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

[Wildman]

For those not totally familiar with Lower Owens, there is a section called the "Wild Trout" where hooks must be barbless and it is no take. The rest of the river is not so restricted. I have heard of the cotton ball test to see if the barb was pinched down enough. I gave all my barbed fly tying hooks away...several thousand Mustad hooks I had bought on Ebay. I restocked with all barbless hooks in the sizes I tie because it simply one less thing I have to remember and I really don't seem to lose many of the fish I catch because of a lack of barbs. The barbless hooks just slide out with the Ketchum Release tool and seem to do much less damage to the smaller fish. I do know the Owens is slammed by those who are less ethical and have little respect for limits or methods of catch. I did come close to a no license ticket on the Walker river ( I had mine in my vest but couldn't find it). Stanbery made a last minute save by finding it just as the brand new rookie Warden and his training officer opening his brand new ticket book.

[John Harper]

Do you have to carry your ID, or just your license? I never carry my wallet, just my license.

John

[Wildman]

I carry ID because of special circumstances along with my fishing license. You could sure color copy your drivers license and carry it. I think it would depend on the Warden or LEO...some might want to be able to run your info....the one's I have had contact with never asked for other ID.

[rkfiske]

I had a warden get the jump on Chris and I last year. If I recall correctly, he only asked for our fishing license not our ID. We were in the wild trout section and was a pretty nice guy overall. He asked if we knew the regs, and we said yes, he proceeded to visually inspect our flies, did not do the "cloth" test or whatever you call it, and told us to have a nice day.

[Rigormortis]

Wow! Some of these stories are frustrating. We all make mistakes at times, and of coarse you never know what kind of Warden you will run across. I for one know a couple DFG Wardens who are (one of which is a very close friend of mine) very good men and know when to cut people slack. They have told me some of these new Wardens are coming in with absolutly NO backround or interest in hunting or fishing so that makes it tough.

[phunhog]

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

I often wonder the same thing. Are there any fly fisherman that actually prefer barbed hooks?

[BobK]

A local (Crowley Lake) man was convicted of killing 3 large Mule deer bucks last Fall without the proper tags, in a zone that you average 1 tag every 4 years. He had his picture taken with these deer in a California outdoors magazine and he won $500 in a big Buck contest. His fine was $750 and not able to hunt for 3 yrs. This makes poaching cheaper than legally going out of state to hunt, and only $250 more than forgetting to pinch a barb or, in my case, not getting the barb pinched all of the way down in the 1st place.Isn't California wonderful? BobK

[Fishfreak911]

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

Couldn't agree more! Though true "criminal offenses" still need teeth.

[Fishfreak911]

A local (Crowley Lake) man was convicted of killing 3 large Mule deer bucks last Fall without the proper tags, in a zone that you average 1 tag every 4 years. He had his picture taken with these deer in a California outdoors magazine and he won $500 in a big Buck contest. His fine was $750 and not able to hunt for 3 yrs. This makes poaching cheaper than legally going out of state to hunt, and only $250 more than forgetting to pinch a barb or, in my case, not getting the barb pinched all of the way down in the 1st place.Isn't California wonderful? BobK

Wow! Now that you put it into perspective...

[FlyKastr]

We all make mistakes at times, and of coarse you never know what kind of Warden you will run across. I for one know a couple DFG Wardens who are (one of which is a very close friend of mine) very good men and know when to cut people slack.

Yes, 1mocast and I got checked by the DFG on my first attempt at surf fly fishing last year. I haven’t been saltwater sport fishing for many years and stopped getting that stamp. It didn’t even cross my mind to add it beforehand (duh). The DFG Warden didn’t mention the missing stamp and only asked if I caught anything. I was grateful to receive some grace that morning.

[Rigormortis]

A local (Crowley Lake) man was convicted of killing 3 large Mule deer bucks last Fall without the proper tags, in a zone that you average 1 tag every 4 years. He had his picture taken with these deer in a California outdoors magazine and he won $500 in a big Buck contest. His fine was $750 and not able to hunt for 3 yrs. This makes poaching cheaper than legally going out of state to hunt, and only $250 more than forgetting to pinch a barb or, in my case, not getting the barb pinched all of the way down in the 1st place.Isn't California wonderful? BobK

(Shaking head) Terrible!

[littlefish]

Southern Sierra Fly Fishers had a warden as a guest speaker at last months meeting and apparently, tickets can get up to $1,200 with court fees, etc...for not having a license. Also, its illegal to have two copies of your license.