Don't Be St*pid!!!!

[jorluivil]

So after getting to the launch site we are approached by three gentleman in plain clothes

Them: Hello, how'd you guys do?
Us: Not to bad
Them: We're with the DFG and would like to inspect your catch
Us: OK
Them: We also need to see your lobster cards and fishing license
Us: OK

I open my bug motel and he has no doubt that my bugs are legal, I hand him my license and report card and he hands them back after a few seconds. They measure one or two of the other guys lobster, we knew all were legal so no one was concerned with them measuring the bugs.

Me: So how'd the weekend go for you guys
Warden: Not to bad we wrote up about 27 citations on opening night
Me: !!!! What were the citations for
Warden: Mostly for being over the limit but some were for short lobster, no license and a few were for 'tailed lobster'.
Me: By the way....there was a few guys walking the breakwall, I thought the guys were there fishing until I heard a lobster tail slapping and then I realized someone was in the water handing them lobster.
Warden: There was a diver with them?
Me: Yes, after the diver came up he told the guys that were walking to bring the bucket.
Warden: Where exactly were they? How many of them were there? What were they wearing?

After giving him as much info as possible he started to tell us that they had cited three individuals the day before, they had 132 lobster in their possesion most of which were short, extremely short. Neither one of the individuals had a report card let alone a fishing licence. They were all cited, had all their gear confiscated, cars were impounded and they were arrested and taken to jail. The Warden did say that most of the lobster were released but that there was a few that did not survive.

After checking us they went and checked out someone that was fishing off the rocks. When I was walking to my car I met them again in the parking lot and asked them if they were done for the night, one of them said, "No, we're headed over to the parking lot where the breakwall starts and will wait for the individuals you were talking about".

I don't know what happened to these guys but based on what I saw it looked like they were up to no good. During the conversation with Warden he mentioned that one of the fines was roughly $1000.00 per lobster. So, again, Don't Be Stupid!!!

[sdfisher]

Good to see that they are getting people.
$1000 a lobster? you could buy a whole tank of live lobsters and still have money left over

[Darkstar]

Originally Posted by jorluivil

So after getting to the launch site we are approached by three gentleman in plain clothes

Them: Hello, how'd you guys do?
Us: Not to bad
Them: We're with the DFG and would like to inspect your catch
Us: OK
Them: We also need to see your lobster cards and fishing license
Us: OK

I open my bug motel and he has no doubt that my bugs are legal, I hand him my license and report card and he hands them back after a few seconds. They measure one or two of the other guys lobster, we knew all were legal so no one was concerned with them measuring the bugs.

Me: So how'd the weekend go for you guys
Warden: Not to bad we wrote up about 27 citations on opening night
Me: !!!! What were the citations for
Warden: Mostly for being over the limit but some were for short lobster, no license and a few were for 'tailed lobster'.
Me: By the way....there was a few guys walking the breakwall, I thought the guys were there fishing until I heard a lobster tail slapping and then I realized someone was in the water handing them lobster.
Warden: There was a diver with them?
Me: Yes, after the diver came up he told the guys that were walking to bring the bucket.
Warden: Where exactly were they? How many of them were there? What were they wearing?

After giving him as much info as possible he started to tell us that they had cited three individuals the day before, they had 132 lobster in their possesion most of which were short, extremely short. Neither one of the individuals had a report card let alone a fishing licence. They were all cited, had all their gear confiscated, cars were impounded and they were arrested and taken to jail. The Warden did say that most of the lobster were released but that there was a few that did not survive.

After checking us they went and checked out someone that was fishing off the rocks. When I was walking to my car I met them again in the parking lot and asked them if they were done for the night, one of them said, "No, we're headed over to the parking lot where the breakwall starts and will wait for the individuals you were talking about".

I don't know what happened to these guys but based on what I saw it looked like they were up to no good. During the conversation with Warden he mentioned that one of the fines was roughly $1000.00 per lobster. So, again, Don't Be Stupid!!!

thats the kind of thing that pisses me off, obviously they had done it before and of course what do you do with that many lobster? sell them? just those guys alone probably take more lobster in the season than then entire BWE crew .....

[oneyedeer]

wohooooo $100 per lobster that's alot of fish the DFG can stock our local lakes....hope those fools have a house!

[yotasan]

what do you do in situations where you see that kind of sh!t? do you take it upon yourself to do something about it, or do you just go about your merry way? by the time you call into DFG or the police (who probably don't care) those guys are gone and off to the next spot. if these guys have the balls to do what they do, who's to say they don't have the balls to put one in you?

this is what ruins the season for everyone. even those a$$es are hurting themselves by poaching. i'm not perfect, i do stupid sh!t, we all do. but come on.

[Hamachijohn]

Sad. Up here in norcal, if you read the court reports on abalone poachers, these guys are usually multiple offenders. Some of them were arrested twice in one week. They do minimal jail time, can't afford to pay fines, and continue poaching... If stiff penalties are not a sufficient deterrent, maybe more jail time?

http://cdfgnews.wordpress.com/2011/0...n-three-weeks/

[Handymansd]

Originally Posted by Hamachijohn

Sad. Up here in norcal, if you read the court reports on abalone poachers, these guys are usually multiple offenders. Some of them were arrested twice in one week. They do minimal jail time, can't afford to pay fines, and continue poaching... If stiff penalties are not a sufficient deterrent, maybe more jail time?

http://cdfgnews.wordpress.com/2011/0...n-three-weeks/

I have heard that the nor cal jails serve a mean abalone and lobster dinner.

