle, there is a good chance it's going to take them some time to get to the second or third complaint of the day.  I try to treat game wardens/LEO's as I would any other person, that is the same way I would like to be treated.  I find this goes a long way when dealing w/law enforcement.

[Lund Explorer]

So what you're saying is, you're walking in a park and you see a kid or group of kids fishing and doing something incorrectly, and you go over and show them how to cast, you deserve a ticket if you don't have your license on you and someone saw you throw a line in the water? Seriously, I am wondering. If you can tell me right now that you deserve a ticket for that, I will not say another word on this thread. Your post will say all it needs to.

 

Rather than posting on a subject you have little knowledge of, I would suggest cracking a book or two to see if you could figure out how life really works instead of how you want it to work.  Perhaps the first thing you could spend some time studying would be a simple book used by many high school government classes.  Pay special attention to the Bill of Rights and what it has to say about the due process of law.  It's fairly easy to see that no one is guilty of breaking a law just by getting a ticket. 

 

After you have a rudimentary knowledge of how the criminal justice system works, there is one last thing to consider.  When a conservation officer sees a person who is in the act of fishing, he has the right to expect that person to have a fishing license.  In a child like world, it might sound reasonable that this officer would simply let anyone slide if or when that person stated that they were just "teaching" someone else to fish. 

 

So what happens when this conservation officer hears the same excuse from the next dozen people he checks?

 

And just a little FYI, I always have my fishing license with me.  It sits right in my wallet from the day I buy it until the day I purchase the next year's license.  The only times I've ever had to remove it was when a CO asked to see it, and I gladly provided it to him with a smile on my face.  It means that my license dollars are at work.

[Zach Dunham]

Because tournament bass guys never break the law right??

 

It's a hard job to do. Not only are they spread extremely thin, but proving that a crime was committed is very difficult a lot of times for a Game Warden. In most cases, their victims can't tell their side of the story, so they have to find other evidence to prove someone broke the law, not always easy to do.

 

As far as not showing up when you called, maybe they were staked out on someone who was already breaking the law and they were trying to get enough evidence to make an arrest or write a citation to that person? That goes along the same lines as "Never leave fish to find fish". Most of the guys I know that do the job are avid outdoorsmen themselves and hate to see the laws being broken as much as we do, but the black and white truth is when they have huge patrol areas to cover, they simply don't have enough time to cover it all and stuff is going to slip through the cracks. 

 

In my experience, the large majority of tournament bass fishermen are not breaking laws/rules. Sure, there are always some, but there are FAR MORE recreational fishermen AND boaters breaking rules left and right. It seems the target is in the wrong place. If we really want to cut down on the illegal activity going on, maybe we should focus on where that activity is actually occurring and not just focus on the easiest target.

[Zach Dunham]

Rather than posting on a subject you have little knowledge of, I would suggest cracking a book or two to see if you could figure out how life really works instead of how you want it to work.  Perhaps the first thing you could spend some time studying would be a simple book used by many high school government classes.  Pay special attention to the Bill of Rights and what it has to say about the due process of law.  It's fairly easy to see that no one is guilty of breaking a law just by getting a ticket. 

 

After you have a rudimentary knowledge of how the criminal justice system works, there is one last thing to consider.  When a conservation officer sees a person who is in the act of fishing, he has the right to expect that person to have a fishing license.  In a child like world, it might sound reasonable that this officer would simply let anyone slide if or when that person stated that they were just "teaching" someone else to fish. 

 

So what happens when this conservation officer hears the same excuse from the next dozen people he checks?

 

And just a little FYI, I always have my fishing license with me.  It sits right in my wallet from the day I buy it until the day I purchase the next year's license.  The only times I've ever had to remove it was when a CO asked to see it, and I gladly provided it to him with a smile on my face.  It means that my license dollars are at work.

 

You shouldn't mock someone's knowledge or education without actually knowing them. Since you want to portray yourself as an adult and me as a child, I would think you would know better.

 

I see you failed to answer my question; most likely because I am right. Maybe we just need some smarter wardens. In my experience, it is pretty easy to tell what kind of person someone is with a 5 minute conversation. If I saw someone casting a rod in the scenario above, I could talk to them for 5 minutes and tell you if that story was true with about 75% accuracy.

 

Also, since you seem to think you know so much about government, you must know it costs you even more money to defend yourself in court from a ticket you don't think you deserve, so getting written a ticket is a lose-lose situation. Even if you are legitimately innocent, government wins, and you lose.

[Felix77]

All you can do is try.  Not much else you can do really.

