Fishing Forum

I took a trip to Island Park this weekend to visit Yellowstone with my family and had a free day to do a little fishing on the Henry's Fork. Please let me preface this by saying that 99.9% of the time, I am a catch and release guy who ties barbless flies. Being that I have never fished this river, I stopped by a local fly fishing shop for a couple of local patterns ( I won't say which shop) and some advice. After the advice, I fished from Trout Hunters area all the way down to Osborn Bridge with some success (nice healthy rainbows and quite a walk). While waiting for my wife to pick me up at the bridge, I was passing the time playing with a few dinks at the bridge when the ID Fish and Game truck pulled up. I know the drill, so I reeled in my line and headed for shore. I produced my license and went to show the officer my barbless hook when I realized that I had never checked the flies that I had bought at the shop. Uhoh. Sure enough, there was a barb and I was busted. I didn't try to argue, I was guilty and should have checked the flies that I had bought at the shop. I just wasn't used to doing so since I tie my own and remove the barb on the vise. I did explain that to him, but understood that I was still guilty. At that moment, my wife pulls up ad screams "Give him a ticket!". Now she knows that I am a catch and release guy and tie barbless, so she is assuming that I am just getting my license checked and trying to be funny. The officer replies "I am writing him one now". Nice! I took deep breath and awaited my punishment when he told me that the fine was almost $80, but he was going to make this a warning ticket. What a good guy and I really appreciate the gesture. I made an honest mistake and wasn't trying to bypass the regulations in any way. It was nice that the officer recognized that and made the right call (from my point of view). I just wanted to take the time and say thank you and that I will continue to pay that hefty sum for my Non-Resident ID fishing license for years to come. It was a pleasure to fish in your state and you have at least one outstanding officer in the department. It could have been real downer to an awesome day, but instead it was a pleasure. Thanks again.
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Right on. I am with you on this, I probably wouldn't have thought twice either about the barbs. Lucky it wasn't the Mantua cop.
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Ill agree 100% with you on our fish cops. There has been a few bad apples here and there. But as a whole I have had great experience with our fish and game. Most of the guys working for them these days have some great common sense and do a pretty thankless job.
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