OK, so I've read almost all the posts here and I have to tell a true story as told to me by my Father. Back in the late 1950's my dad and a friend of his were fishing a popular bank fishing spot along a river in southern Missouri in late February. My dad did not have a license and the other guy did. My dad saw someone approaching from quite a distance, so he put down his rod by his friend and just sat at the base of a tree. The game warden approached and asked to see their fishing licenses. My dad was always a bit of a smart azz when it came to the law, and he said he was not fishing. The GW asked him what he was doing then, and my dad said it really wasn't any of his business. The GW asked for some ID, which my dad did produce. The GW then said if dad did not tell him why he was there, he was going to get arrested for fishing without a license. At that point, my dad being the true smart azz told the GW that for all the GW knew, he might just be gonna take a bath. At that point the GW told dad that if he didn't strip off and start his bath he was going to get a ticket for fishing without a license. My dad said that was the coldest bath he ever took in his life!!!! The next day dad bought himself a fishing license!!!!!!!

Now you're being silly.

A huge difference. It is called possession, being defined as anything but immediate release. If you catch, look/measure, and release, you caught and released an undersized fish.

If you put it in your livewell, you caught, possessed, and released it. The line must be drawn somewhere, and how would you write and enforce laws for temporary possession?

"Oh - I was just taking it back to the car to take a picture - I'm not keeping it."


Personally I think anyone in a touney should know better anyway, so no sympathy. Breaking the law is breaking the law, and I support GWs and enforcement everywhere.

Most GW's wont write it if its barely not on the line. Most will write .5" and greater, but still .00000001" is still illegal

Many people are "ignorant" (without knowledge....not stupid) of the laws of the land. Oft times a person hears a "myth" and it becomes like a reverential belief in his mind!

For example...there once was this guy that I observed telling some other young folk that "if you robbed a bank and stood on the North Carolina state line with one foot...and on the South Carolina state line with the other foot.....that the "law" could NOT TOUCH YOU!" Yeah, believe that!!

Another myth I saw in action was when I was working a little convenience store. It was about noon and a guy came "barreling" up in the parking lot, jumped out of his vehicle and walked "quickly" into my store. Two seconds later a police car with lights blazing and flashing screeched to a halt next to the guy's vehicle. The cop came in the building and proceeded to write the guy out a ticket for running a stop sign about 3 blocks from the store.

Later after the cop was gone, the guy was very shaken up and walked up to me and said....."I didn't think a cop could WRITE A TICKET ON PRIVATE PROPERTY!" Wrong!! But that is what the guy BELIEVED due to misinformation.

Moral to my story....get the facts first hand from the law enforcement agency in question.

Case closed!

Vern W, You are right. Possesion--If you catch a fish and boat it, you have that fish in your possesion. It dont matter if you have it 5 minutes or all day, possesion is the same. As far as drawing the line somewhere, you are right about that except, with that fish in your possesion and you leave the lake or take to the bank for harvest, yes you have broken the law, but taking a fish to a weigh-in, you give up your possesion when you give the weigh master the fish to be put in a holding tank to be put back in the same water it came from and to get a ticket for that is chicken s???. I'm a tournament promoter and a tournament fisherman and beleave me different brands of measuring boards will measure different. I know that some dont know to measure first before they go to weigh, but a lot of tickets are wrote to experienced anglers that did'nt deserve it like a friend of mine @ Mc Donalds a few years ago and he went to court and beat it.

you guys kill me,,, sit back and read what you are saying....i want the gw's and thank them for a thankless job but oh yea don't mess with me?????? personally i do thank them,,, and if i mess up then i deserve the ticket,,,kinda like speeding if you cant pay the fine slow down.....STUPID

If you would give your brain time to think instead of commenting you would see i beleave in law and order too, but what the GW's are doing @ some of these tournaments is I Wear The Badge and this is how it is. My friend beat that ticket in a court of law which sets a presidents that what they are doing is not right.

Until about four years ago a game warden in Texas had no more search authority than any other peace officer. Unless an officer has consent, their is extingent circumstances, after an arrest, they see something illegal in plain view, they are in hot pursuit, or a few other exceptions an officer cannot search a house, car, or person without probable cause. This was determined by the U.S. Supreme Courts interpretations of the U.S. Constitution. For years people believed the wardens had special search authority so they allowed the officers to conduct searches. The state of Texas then passed a law about four years ago that stated that a game warden may search a persons vehicle and belongings in the vehicle if the officer has a "reasonable suspicion" that the person has been engaged in hunting or fishing. It gave the game wardens NO more search authority to search a house. To search a house (other than the few exceptions)a peace officer must have a warrant that states the probable cause and is signed by a magistrate. To search a car or person they must have probable cause but they do not have to have a warrant. This has been determined by the U.S. Supreme Court. However, Texas passed laws giving Game Wardens the authority to search a car with only "reasonable suspicion". To me this clearly violates the citizens fourth amendment rights. However, the game wardens are just doing their jobs within the laws of the state.

This might be one of the stupidest group of posts I've ever read. I don't care when or where a game warden searches or stops me. I don't break game laws. I also read the laws before I go hunting or fishing. I am glad we have game wardens and I fully support them! They do an incredibly tough and dangerous job. And if you can't measure a fish you deserve a ticket. You will remember how next time. Now I want my last ten minutes back.

Thanks RKT, for explaining a true statement, because that is right and don't misunderstand me because most GW's are upstanding law enforcer's and by the book, but there are some of them who wear the badge and bend the law around to their benefit.

Plus #1. Totally wright.

Any mediocre attorney would love this strategy. Circumventing a search warrant. His client is going to walk.

None of us have a right to even be on this earth so cut the "unconstitutional", woe-is-me bravo sierra, will ya's! You have a right to abide by the laws set forth and you bought a license because you want to be legal (abide by the law that says you need a license). So what if they want to check you - you shouldn't have any reason to GAS as long as you are legal. Just let them do their job and quitcher belly-aching! Dayyyyyyummmmm!