Question for the masses.

Saw a family group fishing this morning on Cedar Creek, father, son and maybe an uncle or grandfather. The child looked to be 4 or 5 years old and was having a ball, it was great to be around someone having that much pure joy fishing. This kid could make a Zebco sing.

He wasn't wearing a pfd while fishing and I didn't notice him wearing one when they left.

Would you have said anything?

I also noticed that they were keeping nearly everything they caught, tossing small fish back but everything else went in the cooler, I was catching small hybrids 10/1 over the sand bass.

I would probably tell him the game warden was out earlier checking boats to make sure junior had a life jacket. The illegal fish would probably be solved by doing this.

I usually mind my own business while on the water but I might have said something in your situation. Would have said something about the child and the fish and tried to be polite

I witnessed 2 kids under 5 yrs old on a bass boat with their dad fishing at Grapevine lake one time with no pfd for the kids. The youngest one was running around near the edge trying to stick his foot in the water. While the dad was facing away fishing. Thought about saying something but watched from the distant making sure the kid was ok. I don't really like to say something so I mind my own business. But again if something happened to that kid I'll regret it. Fortunately it didn't happen. Game warden is on that lake a lot and I'm surprised why the dad didn't put a pfd on the kids was mind boggling.

I was at Ray Hubbard two weekends ago and witnessed a 4-5 year old on a pontoon boat with no life jacket on. It was bad enough they were going under the bridge at a pretty good clip in a no wake zone but when I saw the kid with no life jacket I just looked at them and shook my head. Between his boat motor noise and the traffic on the bridge above there was no use even trying to say anything to them. Had it been a different type of encounter yes I am sure I would have said something to them.

I don't stick my nose where it doesn't belong but I would hate to see a kid drown knowing I could have at least brought it to the parents attention that the kid was required to wear a life jacket at all times. DPD patrols Hubbard pretty regularly on the weekends so I would bet they didn't make it through the day without being stopped.

Was the kid drinking beer? Bet the Father and Grandfather were. He may have been designated driver. Were ya'll catchN at the Drew Barrymore House?

If they are parked .... Mute point .........

All children younger than age 13 must wear a life jacket while in a boat less than 26 feet in length that is underway.

I never hesitate to suggest to an adult that their kiddos need a pfd on. Even if they get mad, I know I've tried to prevent a drowning.

I do not tell folks what to do with their catch as the few times I've tried too, I'm perceived as a meddler. I just call 1-800-792-4263 and report them to Operation Game Thief. If the Warden is on the Lake, just sit back and enjoy.

Good Luck!

I encountered a similar situation once. I told them the kid needed to be wearing a life jacket and gave them one of Riley's , my 10yr old daughter. They thanked me saying they didn't have one that fit. I also told them the GW are checking fish so be careful .

There is a good chance they don't know the difference between a small hybrid and a sand bass. Good suggestion about telling them the game warden is checking.

Was the young feller wearing fashionable crocs, George ?

If they fish close to me and act friendly with smiles, I would talk fishing and hint them the rules. Or an expensive lesson learned. Most folks I encountered on the water are friendly. A few are clueless about boating rules.

If they are not on anchor, the boat is considered underway. Drifting is underway. Was told that by a game warden.

Lifejackets are ON if your floating period... at the age of 12 or younger or if you can't swim at any age (in our boat) period. Man.. George! good question .... Probably what Champion Fish said would be the best scenario for that particular encounter.

I would have said somthing. My kids were there life jackets at all times no questions asked

I try to give people the benefit of the doubt before going as far as calling the game warden on them. I will always inform someone of the law and help with their identification. I would feel like a complete [censored] if someone got a huge fine and lost all their gear because of a simple mistake. If they obviously know what is going on and continue their behavior I have no problem getting the warden on them.

There is no mistake in keeping undersize fish. Size and bag limits are written in the hand book when you get your lic. . I would have said something and then if they were ugly about it ,i would have called the game warden. Ignorance is no excuse for the law. Throw em back if there is any doubt

I guess I am just a lot more laid back then a lot of the folks on this forum. When I go fishing I go to have a good time and catch fish, not monitor what others are doing on the water. "I also noticed that they were keeping nearly everything they caught...." that is certainly some close monitoring. Really how can you tell from 20 or 30 feet what size fish they are catching? I certainly would not have said anything to them and most definitely would not have called a Game Warden on them.


GMB

From 30ft. away anyone who fishes occasionally can tell the difference!!!

