Fishing Forum

So Hizahs questions about ever being checked by fish and game got me wondering what some of your weirdest encounters have been. Here is one. Initially back in the 80's, above the cable on the South Fork there was a slot limit for cutthroats plus you had to use barbless hooks. While in the river in my waders I back cast, getting stuck in bushes behind me....I thought. As I turned around there stood a fish and game officer with a welding glove on to the elbow. He had grabbed my line out of the air, checked my barb, bent down my barb, then invited me to the bank for my ticket. Yes, fifty dollars does make you holler. What has been your craziest encounter?
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I don't see anyone topping that encounter.
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I had a warden and a forest service dude walk up on me and another bow hunter while we were in our antelope blinds a few years back to check our blinds, bows and tags. The worst part is that the buck I had been eyeballing all summer was on his way in at the time and froze at about 200 yards out before sprinting off the direction he came from. I couldnt figure out what the crap the problem was until I saw said warden and other dude come strolling over the hill. Needless to say it was a less than friendly encounter and that particular warden tended to stray away from anywhere I was after that day.
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We got checked at Tildon Bridge . We had 7 fish in the cooler . The game warden told us we should have separate coolers to keep our fish in . I had kept 4 and my buddy 3 . He said , how do I know you didn't catch all 7 . I told him , what if I did keep all 7 . I put 4 in my cooler and 3 in his . He just shook his head and left . The limit was 6 .
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Went up ice fishing at Horsethief this last year. Just doing our thing having a great time. When we pulled in we saw a F & G truck sitting on the side of the road. We both commented that we wondered where he was because it was weird to see a truck just sitting there. the truck looked as if it had been there for a while. A couple hours go by and we see an officer walking out onto the ice. We were following the rules so no biggie. We asked him how he was doing and started small talk while he checked our licenses. He said he had been hiding in the brush for the entire time we were there watching us. Maybe that is a common thing but we both thought it was kinda weird and creepy. Mind you the weather that day was during the cold snap so it was in the single digits for temps.
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Was fishing at Chesterfield Reservoir a number of years ago in the cold and rain. My buddy and I were sitting in his vehicle drinking coffee and bs'ing to get out of the weather. We sat there and watched these teenage kid remove one of the wooden stiles/steps off the fence surrounding the lake. Then they proceeded to bust it up with a hatchet and use it for firewood. They were sitting around a campfire drinking beer and burning this rancher's former wooden steps. They were no doubt underage. Meanwhile a fish cop comes up to our vehicle asks to look in our cooler and wants to see our licenses. We checked out fine then pointed him towards the teenagers. Told him he would have no problem writing a ticket for destruction of public/private property and underage drinking. He got furious, asked us how we would like it if he told us how to do our job. Then then drove off and never approached the juveniles.
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Both of my crazy encounters with them have occured on the waterfowl openers up around blackfoot res. First one we setup for geese out in the flats, coffin blinds, 5 dozen decoys ect. Had 4 different flocks circle and were coming off and then when they would get to the same spot they would flare off. So I hoped out and take a quick hike to take a look at our setup to see what they were spotting and see two officers trying to hide in the snow covered sage brush in their uniforms. Happened to be perfect for where the geese would see them and flare off. I trucked it over and in a not so nice manner told them if they wanted to check us then check us but hiding out the way they were was screwing up a lot of setup work and I would file a complaint about them. They checked and left.

Next opener down on the river we were getting birds locked up pretty easy and then boom start flaring off goofy. Having hunted the spot no less than 40 days I know how the birds react when some one is up on the canyon rim and figured some one had drove over to the ridge and was looking down into the canyon. Get out the binocs and there was a couple of officers sitting on the rim with binocs scoping us out. As soon as they saw i could see them they left, but they did wait until we headed out and checked us.

Only place I have ever been checked while hunting is up there on the opener, up to about a dozen times now.
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My crazy moment was with a BLM guy over at Milner. I was at Muskrat bend in my pontoon. I rowed up river a mile and was fishing the pump hole. This was in November. I didn't catch a thing. Well I notice a truck parked near mine so I kept fishing. A couple hours go by and I make it back. The first thing the BLM ranger wants to know is WHERE IS YOUR GUN???I said I was fishing I didn't have a gun. He rode me like a pony at the circus about where my gun was. Finally he gave up and asked to see my fishing licence and he said I saw you fishing with TWO poles!!
Ya I said I do it all the time. I have a two pole permit. By this time he was pissed and said you didn't pay to get into the park. I said I didn't know that you had to in winter. Steck was open in the winter, and many other parks were free in winter. He walked to the truck and came back handed me my licence back and told me to pay at the entry or he would give me a ticket.
I have known a few BLM rangers but this one was an A-hole. I haven't been back to the park since. Ron
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Fly fishing the middle fork of the boise, i had smashed the barb with pliers. Two f &g officers approached, and one of them said he was going to ticket me for a barb. I explained i had smashed it off and asked him to show me what he was talking about. There was a slight difference in the profile of the hook where the barb had been and a very slight edge. The other officer looked and told the first guy that it was obvious i had done a good job of eliminating the majority of the barb. They actually argued for a few minutes before they finally just gave me a warning. Apparently you are suppose to carry a mini grinder with you when you go fishing...