[JOSER85]

The ticket for short Lobster it just over $1000 overall doesn't matter the amount you have plus 25 hours of community service. But i'm pretty sure for 132 lobsters it may change.
How do it know...........I was a victim about 6 years ago and not proud of it.
I was young (20), stupid and didn't really care. But know I'm not really into keeping and eating fish. Catch and release is mostly what I do now pretty much only keep when the parents ask for it.
Lobster's I may do it a few times a year but I now respect the limits and the sizes, and I am proud to say that I have let some BIG mommas go (8+ lbs)
very tempting to take home and show off but they look just as good in a picture. They don't taste as good either as your 2-5 lbers.

[JOSER85]

I also got 3 year probation that I couldn't fish that beach/area.

[mtnbykr2]

Originally Posted by yotasan

what do you do in situations where you see that kind of sh!t? do you take it upon yourself to do something about it, or do you just go about your merry way? by the time you call into DFG or the police (who probably don't care) those guys are gone and off to the next spot. if these guys have the balls to do what they do, who's to say they don't have the balls to put one in you?

this is what ruins the season for everyone. even those a$$es are hurting themselves by poaching. i'm not perfect, i do stupid sh!t, we all do. but come on.

we see alot of cabazon poaching up this way, some types of people just
take anything including the 6-8 inch cabazon throw it in the bucket and nothing ever said, but I seem to get checked all the time, but I won't go
into my feeling on that

[jorluivil]

I always thank the Wardens for being out and about. I've been checked over a dozen times and have never had an issue with any Warden, its probably because when it comes to any sort of law enforcement I ALWAYS follow the Golden Rule. Always make sure your eyes are dotted and your tees are crossed and it will be a pleasant experience

[ctfphoto]

Originally Posted by jorluivil

I always thank the Wardens for being out and about. I've been checked over a dozen times and have never had an issue with any Warden, its probably because when it comes to any sort of law enforcement I ALWAYS follow the Golden Rule. Always make sure your eyes are dotted and your tees are crossed and it will be a pleasant experience

After I was checked Sat Night, I shook the DFG officers hand and thanked him for protecting the fisheries.

[taggermike]

I have been checked several times by the F&G and for all but one they have been both friendly and professional. I used to get checked at least weekly by the rangers at San Elijo state beach when I was exiting the water after spear fishing. They always asked about lobster and were not too concerned about fish. Certainly the economic incentive to poach is strong with species like lobster. You may recall a few years ago members of the sheriff's search and rescue dive team were caught poaching. And not just poaching, but pulling bugs from commercial traps. I used to work at the Hubbs seabass hatchery and poaching in the Hedionda lagoon was just rampant. The F&G began to frequent the area and things were better for a while. We found a group of kids with pole spears in the lagoon spearing any thing that moved and then throwing the carcasses on to the rocks. Bass, opaleyes, small halibut, f'n star fish, and even some tagged wsb we had just released. We called and both the cops and the F& showed up in time to apprehend them. My crew was so pissed after combing the rocks that there was no way these guys were ever making to thier cars. Don't know how it worked out but these kids were not happy. Sorry for the long ass post but I think most poaching is a matter of attitude. I've seen people strait out argue with a warden about a ticket. No one would ever get in a SDPD officer's face about receiving a ticket. I see poaching as straight theft of "our" property. Many think of our plants, animals, and fish as free for the taking. Mike

[Saba Slayer]

Originally Posted by yotasan
"what do you do in situations where you see that kind of sh!t? do you take it upon yourself to do something about it, or do you just go about your merry way?"
I ask my local DFG wardens for their personal card whenever I get stopped or checked by them. I've found that calling Cal-Tip is usually a slow process, but if I call my local warden he usually answers and can respond quickly if he's in the area...the trouble is there are so few wardens in California that they get spread pretty thin trying to patrol all the coastline and rivers and lakes and hunting areas. Get a boat CF# or a vehicle license plate# and that could really help...BUT be ready to go to court and testify if the poacher is apprehended. I've seen two cases thrown out because the witness refused to show up at court.
At least call Cal-Tip with the info!
Jim / Saba Slayer

[William Novotny]

Whenever I see poaching in the act this is what I do.......I walk (or paddle) up to them, ask them in a polite manner if they would like to borrow my tape so that they could check sizes and see if there catch is legal. Sometimes they don't know that what they are doing is wrong and a crime and it gives them a chance to correct their behavior. Othertimes the person is just outright up to no good and that brief encounter gives me time to take in a better inventory of info to give to DFG including descriptions and exactly what poached fish are in their posession.

[wiredantz]

Saw some of my people putting lobster in a bucket a few mins later dfg walk up to them starts taking pictures and its all over ARRESTED