Fast guy's observation was prompted by the fact that he was fishing 20 feet away and fastguy himself was catching 10 to 1 undersized hybrids from probably the same school the other boat was . So i can see where he would question the type of fish the people were keeping. 20 feet is the length of a boat. I can see good at twenty feet and i wear glasses.

On the other subject of the kid with no life jacket . That is against the law period

Guess those who fish occasionally have better eye sight than I do. No way I could tell if a fish was a 15 inch sand bass or a 16 inch hybrid from 10 feet, never mind 30 feet. Heck I couldn't tell you if a fish was a sand bass or a hybrid from 30 feet, unless it was a really nice hybrid. But that is just me.

But I have no doubt you can tell the difference, but honestly I can't.

GMB

Agree if the boat was drifting or moving, it is against the law. But I still wouldn't have said anything or called the Game Warden. Of course, I probably would not have notice the kid not wearing a PDF.

Again, if you held up a 17 inch hybrid at the other end of the boat, I wouldn't be able to tell you whether or not it was legal hybrid. My eyes are just not that good. I couldn't tell you if a 14 inch fish was a sand bass or hybrid from the other end of the boat. I just don't know my fish that well.

If you saw a person driving down the road with a child not in a seat beat or child seat would you confront them or call the police? I wouldn't. Would you call the police if you saw someone speeding or not using their turn signal?


GMB

Excellent question !!! I'm not going to police anyone but me ...
But some people love to police the lake ......

Okay, I am not going to call the authorities and i am not going to as you say POLICE the LAKE . So i am going to bow out of this thread. If i see some one keeping undersize fish, so be it. If they get caught I DO NOT CARE. If the kid drowns I DO NOT CARE

THEY SURE DO!!!!!

First off, all kids wear PFD's on my boat at all times. And yes, I might politely say something about the pfd and the small fish if I had been in the OP's shoes.

Secondly, the OP said he was catching small hybrid 10;1 over sandbass. Now I might not be able to determine the legality of a 17" hybrid from 20-30' away, but I can tell the difference in a 10-14" fish from an 18"ish fish at that distance. And most of the time I can tell you from one end of my boat to the other if a fish is a sandie or hybrid, I monitor all fish that go in my live-well because the ticket would be mine.

I had a noob on the boat with me last weekend and he was wondering how I could tell the difference so easily. He couldn't tell until I showed him the difference in how they are built, the lines where they hit the tail, and lastly the tooth patch. I even started calling mine before we could see them, and was right every time based solely on the way they fight. I'm not bragging, just saying different people pick up on different things, and it seems I've become fairly adept at distinguishing a sandie from a hybrid pretty quickly. But, as I noted above, noobs likely would never know there even was a difference at all. That's no excuse though, the reg's are available for all to read. When in doubt, chunk it back.

And no, I have no desire to police other people on the water. But at the same time, I realize that the hybrid fisheries are "give and take" fisheries as well. Too many people keeping those undersized fish can have a direct effect in the coming years. Most people who would keep a small hybrid would do so out of ignorance. So I don't see at all where it hurts to help someone understand the difference. If I got attitude in return then I'd just move on. But no, I typically do not give a dam what is happening on another person's boat unless there is a hottie with a bikini on the front deck sun bathing.

Very well put Psycho .... The Hubbard guys are very used to fishing in tight quarters and we welcome all that trolls up to a grouped up school of fish ....or boats! We gladly will help and or call out what we see is not working on other boats (with open arms) Call it da police if ya want LOL. We love our fishing. We love helping people. We love our hybrids......George I'm on vaca in a couple weeks and we gonna HOOK UP

Safety First.


I would have said something in a very nice way about the hybrids. Like there are lots of small hybrids were catch be carful the GM is on the lake. He will write a ticket for everyone one.

I agree with BCJ82, I will politely confront them every time about both issues. All they can do is tell me it is none of my business. Words can't hurt me, but if that kid was do drowned or those people get fined tons, then I would feel really bad. By the way, I can tell you that one undersized Hybrid cost over $250. Accidents happen and are expensive.

To many people in this world that wants to dictate to other people how to live their lives. All busy bodies, teacher's pet, stay out of other peoples lives. Junior game wardens, wannabe a cop, amateur child protective service agent. One off my pet peeves. Respect the others person's right to do what he want how he want to do it, let law deal with illegal activities.

Relax golly Bollie!! It's about common sense on the water. Some need help and will gladly appreciate it. But you I guess know everything so your good to go!!

