Pinch those barbs down cuz.......

[flyster]

A good friend was ticketed on the LO for not having a barbless hook. Bad news in the mail today, $500.00 Bucks!! Wow that stings. As we get older we tend to overlook simple things like that.
That truly seams a little steep in my book. Or am I just out of touch on the cost of fines nowadays????

[WanderingBlues]

It's less a fine to possess meth residue. Go figure.

[lucfish]

It's less a fine to possess meth residue. Go figure.

That's pretty amazing. If the guy was using bait, I could see it, but a fly guy? I know that Bob K was fined even more if I recall. It doesn't seem right.

[NorcalBob]

<<<Or am I just out of touch on the cost of fines nowadays????>>>
Since the courts and govt agencies have discovered that this is an unlimited source of revenue, ALL fines have gone through the roof. A good way to raise money!

[John Harper]

This is why a lot of states are making recent law to protect people from financial ruin due to these kind of draconian fines. Lots of poor people are actually put in jail because they simply can't afford to pay these outrageous fines. How does that help them make any economic progress? They simply fall into the bowels of the growing Prison Industrial Complex.

So, lives/families are ruined, taxpayers get the prison bill, and nothing is gained.

John

[BrownBear]

Talk about a fine-

My wife buried #4 Clauser with intact barb in her thumb, and standard field removal techniques didn't work out. Hop over to the emergency room and pay $1264 to have it removed.

Your choice who you pay, but we're certified pinchers.

[flybob]

John, it has been 500.00 for quite awhile, I believe that is also the fine for fishing without a license!

CA takes its wild trout laws very seriously, more so that it does "Texting and driving" which has the potential to KILL people, like me crossing the street while I go on my walks! SCARY Sheet when you are in a crosswalk, and have the signal, you see a car coming and the driver is NOT looking UP!

[acorad]

This is a tough one, while I feel for your friend and his 5 hundo, we all know that fishing (and hunting, driving, etc.) are highly regulated activities, and forgetting something like the barb requirement, which is basically rule #1, is kinda cra cra.

On a salt water board a couple days ago a guy asked for a fish ID. He posted a photo of himself holding up the fish by his game clip shoved through the gills. It was a baby Black Sea Bass. He said that he ended up releasing it, and he said it swam away just fine, but if a game warden had seen him while he was in possession of the fish the guy would probably have been prosecuted. Rumor is the fine is something like $3K.

I got stopped on the LO by a warden a few years back. I had pinched the barbs, but was worried they weren't pinched enough. Happily, the warden was totally fine with my pinche pinching!

Andy

[Benny]

Ouch that's a serious fine.

Best we all pinch down the barbs at the vise, or if you're not tying your own flies pinch down the barb right after purchasing.

For the most part, most of the guys on this forum seem to be C&R anglers anyways, so it makes total sense to go barbless all the time no matter what waters we are fishing.

[briansII]

John, it has been 500.00 for quite awhile, I believe that is also the fine for fishing without a license!

Someone I know well got a ticket for fishing without his license. The dummy forgot it back in his car. I......I mean that guy, talked to the warden, and the warden was kind enough to give some advice once I....umm, he, received the citation in the mail. The ticket was approximately $600. With info from the warden, said scofflaw wrote a letter to the court traffic division, with proof of a valid license during the time of the violation. Thankfully the fine was reduced in half. I.....I mean he, gladly paid it. Lesson learned.

briansII

[Papasequoia]

I'm sure many of us remember the worst one yet. Dave (WatchingTheWater) was fishing the Kings when a warden came up and asked to see his license. This was back when you had to have them attached to your body in view and it was gone, had fallen off. So, the warden starting writing him a ticket. Meanwhile, some guy comes walking up from downstream holding a license and asks Dave it if is his, and it was. Relieved, Dave shows the warden his license and the warden says "Sorry, it's too late because I already started writing the ticket. But you can go to court and tell the judge about this."

So, he gets the ticket (total bs on that one, makes ya want to not like wardens after all), then he gets the fine in the mail which I believe was $500. But he was in the middle of a move to CO and couldn't make it to court, so he ended up having to pay the fine. Even though he showed the warden his freaking license while he was standing there. That one still ticks me off and it didn't even happen to ME!

[Jimbo Roberts]

Poor Dudley.....

