C.O.'s cracking down.

[sparky660]

We were into Spencer fishing this weekend and a group of guys were caught with a walleye 49 cm's when the minimum size is 50 cms. They didn't get a ticket but an automatic court date. Do they generally do this? It is nice to see the CO's cracking down.

[rustynailz]

Talked to a CO friend of mine this morning who's working up in the Hinton area. Said that the average fine for a retained bull trout is in the $1000 range by the time it's all said and done.

Great to see, but he says people still aren't calling in enough.

[sonny]

I am happy to hear these poachers got a court date, instead of fine, this may send a message to anyone else thinking of doing the same thing.
It is to bad that we do not have more Fish@Wild life Officers in the field to better enforce our fish@wildlife, There is to much abuse.

[genoel]

Good for them. My mother was just telling me a story about how someone was complaining that they got nailed for a fish that was only 1/2 an inch short. Too bad! The regs don't say 50 cm.ish. Know the rules and follow them! They are in place to protect our fisheries and preserve them for us to use in the future!

[hillbillyreefer]

But a cop letting you go 7 km/h over the limit is okay.

[genoel]

Different situation all together. That fish doesn't get another chance.

[Cal]

I dont generaly keep fish unless they are obviously 50 cm or more but I can see how ending up with a 49 cm walleye could be an honest mistake. Trying to get an accurate measurement when the fish is not co-operating can be tough. Another possibility is that by the time the guy got the fish to stop struggling long enough to get a good measurement it was in no shape to swim away. If you've got a mostly dead walleye on your hands that is a centimeter or less too short to me it becomes an ethical question, is it more wrong to let the fish go to waste or to keep the fish? Notice I used the word wrong and not legal, to me the two are not always the same. I would put the fish back in this instance. A walleye going to the seagulls while unfortunate, is not worth risking a fine to me. I would not pass judgement on the fellow who chose to keep the fish though. If you are dealing with a fish that is short by more than a 1cm or so either your tape reading or your judgement needs some improvement. But thats just me, glad the CO's are out there doing their job though.

[savagencounter]

Originally Posted by sonny

I am happy to hear these poachers got a court date, instead of fine, this may send a message to anyone else thinking of doing the same thing.
It is to bad that we do not have more Fish@Wild life Officers in the field to better enforce our fish@wildlife, There is to much abuse.

Poachers??? they guys where off 1cm Maybe an ecited measurement but doest make them poachers, 1cm is a joke. Hope they beat the charge.

[genoel]

All I know is that I'd rather be releasing 49 cm walleye than not being able to catch them because people are taking them out before they are legal. If the fish is that close on its measurement, then it is worth an extra moment to take a proper length before choosing to keep an undersized fish. The laws are in place because of the damage done to the fisheries in earlier years and they are of no use unless people take accountability for themselves and follow them, because the fish cops certainly can't check everybody. The regs also make it very clear that any undersized or other fish which is illegal to be kept is to be returned to the water whether it is alive or not.

[Beazer]

Originally Posted by genoel

The regs also make it very clear that any undersized or other fish which is illegal to be kept is to be returned to the water whether it is alive or not.

NO grey area there!

It's like sawing wood, measure twice, cut once.

[Cal]

Running the tape over the fish, bent to the contour of its sides can give you a longer measurement than if you run the tape under the belly or over the fish unbent.

To get a good measurement the tape must run in a straight line to be acurate, where as the belly of a fish is curved. Therefore if you ran the tape under the belly the front end could be an inch or two away from the jaw and the rear end will be an inch or two away from the pinched tail. This means you have to eyeball it up on both ends. So short of letting the fish flop around in the boat till its half dead and then getting it to lie on the tape you are going to have to try and line up the two ends by eye. IN ORDER TO BE A CM OFF YOU WOULD ONLY HAVE TO MAKE AN ERROR OF 5MM AT EACH END.

I've been working as a carpenter/welder/fitter for over a decade and I have a pretty good eye. But on a flopping fish with the tape a couple inches away at both ends I admit I could definatly make a 5mm mistake. I think any honest tradesman, as well as any honest fisherman would have to agree with that. And furthermore if your some desk jocky that put in some laminate flooring or built a deck once and figure you've seen it all and you wanna sit there at your computer and pretend you could never be a cm off under the conditions that fish are regularly measured then I laugh in your general direction.

Sure when that fish cop showed up a hour or two later that fish was all done its flopping and probably real easy to measure and all you self rightious fellas are sitting there wondering how this dummy could possibly make such a stupid mistake, must be a poacher. Well I think it deffinatly could have been a mistake.

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by genoel

The regs also make it very clear that any undersized or other fish which is illegal to be kept is to be returned to the water whether it is alive or not.

This is one regulation that's always puzzled me. It's illegal to waste the edible portion of a Big Game animal, but an undersize fish you have to throw back, dead or alive.
Grizz

[floppychicken]

I suppose if you were to hook into a 200 - 1500 lb fish and only intended to keep the 'HEAD', then that rule might apply also.... Indeed that would be a LOT of wasted fish and rules would certainly be 'put in place' in order to avoid that... (just like the rules of which you speak). Either way, you have a valid argument.

Cheers,

/FC....

[deanmc]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams

This is one regulation that's always puzzled me. It's illegal to waste the edible portion of a Big Game animal, but an undersize fish you have to throw back, dead or alive.
Grizz

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by savagencounter

Poachers??? they guys where off 1cm Maybe an ecited measurement but doest make them poachers, 1cm is a joke. Hope they beat the charge.

So what you are saying is that the rules should just be suggestion and a range to follow without consequences rather than a hard fast regulation to protect the fishery you love?

[Nait Hadya]

Originally Posted by savagencounter

Poachers??? they guys where off 1cm Maybe an ecited measurement but doest make them poachers, 1cm is a joke. Hope they beat the charge.

is one centimeter short on a sheep ah joke?