I had a safety inspection today while on the lake by a uniformed city police officer...the only thing he didn't check was to see if I had my fishing license, but he checked everything else...even my boat registration card...that's cool and all..I guess whats bugging me is Ive been fishing a long time now and had plenty of checks by the game wardens..but this was a first for me..I guess my question is should and could he check to see if i had my fishing license. I did.. and everything else he checked....And please take this as just asking a question..I'm not bashing the guy at all, he was very professional, and I treated him with proper courtesy..

was it lake jacksonville

I've had that happen on Lake Lewisville before. I appreciate the concern for my safety over the revenue of an absent license. But I never fish without a valid license. Don't let it bug you. He was making sure you were properly equipped in the event of a problem.

If it was Jacksonville they would have done a body cavity search .

Yes he can check. It's a state law so any police officer can check. You don't see it much because few cities or counties have the resources to staff a lake patrol position. Most departments are stretched pretty thin.

I had the same thing happen on Rayburn. He Checked everything but the fishing license. I told him to look at my boat since I had stickers all over it and that I fished tournaments, so why would it appear to him that I didn't have all the required equipment!
I told him after he checked everything that "HE WAS NOW GOING TO CHECK MY LICENSE TOO!!!" But he was very professional and didn't appear to be too much into fishing since they were on the way to check out some Dove Hunters.

had one check me once but only thing he checked was my fishing lic

Typically....you will see a presence of a patrol officer on weather wind advisory or days with projected bad weather. With the over all general public not having much common sense these days it is just a precautionary measure. You never know when the next idiot is going to try to canoe in 4 foot rollers with no preserver on. They are there to protect people from themselves.

A regular police patrolling the lake can enforce any enforceable law. However it would probably be very difficult for them to right tickets for anything other than very simple laws such as no fishing license and safety laws. I'm pretty sure they would struggle a bit trying to distinguish whether or not your short hybrid was a white bass or not or creel limits or most all other game laws.

I know you're talking about local police, but I had a game warden on Bob Sandlin last week not only check my license and safety equipment but actually come on board my boat and check the fish in my livewell. That was a first for me.

He actually tried to check me twice that day, approaching me again after I moved. I have been on Sandlin four times in the last two weeks and he has been out there checking boats every time.

He was professional and I had no problems. I've never seen a game warden on Sandlin before, now he's out there all the time.

+1 gotta watch out for the morons on the water

It was probably just Heath checking to see if you were on any big fish..

The whole group of Wardens from that area are good people. They do their jobs well and are respectful at the same time. I would rather get checked by one of them every time I am down there through the course of the year then get checked once by the Wardens on Ray Hubbard. Only been checked 2 times in the last 20 years on Ray Hubbard and none of them were pleasant experiences. No tickets issued or anything like that. I had one chick ram us almost knocking my buddy off of the back deck. Had another guy run in on plane in 2 feet of water not 10 feet from us while we were sight fishing in the cut by the Power Plant. Once he got to the back and seen nobody was beyond us he turned around and boarded our vessel. Absolutely muddied up everything and ruined the hole for a couple of hours.

I thought a cop had to have probable cause to pull you over...I know a game warden doesn't need probable cause, but is it legal for a cop to do that? A cop can't just search your car or your home, why should they be able to search your boat?

On several occassions, ive had lake patrols on Grapevine ride up on jetskis and perform safety inspections. They have always been courteous and quick. The whole event usually less than 3 mins. I don't mind it too much. They aren't there to harass you, but as someone mentioned, some morons just need to be protected from themselves.

And no, they never checked licenses.