[Bluebasser86]

In my experience, the large majority of tournament bass fishermen are not breaking laws/rules. Sure, there are always some, but there are FAR MORE recreational fishermen AND boaters breaking rules left and right. It seems the target is in the wrong place. If we really want to cut down on the illegal activity going on, maybe we should focus on where that activity is actually occurring and not just focus on the easiest target.

I agree that most are great stewards to the sport and tend to follow the letter of the law to the "T", and most tend to follow the unwritten laws as well. There's also far more recreational fishermen and boaters, so the laws of averages says that there would indeed be more of them that are breaking the law, even if maybe not always intentional, I think a lot of people are truly ignorant of the laws. I can't tell how many times I've seen someone keeping a short fish or clearly over their limit, said something, and they looked like I was speaking another language. Maybe they did know and just don't understand why I'm telling them. I try to hope for the best of my fellow man, even though the ones I spend most of my time around routinely prove it not to be true.If you truly have Wardens that are targeting tournament anglers, that's very unfortunate. I could see an instance where someone didn't like tournament fishing and checked them more often. Unfortunately, no matter how much it's preached, it's impossible for a person to be completely unbiased, even a LEO. 

[Zach Dunham]

I agree that most are great stewards to the sport and tend to follow the letter of the law to the "T", and most tend to follow the unwritten laws as well. There's also far more recreational fishermen and boaters, so the laws of averages says that there would indeed be more of them that are breaking the law, even if maybe not always intentional. If you truly have Wardens that are targeting tournament anglers, that's very unfortunate. I could see an instance where someone didn't like tournament fishing and checked them more often. Unfortunately, no matter how much it's preached, it's impossible for a person to be completely unbiased, even a LEO. 

 

The last two tournaments I fished, the game commission / police were at the launch and at the weigh-in and both times they pulled over the last boat to launch in the tournament for random checks, lights flashing and everything, thereby screwing over their first 15 minutes of the morning bite. When I am out practicing on weekend days when the lake is loaded with recreational boaters and fishermen, rarely an officer in sight.

[Fish Murderer 71]

The last two tournaments I fished, the game commission / police were at the launch and at the weigh-in and both times they pulled over the last boat to launch in the tournament for random checks, lights flashing and everything, thereby screwing over their first 15 minutes of the morning bite. When I am out practicing on weekend days when the lake is loaded with recreational boaters and fishermen, rarely an officer in sight.

Then dont be the last man out!

[slimshad]

Man the threads on here are crazy.  First to the OP, I would go fish and then when all was quiet, I was say man did you guys get checked yesterday by the law?  Then I would say yep they came by and said they were going to patrol this area hard for awhile lol.  And about Game Wardens, I have two stories for ya.  I was by myself when two very young GW's came up and asked me for my license.  They were in a huge flat botton jon boat.  As they got closer, they were about to run the aluminum boat up on my bass boat.  I jumped over and pushed them off with my foot.  I yelled and said woooo what the hell you doing.  That fired the two up and I thought they were going to pull a gun.  I gave them my license and they started to check every little thing on my boat. They said sir you must have the throw cushion availble at all times.  I looked at them and said, I am fishing by myself if I fall in who is going to throw it to me?  Turned and stepped on the tm pedal and casted.  They just pulled away.  Next is the best one.  I was fishing with a friend in a "party" cove.  Hundreds of people swimming drinking and loud music.  The GW came straight to us, through all the anchored boats, and said our numbers on the boat did not contrast enough and was going to give us a ticket.  So this guys bright red letters on a blue boat was the reason they came over.  All the while people 50 feet away were drinking and screaming.  I looked at one boat and three girls flashed us.  Which was worth the ticket lol.  So the only guys that actually pay to do the recreational stuff is the ones that got fined.  Yes they have a tough job, but you think they would spend more time on the bad guys.

[Zach Dunham]

I was fishing with a friend in a "party" cove.  Hundreds of people swimming drinking and loud music.  The GW came straight to us, through all the anchored boats, and said our numbers on the boat did not contrast enough and was going to give us a ticket.  So this guys bright red letters on a blue boat was the reason they came over.  All the while people 50 feet away were drinking and screaming.  I looked at one boat and three girls flashed us.  Which was worth the ticket lol.  So the only guys that actually pay to do the recreational stuff is the ones that got fined.  Yes they have a tough job, but you think they would spend more time on the bad guys.

 

That's exactly the kind of stuff I am talking about.

 

I also like your solution to the OP. A little clever social engineering may actually work if anyone was doing anything sketchy.

