If you are forage jigging for bait ( don't keep anything else)

[bear hunter]

Maybe I should have posted it diffrant.  If you keep anything that is not listed under forage fish and are using the Sabiki jigging rig. You could get fined 90 dollars per hook.    I was fishing in Ballard for shiners and herring for bait. The regs says its OK to jig for herring,but shiners are not forage fish. So I cut the 4 hooks off the jigging rig and pinched the barbs. There was a lot of people jigging for shiners. The Game warden busted 2 men for being 2 fish over the limit of 15 per. He just made them release 2 fish and gave them a warning. That the limit was 15. The warden asked me if I had a licence. I gave him my license and ask him the rules for forage jig fishing. He said that its OK to use the 6 hooks,barbed for bait fish. I said shiners are not listed as bait fish. He said that it is OK to fish for them. So I fished the whole season last year. Last week I was reading more into the rules and found he was wrong. I called the regain 4 office and they said he is wrong and I was right. I left a message with the officer to call me back,but no call yet. I will be jigging for shiners with only 2 hooks and no barbs from now on. Please If you are forage jigging for bait and catch shiners or flounders. I would let them go or you could get a ticket. Or jig with 2 barbless hooks. 

[bigtex]

Everybody makes mistakes...

[Bean Counter]

 

Judging by the fact that he let some people off with a warning I'd say cut him a break. 

[bear hunter]

I think so but like I said. I would have to see him. I am bad with names. I called and left a message with the sergeant. Just waiting for a call.

[h20hunter]

You and Bowhunter45 gonna have some of the same stories soon.

[bear hunter]

I know that make mistakes, but he is miss in forming fisherman. He gave them a warning just for the limit. Not the jigging rig. The law says 2 hook limit barbless. They had 6 hooks barbed. I asked the warden if I could use the 6 hook rig for bait fishing for shiner perch. He said that I could. I told him what the regs said. All he had to say is he considered them bait fish. I just don't won't fisherman to get a ticket. I call the game dept. and they said he was wrong and I was correct. I left a message with the officer in ? but I only know him by his face.

[Curly]

I left a message with the officer in ? but I only know him by his face.

Describe him to BH45; he probably knows all of them by name...........
 

[h20hunter]

Don't worry....you will get a chance to talk with him some more. Probably every time he sees you with a rod! Not saying he shouldn't know the regs but stop any gamie and ask them a specific question....they may have to look it up. They aren't a walking encylopedia. Yes, they should know what the rules are when the are checking a specific area and specias but shoving it in his face, let alone his boss, will bring you nothing but hassle.

[bear hunter]

  Just hate to see people getting tickets for nothing. 

[JLS]

So, he gave you incorrect information.  You called the Regional Office to confirm, you called the officer and left a msg, called his sergeant and left a msg, and put it on the internet? 

Nice

[X-Force]

 

[Crunchy]

He, the OP is going to get exactly what he asked for    Might want to change fishing spots.

[Bean Counter]

Its not like he named the officer, took his picture, and posted it.

[JLS]

Its not like he named the officer, took his picture, and posted it.

No, he didn't.  The decent and courteous thing to do, in my own little world anyway, would be to address it first with the officer.  If the officer is rude, is unable to explain his rationale, etc, then by all means call his Sergeant.  Who knows the officer's rationale?

If you screwed up at work, would you want someone to talk to you about it first before they contacted your supervisor? 

People make mistakes all the time, and it seems pointless to me to post it on the internet just so you can say you are right.

[bigtex]

Things changed in natural resource law enforcement in July 2012. Previous to that date all fish and wildlife misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors could be handled by paying a bail forfeiture, basically I give you a criminal citation with a fine on it, you either pay it or go before a judge. Now ALL misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors go before a judge, no more bail forfeitures on citations.

What WDFW did was decriminalize 15 acts, it made them from a misdemeanor offense to an non-criminal infraction which can still be handled by a fine. Things like fishing a closed lake but not possessing fish is no longer a criminal act, being licensed but not having it on you is no longer a criminal act. The reasoning is by decriminalizing these 15 acts it would pass on the more serious/resource impacting offenses to a judge, and not clog up the courts as much.

It is one of those give and take situatations. Fishing closed waters but not possessing a fish went from a $109 criminal citation to a $87 natural resource infraction. However now that judges see ALL misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors they can start to look at violator histories and assess higher fines/penalties.

My point? As far as giving those two guys warnings, is the officer really going to send two guys before a judge because they went 2 fish over on bait fish? Probably not, especially in King County where this occured. Salmon, steelhead, bass, crab would be a different story.