LOL did not ment to rant like that. My fingers is at fault.

This was very entertaining. If your smart enough to be on here reading and posting then you should be smart enough to know what kind of fish your catching and keeping.

I agree Rockwall Roy a very entertaining read. I love reading these type of posts.

It is interesting the number of folks on this forum that will "Politely Confront" another boater over life jackets, legal fish, and who knows what else. I am one of those "whack jobs" that believes there are way too many regulations (government interference). Government's job is infrastructure and defense. It is not the government job to require children 13 and under to wear a life jacket. That is the parent's responsibility. They don't require life jackets in swimming pools and I bet there are a lot more drownings in swimming pools then in boating accidents.

Same with seat belts. everyone in a car has to have a seat belt on or in a child car seat. Then they allow 60 kids on a school bus with no seat belts..........go figure.

Anyways, I bet if you were to ask any Officer of the Law, they would tell you to not "Politely Confront" another boater / fisherman. That is their responsibility not yours.

Reminds me of a number of years ago my neighbor in Arlington was always confronting people over driving too fast in the neighborhood. They were going to run over her kids. She called the police and asked them to please do something about it. She got a ticket the very first day they did something about it.....for speeding..........LOL.

Did we successfully change to topic of the original post

GMB

Bollie: guess you don't wear seat belts either. Keep any fish you want and let kids wear or not wear PDF's. People are in your life telling you what you can and can't do everyday. Most of them have no clue on how it affects you personally. I agree with DrWhiplash, they may just not no better and would appreciate the help.

They will get caught sooner or later

Sorry, but I would have tried to notify a game warden, too. Every year, those of us who FOLLOW TPW laws, pay more and more to hunt, fish, boat and camp. Raise and enforce the penalties on those who don't care to learn and follow the rules.

JCBfromTHF says "the kid was required to wear a life jacket at all times" but needs to check the Texas regulations as that too is incorrect. Children are required to wear appropriate and approved PFDs as follows:

Children under 13 years of age in or on vessels under 26 feet must wear a U.S. Coast Guard approved wearable PFD while underway.

So, not underway - OK, regardless of vessel size. Additionally, on any boat over 26 feet they can skip it if they wish (but I wouldn't). This doesn't change the fact that some violate the rule or are unaware, but worth mentioning. If it gets really hot, I may sometimes put down the power poles in reasonably calm water to let grandchildren take PFDs off and cool down - and it's completely legal.....

Times when I might police the lake.

1) When a child's life is at stake.
2) When the boat is being driven in a way that risk the lives of others on the lake.
3) When a person or persons are blatantly breaking the laws such as cast-netting game fish, trashing the lake...etc. Because I am so stinking sick of this behavior.

Other than that I stay out of it. And I've had pistols drawn on me a few times in the past teaching me it's best to not confront strangers if you can avoid it. Folks, there are some crazy people out there.

I usually say "Hey, the Wardens are out today" and point to a PFD.

I think Fastguy knew this was going to be controversial and, with all the rain messing up fishing, just wanted to trigger some discussion. As for me, I like the Bridgeport guide's tactful approach. You get the message across while trying to be seen as helping the guy avoid a substantial fine.

It is an interesting discussion. You don't typically have folks at work, when you are out to dinner, etc., looking for someone breaking the law so they can "speed dial" the police. I have never heard anyone say they are calling the police because someone jay walked or was speeding or didn't have a child in a child seat or didn't have their seat belt on. Don't see people monitoring the handicap parking spaces either and calling the police if they think someone should not be parking there.

But when it comes to fishing and hunting folks are chomping at the bit to have a reason to call the "Possum Police". I really do not understand why that is. If you read the original post, he wasn't sure they were doing any wrong, he was guessing they were because he wasn't catching legal fish, which I admit could be a reasonable conclusion. But is that really a reason to call the Game Warden?


GMB

I pay for a fishing license annually. Pay my taxes on my boat at purchase and registration when it's due.. Like everyone else I assume.
Guess I missed the "entitlement package" that contained the police badge and bat phone with a direct line to the game warden.. I'm kidding guys, laugh.... I promise you'll feel better!

When I'm fishing, I try not to fish around other boats or groups. Kinda defeats the purpose of why I'm out there. I prefer the solitude, and the peace and quiet.. But that's just me.

I dont fish police as I witnessed a fatal shooting years ago I've come to believe it's just not worth it.