another time i got a ticket for an 11 15/16th bass, which by my measure 8 hrs earlier was a full 12. The judge ended up dismissing it. The officer was a total jerk about it
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I ran into the same thing with one of the guys up at Challis. I use Gamagatsu hooks, and I have noticed that when you go to bend them down, most of the barbs will actually partially break off, then you have to try to scrunch that down. He accused me of not even bending it at all. I pulled a brand new hook out, handed him my pliers and asked if he would show me the proper technique, all the while the second officer stood on the road with his hand on his gun, both young officers, both very aggressive. First thing he did was break off the barb, that even made him more irritated. Fortunately I had another rod with a jig on it that was all the way bent down, I showed him that and he let me off with a warning. He ran the hook down the sleeve of his shirt and told me if it grabs fibers that it is not bent down enough.
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[quote Tazasorus]I ran into the same thing with one of the guys up at Challis. I use Gamagatsu hooks, and I have noticed that when you go to bend them down, most of the barbs will actually partially break off, then you have to try to scrunch that down. He accused me of not even bending it at all. I pulled a brand new hook out, handed him my pliers and asked if he would show me the proper technique, all the while the second officer stood on the road with his hand on his gun, both young officers, both very aggressive. First thing he did was break off the barb, that even made him more irritated. Fortunately I had another rod with a jig on it that was all the way bent down, I showed him that and he let me off with a warning. He ran the hook down the sleeve of his shirt and told me if it grabs fibers that it is not bent down enough.[/quote]

Running the hook through the T-shirt test is becoming the national standard. If they start enforcing it in Idaho like other states already do, it means using a dremmel on your barbs rather than just pinching them.
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I have started buying barbless on my nickell hooks for that reason, there is no way you are going to get it smooth.
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I can't find barbless 10/0 hooks. Ron
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Ron,
Gamakatsu makes 10/0 nickle octopus hooks. So does Owner, and a couple other companies. You might look online...
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f&g wardens were pretty cool until after the claude dallas incident when they were issued guns. this brought out the super jerk in many of them.

i was intensely working a fish down in the ranch on the henrys fork. two fish cops were canoeing the river checking. instead of telling me they were approaching, they snuck up quietly behind me then banged the oars on the aluminum canoe. scared the s*** outta me and they totally enjoyed themselves doing this. the fish went down too.

when one asked for my license, i dug it outta the vest and when i went to hand it to him, it 'accidentally' fell into the water. neither jerk had waders on, so one gets out and chases the license. he wasnt happy having to do this. about 150' downstream he snags it, and checks it out. he yells up to his buddy to get out the ticket book. it was the previous years license. he wades back up to the canoe and i give him the current years license. this pissed him off more. oh well..

now hell bent to give me a ticket, they wanted to check the hook being barbless. one says, if he sees any light between the barb and body, im getting written up. i told him go for it if he sees any light. write me up cuz i cant wait to cross examine him in court, expose their unprofessional behavior, and have him quote idaho code stipulating a 'no light' requirement in the law.

they packed up and left. justice served......*snicker*...
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The regs used to say a hook which has the barb pinched down.

It now says:

Quote:Barbless Hook: A fish hook without barbs or on which barbs have been bent completely closed (point of barbed area touches the body of the hook).

Soon it will simply say a hook without a barb.
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Officer Doogan was the man who struck terror in the hearts and minds of poachers in the day, since retired. Famous for long distance stalks and looking through the looking glass. I've probably been regaled with more stories on the fishing bank and blind of his exploits than any other officer afield. In my dealings with him I found him to be fair but if he knew you were poaching or breaking the law in some way, he was a known to be a tenacious man.
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Don, I'm curious about your thoughts on barbless waters where you are able to use lures. For sturgeon, you can buy most of the hooks barbless or grind them down ahead of time if you want. But what about other barbless waters where lures can be used, treble hooks, multiple single hooks, or even tiny flies that may be difficult to get the barb 100% bent down because they are so small?

I am not asking to antagonize, I was just curious in your thoughts on this because you seem to have looked into this (or at least thought about it) more than I have. Just an FYI, the only place I fish that requires barbless (at this point) is the snake for sturgeon. I usually however, try to bend down the barb at the fishing location. I have so many different hooks and just don't spend the time beforehand doing this for all of the various hooks I have (not motivated, or maybe too lazy at this point to spend that much time on it). I also carry a file that helps somewhat with any parts that aren't entirely bent down.
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The studies I've seen with barbless vs. barbed hooks in fish mortality shows little difference in survival rates until you get to larger fish like a sturgeon which swallows the hook or has it broken off inside of them and can generally pass a hook without a barb. The use of non-biodegradable, (Stainless or other hooks that won't rust away) was also a factor in large fish mortality. These studies seemed to conclude the highest mortality was caused by fishermen using to light of leaders and playing fish until exhausted, especially in mid summer temps. The last factor was how much or how long a fish was out of water before release due to the difficulty in removing a barbed hook.

In my opinion if you are going to make a barbless rule, any alteration to the factory barb should be considered legal. On a lot of the hooks I use, unless they are wire, the barb breaks to some extent rather then bending. The interpretation should go to the effort rather than the result unless they are going to state the hook must be without trace of a barb or manufactured barbless. The T-shirt rule is in my mind, someone out there who is looking for an excuse to cite rather than someone who is looking to maintain our resources.
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The T-shirt rule in my mind, is someone out there who is looking for an excuse to cite, rather, than someone who is looking to maintain our resources.

In Idaho, I never look for trouble. But, some do.,

Ruby Ridge.

"Reference only"

Idaho
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