While I have been going to Wisconsin for 21 years on the same chain of lakes that gets patrolled heavily by the sheriffs, I have never been checked there.  2 years ago, the sheriff was sitting in his boat on the water so I motored up to him and asked why he never checked me.  His response....”You bass guys always have your chit together and it’s a waste of my time”.  ?. We both laughed and I continued on.

Just yesterday as I was done fishing at 11am I saw an Encon Officer in the parking lot. He had a fellow by his truck and it looked like he was going to give him a ticket.

 

I was loading my rods in the back of the car and the officer came walking towards me. Same question they always ask "Did you catch anything?" I answered sure did, got 6 Smallmouth and a bunch of Sunfish as I pulled my wallet out and produced my fishing license. He answered "Ahhh, someone who knows the drill. Good until the 10th of August, thanks." "Did you catch and release?" I answered, yeah who would eat anything out of this stretch of the river? He laughed and I told him thanks for everything he does as I know its a tough job.

 

I got to thinking on the way home about the question "Did you catch anything?" MY theory is if the officer didn't see you actually fishing he needs you to admit that you were. In this case I was loading rods in my car. I could have told him I just bought these at a garage sale and I wasn't fishing. It would be interesting to see how that would have played out.

 

I always have my fishing license. I purchased my first one when I was 18 and have renewed it every year since then. 

2 hours ago, NYWayfarer said:

I got to thinking on the way home about the question "Did you catch anything?" MY theory is if the officer didn't see you actually fishing he needs you to admit that you were. In this case I was loading rods in my car. I could have told him I just bought these at a garage sale and I wasn't fishing. It would be interesting to see how that would have played out.

 

 

I've wondered this too. When I was about 19 I got nabbed for fishing without a license at a local park with a buddy. On the way there, my buddy was making a big deal out of me not having a license (I always had a valid one until that ONE outing) and I shrugged it off and told him he worried too much. Sure enough, we were walking up a trail with our rods and got stopped and checked. The officer didn't actually see us fishing, and I still got a ticket. He told me to mail in a copy of a license with my fine  and they would drop it. I did that, they dropped the fine, but I still had to pay the $100 surcharge. 

9 hours ago, NYWayfarer said:

I got to thinking on the way home about the question "Did you catch anything?" MY theory is if the officer didn't see you actually fishing he needs you to admit that you were. In this case I was loading rods in my car. I could have told him I just bought these at a garage sale and I wasn't fishing. It would be interesting to see how that would have played out.

If you are in possession of rods near a body of water, you are presumed to be fishing.  They can write you the ticket, and if you have proof to substantiate your case, the judge will hear you. 

 

Pretty much the same deal as if you have an open container in your automobile.  Do you actually have to fail a breath test?

I only went fishing once about 15 years ago. Last week I went by myself to try to pick it up as an adult hobby. I had an out of state license because I used to live in New York. So I decided to get just a 1 day pass. Then my friend told me they never check licenses anyway. Week later I go again without a license thinking there’s no way I’ll get caught. Within an hour of starting to fish a guy in uniform shows up to check my license. I tried to play dumb saying I didn’t know mine expired after 24 hours but he wrote me a ticket for $100. I immediately went to buy an out of state annual license (even though I live here, my license is still New York which unfortunately means I can’t get in state resident). I was 12 the last time I went fishing and I never learned how licenses work until now so I think he could have given me some slack but anyway I’ll never fish without a license on me again.

Old thread but what the heck this topic isn't dated really.

 

I met and fished with a guy named George who was a real character. He had a thick accent, half Brooklyn and half drunk I think. We'd meet at the bank of the San Joaquin River in Lathrop here and there.

 

George from Brooklyn: "Hey I got a ticket today for fishing without a license!"
 

Me "Dude you fish every day and you don't have a license?"

 

George "Ya, it was the same Sheriff who gave me a ticket last year"

 

Me laughing "Did he remember you?"