[Paul s]

I find it disturbing that most guys posting on here are attacking someone else because they have their own opinion and that in its self is insane, it's turning into a d swinging contest and it's stupid people have different opinions and have had different things happen to then that you haven't THAT'S HOW LIFE WORKS!

[STPC]

One thing everyone should remember:  when LEOs/Game Wardens seem to be singling out particular people, boats, etc., it is not always b/c they are trying to be a**h***s, a lot of the time the particulars they are looking for are directives from their higher-ups.  Believe me, I deal w/LEOs a lot in my job and many of them are pretty easy to get along with and would much rather be sitting in their air conditioned vehicle than out in the heat/cold/rain/snow dealing w/the public.

 

They have a job to do, one that I'm sure not too many folks ***.

[Lund Explorer]

You shouldn't mock someone's knowledge or education without actually knowing them. Since you want to portray yourself as an adult and me as a child, I would think you would know better.

 

I see you failed to answer my question; most likely because I am right. Maybe we just need some smarter wardens. In my experience, it is pretty easy to tell what kind of person someone is with a 5 minute conversation. If I saw someone casting a rod in the scenario above, I could talk to them for 5 minutes and tell you if that story was true with about 75% accuracy.

 

Also, since you seem to think you know so much about government, you must know it costs you even more money to defend yourself in court from a ticket you don't think you deserve, so getting written a ticket is a lose-lose situation. Even if you are legitimately innocent, government wins, and you lose.

 

Reading is fundamental.  Comprehension must be a lost art!

 

I've already said that I ALWAYS carry my fishing license in my wallet, therefore I'm not going to run into the situation you described.

[Lund Explorer]

I find it disturbing that most guys posting on here are attacking someone else because they have their own opinion and that in its self is insane, it's turning into a d swinging contest and it's stupid people have different opinions and have had different things happen to then that you haven't THAT'S HOW LIFE WORKS!

 

I find it disturbing that there are so many people around here that can tell someone doesn't have a fishing license just by looking at them. 

 

Another thing I find disturbing is when someone uses an all inclusive word such as ALL, ALWAYS, or NEVER.  Such words can be used to describe yourself, but using them to include everyone (or perhaps in your case MOST) in their opinion, the writer is making an assumption  that is completely unsubstantiated.  The bottom line is that if you want to avoid becoming disturbed, it would be easier to explain this simple rule to the people that you think are being attacked.

 

It also wouldn't hurt to explain to them that they should understand the subject before commenting.

[Zach Dunham]

Reading is fundamental.  Comprehension must be a lost art!

 

I've already said that I ALWAYS carry my fishing license in my wallet, therefore I'm not going to run into the situation you described.

 

It is called a hypothetical situation, and you still failed to answer it. Since you apparently have never not had a fishing license on you, lets say it is someone you know. Someone you know decided to help someone for 5 minutes without their fishing license on them. Do they deserve a ticket?

Again, I will not stoop to your level of mocking.

[Lund Explorer]

It is called a hypothetical situation, and you still failed to answer it. Since you apparently have never not had a fishing license on you, lets say it is someone you know. Someone you know decided to help someone for 5 minutes without their fishing license on them. Do they deserve a ticket?

Again, I will not stoop to your level of mocking.

 

YES, They Do!  Under the strictest sense of the law, they are in the act of fishing.

 

Why is it so hard to understand that a CO doesn't have ESP.  What if the "student" who was just learning how to fish asked this same unlicensed person to make another cast, or perhaps a dozen of them?  What if the "teacher" also showed how to retrieve the lure, set the hook, fight and land the fish? 

 

It is completely unreasonable to assume that a CO is supposed to make those judgments.  Key word - Judgment - As in JUDGE - Like in Court!

 

If a CO sees someone in the act of fishing, he/she has the duty to issue a ticket if that person doesn't have a fishing license.  I'm not saying that the CO can't cut the guy some slack, but it is completely ignorant to demand that they do so.  That is the job of the courts.  No matter how much you think that long established laws shouldn't apply to you.

[Paul s]

I find it disturbing that there are so many people around here that can tell someone doesn't have a fishing license just by looking at them.

Another thing I find disturbing is when someone uses an all inclusive word such as ALL, ALWAYS, or NEVER. Such words can be used to describe yourself, but using them to include everyone (or perhaps in your case MOST) in their opinion, the writer is making an assumption that is completely unsubstantiated. The bottom line is that if you want to avoid becoming disturbed, it would be easier to explain this simple rule to the people that you think are being attacked.

It also wouldn't hurt to explain to them that they should understand the subject before commenting.

im not even going to entertain you're liberal mindset.