Back in the 80's I had a friend who I regularly bass fished with named Dudley. I always asked Dudley if he had his license when we went to fish Fayette County Lake because the wardens were always there. This smallish lake about 1000 acres was one of the first lakes in Texas with Florida Strain Bass. It was closed to fishing for about 3 years to build up the fish population. I had friends who fished with the wardens before it opened up and they told me of days of fishing with Buzz Baits around the shore line catching well over a 100 Bass...... all on Buzz Baits !!!!
When it opened it was a BIG DEAL! They only allowed about 120 boats on the lake, but about 500 would show up. They spent so much time turning the extras away, they decided to go to a reservation system, and when it opened that up, there were so many calls it shut down the local phone exchange. That made the national news too.
"Lake shuts down entire County phone system!"
Anyway we finally were able to go fish it. This one time we went fishing, I asked Dudley if he had his license as he was prone to getting it at the last moment. He said he couldn't find it and he thought it fell behind the refrigerator. I knew he had bought one because I'd seen it before. But he said what are the chances we'd get stopped and he wanted to fish anyway?
Sure enough the game warden came over to our boat during the day and Dudley said he had one but forgot it. The warden was nice, gave him his card and told him to send him a copy and all would be good. About 2 weeks later we went to Fayette again. I asked Dudley if he found his license, he said he still could not find it. I said we should go get one in case the warden happened to find us again. He said he wasn't buying another license and he would find it in his own good time and send the copy to the warden.
We had a bad start to the day. We fished out of a small john boat with a 9.9 horsepower outboard. When we arrived the wind was blowing and the lake choppy. As we motored out of the boat ramp cove, Dudley asked me to get in the front of the boat so it could plane out. I stood up in the boat taking steps over the bench seats in our shaky and rocking little boat. I had not stuffed the car keys all the way down in my pocket. We hit a wave nearly knocking me overboard. I caught myself on the gunnel but the keys fell overboard in about 25 feet of water. We had to turn around and go back to the boar ramp cove. This was before cell phones of course. I went to the front gate and they let me make a long distance call to my parents back in San Antonio. I told them what happened and asked them to drive the spare set of keys to us out at the lake. Sure they said but they couldn't get there before about 4pm.
So we went back out on the lake. We hadn't been fishing 15 minutes when we saw the game warden's boat headed straight for us at top speed. It was the same warden alright. He pulled up along side of us and unceremoniously asked Dudley in a very stern tone..... "Why haven't you me a copy of your license?"..... Dudley said he still could not find it. That warden could barely contain himself. He put Dudley in his boat, put him in handcuffs and said for me to follow him across the lake to the warden's shack, even though I had my license. I could tell there was no reasoning with him so I followed him to the far side of the lake though the chop in our little john boat getting soaked along the way. That warden, took him off the lake to the shack, wrote him a ticket, and was going to drive Dudley down to the County Courthouse right then and there. He came over to me and said I could pick Dudley up at the Courthouse about 5pm, but I was free to go.
So I fished out the day and did quite well catching many fish 3-5lbs on deep diving crankbaits. I quit fishing before 4pm so I could meet my parents when they arrived. They were a little late too. I told them what happened to Dudley and they thought it was hilarious, but gave me a couple hundred dollars extra in case I had to bail Dudley out. I don't think my Mom stopped laughing about it before they left for San Antonio. I put the little john boat back on top of my Mercury as we car topped it back then and drove into La Grange and the Courthouse.
Arriving at the city square and the Courthouse I could see one person sitting on the courthouse steps head in his hands from way off. It was Dudley of course. The warden had taken him before the Judge and they found him guilty of all sorts of violations which added up to well over $500 and this was back in the 80's!
I pulled up and Dudley stood up. I was ready to rib him, but I could tell he was in no mood for any joking around as he walked back to the car. I asked him what happened. All he said was he had 30 days to pay the fines or they were going to jail him. He didn't say another word on the hour and a half ride back to Austin.

Jimbo

[John Harper]

Poor Dudley.....
All he said was he had 30 days to pay the fines or they were going to jail him.
Jimbo

I fought the law, and the law won.

John

[rkfiske]

I'm sure many of us remember the worst one yet. Dave (WatchingTheWater) was fishing the Kings when a warden came up and asked to see his license. This was back when you had to have them attached to your body in view and it was gone, had fallen off. So, the warden starting writing him a ticket. Meanwhile, some guy comes walking up from downstream holding a license and asks Dave it if is his, and it was. Relieved, Dave shows the warden his license and the warden says "Sorry, it's too late because I already started writing the ticket. But you can go to court and tell the judge about this."

So, he gets the ticket (total bs on that one, makes ya want to not like wardens after all), then he gets the fine in the mail which I believe was $500. But he was in the middle of a move to CO and couldn't make it to court, so he ended up having to pay the fine. Even though he showed the warden his freaking license while he was standing there. That one still ticks me off and it didn't even happen to ME!

I didn't know about this story! Man Dave attracts fines wherever he goes! I should've seen our improper food storage fine from a mile away!

[Baughb]

Which is why I wonder, in these days of Catch and Release why ANY trout type fly manufacturer would even MAKE a barbed hook or sell a barbed fly. I hope to see barbed hooks be the "extra cost, special order" hooks for the trout and small fish community. Even tying videos and photographic recipes show barbed hooks most of time. And those same tyers support catch and release fervently. Mixed messages sent.

Just my opinion after pinching hundreds of barbs down on size 20-24 hooks because they don't come in barbless, or cost 40% more.

Sorry about your fine but, I'm glad to see the wardens out there as often as possible. I've been checked 3 times since December. Not bothered by that at all.

Bob