 

George "Ya, I was fishing in the same spot too. He remembered me alright"

 

George describing a striped bass he caught after handing me an extra 40 oz beer he brought in his backpack:

 

 

 

No but I did get stopped the very first day fishing in PA as an adult. They have a law that you have to display your license which I was not aware of.

 

Allen

I can count on one hand how many times I've even been checked..and I've always had my license 

I always buy a valid fishing license and carry it as well as the required identification 

IAW the state laws.

Purchasing one on line is about as easy as it gets.

None of that has anything to do with whether or not I think or expect to 'get checked'.

btw - looking a few pages back, 

I was fairly triggered in this one . . . . 

#goodcoffee

A-Jay

49 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

I was fairly triggered in this one . . . . 

#goodcoffee

Nah, that was a decaf response. A spot on response though. 

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

I always buy a valid fishing license and carry it as well as the required identification 

IAW the state laws.

 

None of that has anything to do with whether or not I think or expect to 'get checked'.

btw - looking a few pages back, 

Same here - I can't remember the last time I was checked...but I always buy one.

 

Fees go to the DNR for water management, ramp maintenance, and lots of other things...given that all the public ramps are free to use - it's well worth it to not have that additional 'ding' when I want to go fishing.

One day while fishing the bridge at N. Salty (Goose Pond Guntersville) we noticed a wildlife officer on the bridge looking through binoculars. Well...he was looking at a bunch of people we knew (who were on a golf trip) fishing off the dock. He said, "You know those guys? You think they got licenses?" I just kept fishin. He goes over and writes em all tickets ($200 each).

They will check you all the time around here, better have it 

Years ago we hunted public marshes in South Central Nebraska every opening day. Pretty popular with hunters, state, and even federal game wardens.

 

I organized the trips for my buddies, some coming from out of state. Always made sure to have all our "ducks-in-a-row" so to speak...licenses, federal and state stamps, HIP numbers, plugs in shotguns, steel shot, careful counting on the limits...always! 

 

One of my buddies told story of fishing the Kenai River in Alaska...and game warden approached them, sidearm drawn. 

 

I was pretty shocked...but he said it's common in Alaska to be approached like that by game wardens.

A little over a year ago, I went down to the 24 hour fishing pier at Castaic Lagoon at around midnight, as I occasionally do just to toss a new lure where I can see the action  well because there are lights shining into the water. As I was casting and cranking, a guy eases up on me and asks me how the fishing is. I look over to see a warden  right next to me.

 

I normally fish out of a boat and have a tackle satchel loaded with my gear for that, but occasionally go down to the fishing pier late at night and have a backpack that I can toss a few 3700 boxes into and strap a couple rod/reel combos to for shore/pier fishing. 

 

I keep my license in my main tackle satchel, and forgot to transfer it to my backpack. He asked for my driver's license and told me he could check with that. He left me there and went up to his truck and returned a few minutes later stating that he couldn't hook up to their system (my cell service was fine. . .). 

 

To make a long story even longer, I offered to leave two $300 combos there with him along with my driver's license if he'd let me drive a mile and a half home to get it. He said he couldn't do that and wrote me a citation. He told me that I should receive something in the mail about when I needed to appear, or at least go before the date he wrote on the citation (90 days from the date of the citation). I didn't give him any flak about it, and we actually chatted for a good 20 minutes after he wrote the citation.

 

A week before that date, I hadn't received anything, so I went to the courthouse hoping I could reconcile the issue as he had instructed me to do. After jumping through the flaming hoops needed to speak to a court clerk without an appointment in the middle of a pandemic (in Kalifornia), I did manage to use their online appointment system to make an appointment for that same morning since I had taken the day off of work to try to get it taken care of before the deadline.

The clerk told me that my citation had not yet been entered into the system so she had no way for me to provide proof of having bought a license before the date of the citation, and she suggested that I report to the courthouse once a month to check if the citation had been reported so that I would not get a failure to appear notice added to my case. She said that if he hadn't entered the citation into the system a year after the date of the infraction, that he wouldn't be able to file it after that date.

