i am involved with an OHIO fishing forum as well and i posted the same question. they were telling me that it is as well around $100 plus they can also confiscate every piece of equipment you have on you.

thats insane. i realize if you try to cheat the system they can do what they want but that would crush my world. :'(

If you have a license, then it's not an issue and your world won't be crushed.  There's no reason to not have one.

A bunch here.....I want to say(guess) almost 65% of the people i meet don't have one.This is from shore fishing.I heard it's close to around $200...from what somebody told me.

I was once fishing a pier and this DNR boat pulls up nailing like 12 people without licenses. It was me and another guy who only had licenses.This was 3 years ago.That Pier cleared out really quick,after it was all over it was just Me and that other guy who kept on fishing.

I keep telling everybody it's like $15-$20 for one,you spend more money @ a movie theater.IMO Fishing license usually pays for itself after the 2nd or 3rd trip.

I love our lifetime license option.  

Also check your local rules.  In MN you can fish without a license in state parks. http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/fishing.html

Get caught with fish and no licence,  sometimes it gets crazy.  last year on a canada fishing trip, they lodge sent us to the outpost with only catch & release licenses, and we wanted to keep the fish.  Not being able to read french, we just took the guys word that they were legit.  Game warden came out, wanted to fine us $750 dollars for 3 walleye in the boat.  He called the lodge, they told them it was a mistake, and they flew the proper licenses out.  I would never even consider not spending the 30 dollars for a license after that.

I used to get checked, but now I know most of the local guys by name, even have their cell numbers in my phone.  A few times, I've seen people doing things that "weren't right,"  and called.  I'll make the call, and if I stick around, the responding officer will check me, just like everyone else, even though he knows I have mine.  Whenever this happens, there are at least a few that don't have a license.  The fine is pretty heavy, and in some circumstances, the officer has the option to confiscate the offender's gear, including the boat.  Seems pretty silly not to drop a few bucks on the license.  If you forget to bring your license, you can submit a copy of your valid license along with the ticket, and the charge is dismissed.

Considering that the money from our fishing licenses goes directly to help keep the areas I fish in clean, the fishing license is one of the few if only taxes I enjoy paying.

I am a NY Game Warden. In NY fishing w/o a valid license or failure to carry license on your person is a violation punishable by a fine of from $0-$250 or 15 days in jail. The amount is up to the judge.

However, New York State, in an effort to raise money for the General Fund, has implemented an automatic $75 surcharge on conviction for any Conservation Law violations(including fishing without) before any fine is even imposed.

So it will cost you at least $75 in NY if convicted, plus whatever fine the judge wants to impose.

Seems like an awful risk to take for saving $19.

I got checked the last time I was out.

Around here (especially on the Ca Delta) it's more common to get checked by Sherriff's (like I was) than by Wardens, because their are a lot more of them.

I know a guy that got caught without a license, and it cost him $400...... but here's the really funny / stupid part > About 2 weeks later, he got caught again, by the same warden, still without a license ! Bam ! $600 !

I think on the second one, the judge should have called it, "Criminal Stupidity" !

Fish

for some reason i was fishing with a license but my wife was not..

and for another reason i thought i was going to be okay that one of us had one, and not the other, i think the only saving grace i had was my three year old girl with her Barbie rod, as the warden was female, and she thought my daughter was cute.