 

He hadn't filed it for 90 days, so I figured he must have decided not to file it. It's been 14 months and I haven't gone back. I have a pic of my citation and my fishing license that shows the date of purchase stored on my phone, and I have proof that I tried to appear before the date on the citation, and I guess that if they want to hang an FTA on me for that, I'll have my day in court and see what happens.

I get checked at least once a year.  Usually, it's during a holiday weekend, like Memorial Day, 4th of July, or Labor Day, but not always.  Once I couldn't find my paper license, but then I remembered that I kept the email receipt from buying it online, and showed the warden that, and he was okay with that.  The fines around here for fishing without a license are pretty steep, from what I've been told.  

I get checked every single time I go fishing. The park Ranger said he remembered me but didn’t want to rile folks up that he was checking . Finally last weekend he was checking everyone on the dock working his way towards me and my wife. I already had my DL and my fishing license out and ready and he yelled “ show me some ID ! “ pointing his finger and smiling. He just kept walking , never missed a beat. By golly he was right. A bunch of people were butthurt that he didn’t check my license. Huh ! 

Always have one - never been checked. TPWD boats aren't fast enough

Yes, but they searched my name in the system and was clear. If you are asking if you should buy a license, yes you should even if some state run DFG/DFW departments have become very swampy and bureaucratic in nature.

 

(note, this is not ment as an attack on the officers in the field, but instead the higher ups that are on non-elected boards that make all of the decisions  without ANY public input and OCCASIONALLY scientific data).

I have a lifetime sportsman's (license that covers everything both hunting/fishing with the exception of a few $0.00 permits that need printing once a year)

and have a laminated copy that I keep in my hunting pack, my main tackle box, and my wallet.

 

so, no I haven't.

21 hours ago, A-Jay said:

btw - looking a few pages back, 

I was fairly triggered in this one . . . . 

#goodcoffee

Yeah, me too. 

54years fishing I've maybe been checked 10times at the most. I never give them any crap. I'm glad they are out there. I call them when I see blatantly illegal things going on.

On 7/25/2019 at 12:45 PM, Randy Price said:

I was fishing at a local lake when two CPO's approached me and asked to see my license.  I handed them my St. Croix Legend Xtreme with a Shimnao Stradic Ci4 while I got my wallet out.  As I'm retrieving my license one of the CPO's says I'm sure this guy has a license, he gave just handed me a $ 600.00+ rod and reel to hold while he's digging for it.  I started laughing and showed them my license.  They both really liked the Legend Xtreme rod.

Similar story.  
 

a boat with uniformed game warden pulls up to me in my kayak.  I was pulling out my papers when he stops me.  “ I just wanted I thank you for wearing your life jacket - you. And your friend are the only two” he says something about knowing we have proper licenses.  Hah. 

Nope.

 

Have one in my pocket and a second one in one of the boat's conpartments.

       New Years day 1983.  I decided to go ice fishing.  I stopped at a store to get a license, but they didn't have any for the new year yet.  I stopped at another place, and they were closed.  As usual I was in a hurry and decided to just go fishing.  I was going to a lake I had never been to before, but was supposed to be on fire according to the sport section of the news paper.  Because I had never been there, I didn't know there was a spring in between the parking lot and where I saw other fisherman.  I fell through the ice trying to get to where everyone was fishing.  I was completely soaked and cold, but determined to catch some fish.  I caught a few perch, that I gave to another angler.  I was to cold to stay for more long so I left early.  When I got to my car I got checked by the game warden.  I pleaded with him to give me a break, but the only break I got was he let me sit in my car with the heater running while he wrote me a ticket.

      I learned two lessons that day.  Be more careful on ice, and never go fishing without a license.  Since then I have a few more close calls on ice, but have never not had my license.