I have never seen a warden at a pier or on a bank. I was fishing one night at a pier in Port A I saw a guy keeping tons of 12" trout WITH HIS SON! The kid must have been around 5. Made me sick.

I say round 'em up and put them in camps. They must be purged.

I had a yearly permit on a popular pier in south Florida for years. Just something about going out and smelling the fresh salt air even if I chose not to fish that night after work. Probably fished 200 days my first year there just learning about the different fish since I only lived a block away from it.

What I observed was that it was the regulars that fished there that made sure no one was breaking the law. Since it was a popular tourist attraction as well, there were lots of folks from out of state that had no idea what they were catching or what the laws were.

I would advise that the pier try to buddy up with some of the regulars that can nicely let others know when they are breaking the law. The ones that don't know any better will be thankful, the one's that are trying to get away with something will go elsewhere. Doesn't take long to clean up a mess if its handled properly.

Once saw the Florida Fish and Game check out a large (no charge) fishing bridge near downtown Miami that was notorious for folks keeping undersized fish and illegal catch including undersized lobster. The place had hundreds of regulars and anyone with illegal catch at far end of bridge had plenty of warning time to dump or hide illegal catch. Sure made an impression on all when they brought a highly trained dog that could sniff out lobster in backpacks or any type container folks might hide stuff in.

As a long time pier fisherman I can understand the feeling of watching fish being kept that are undersized, out of season, whatever. Friendly reminders over pier intercom stating rules, what's out of season, lengths, how to measure. It will get the point across rather quickly, maybe even state what the fine is.

By the way I have visited the 61 st pier and was totally impressed with the place from a tourist standpoint, did't fish. Great place and hope more folks will visit it if they are in the area.




My favorite Spot!
Sure had a good time in Galveston!

I disagree with the responsibility part though on the pier management and the analogy used. I think a more appropriate analogy would be underage drinking at a bar. I have no idea if legally they are the same but it would make sense if it were.
You are charging someone to partake in an activity while on your property. It would make sense if you at least shared responsibility with those breaking the law.

Even if I have party at my house and some minors drink, I am liable even if I wasn't the one who provided it.

Reading this thread has made me want to take my daughters fishing on a pier though

I think the biggest problem we have here, is a complete lack of respect for the laws that protect our gamefish from being decimated.

I am old enough to remember the 70's and 80's. I remember when there were NO redfish out there. I was there when the GCCA was formed, and held fund raisers to start repopulating fish stocks. Now, you have people who come here from where ever, and they think they can take all they want, kill whatever they wish to, and have no responsability. It makes me ill. Its just a complete lack of respect for the resource.

61stpier -- that reply was reminiscent of something straight out of Amy's Baking Company's facebook page... Attacking and alienating customers (or even potential customers) is a terrible idea no matter what industry you are in... I could go on all day about this subject, but in the best interest of the good folks here on the forum, I will just leave it at this --

you will definitely not be seeing any business from me EVER...

To an above point, my thoughts are to fine the poachers and/or make them do x number of hours picking up trash (litter) on the beaches. There is no excuse for keeping an unknown illegal fish. When I take my 6 y/o grand daughter fishing I insist that she only leave footprints. The last thing we need is to teach the little ones that it is okay to poach and litter. Rant over. Sorry but this struck a nerve folks.

In case anyone is still watching. Here is a poster that I created with the help of Amy Ringstaff from TPWD Coastal Fisheries to help the patrons of the pier better identify and know the bag and length limits of our most caught game fish. I added the Nov 1-30 flounder limit to the real poster and noted that only one shark is allowed per person with 2 per party allowed.

very nice! glad to see you guys making moves in the right direction.

Fishing is a weird thing.. We have people following the law and we have people ignoring the law, yet, both can be terrible examples of what I'd consider sustainable fishing. Not sure how anyone can address this issue..

I've seen people catch their limits 5 nights a week put a lot more stress on the fishery than a weekend warrior who made a mistake willingly or unknowingly so its an odd thing to talk about.

Either way, i think the best solution is to be a friendly fisherman and to speak up. Piers should have posters/flyers all over the place with identification and slot sizes, they should have boards up for people to verify slot sizing... etc.. etc..

Of course, some people just have no regard for law or life but i hope the rest of the population can be accountable for protecting the fisheries and exercising their fishing responsibilities and rights.

The big problem we face is just too many people and an obsession with the few who live off the land as sportsman.. the world is full of 8 billion people, if we all acted like the family on duck dynasty eating every living thing within 100 miles just because we can, there would be nothing left. I'd like to think we can all live and let live and live off the land, but those days are long gone and while i admire their passions for the outdoors and the sport, its a morbid admiration of just being fascinated at how much in a bubble they really are and the world holds that bubble up as a prized possession of freedom and family yet, i can't find it the least bit sustainable.

so, i say, keep it simple. Speak up, speak out, help put positive pressure on your friendly neighbors to do whats right and whats fair and work with the popular fishing spots to help make it simple as can be to fish legally..

i know at my local pond which is barely a few acres there are lots of poachers.. not just people fishing for illegal slots and sizes but a lot of people fishing to sell meat on the black market and make a few bucks for beer and smokes. i used to think it was rare but since i've had a lot of free time lately in the evenings and been out on the water a lot, it pains me to see how excessive it is and how it only appears to be getting worse and youtube, facebook, twitter, flickr, bing and google make it painfully obvious just how visible it really is.

most importantly, just be realistic and use your brain.. fishing isn't rocket science

great post, but black market fish? I wondered if that was a thing... shameful.

The topic of this whole thread is why I (more or less) quit posting on this site.

Too many guys with opinions without any basis. In other words, talking (posting) when you don't know what the hell you're talking about.

You 'master' fishermen can't even agree on what type of shark is in a picture, yet you want to call out the game warden on somebody? Get a life.

Do I come off as being a jerk?

Probably, and here's why.

I posted picture here one time with two reds on a double drop leader with one red being 24" and one 19". I made it plain that I gave away the 24" one to a buddy and released the other one. So, some guy posted that I was a poacher. It was smoothed over with pm's with myself and the guy who posted it, along with a moderator.

I'm a decently educated man, one smart enough to know that the criminal justice system in this country is based upon 'innocent until proven guilty'. So, some of you goody two shoes, without anything better to do, start pointing the finger at someone in a picture and make him/her guilty of poaching.

Let's see if anybody can see the other side of the coin. Over the past couple of years I've caught well over 20 bull reds, and have never tagged any of them. Yes, I have pictures on 91st Facebook page and my Facebook page. Oh no, Red Fisherman is a freaking poacher. Quick, call the game warden.

Well, hold on to your horses for a minute, and let's see the whole fact. I released all of them after the pictures were made. Yep............lowered them in the big net and let them get reacquainted with the water and watched them swim away. So, yes, I've caught bull reds, had pictures made, then released them. Legal.

OK, how about the guy with 6 flounder on a table in a picture. Perhaps his other 2 buddies were cleaning out the boat or doing something else. Simple math.....6 flounder divided by 3 men equal 2 flounder each. Legal.

Yes, I've called the game warden out on occasion, most likely multiple bull reds caught by one fisherman...........however I've never considered going through freaking picture albums on websites or Facebook pages to see how many poachers I can find.

When a person is like myself, catch and release, you will never see a tag on a bull red. If I give it away, I make the person put their tag on it, and if they don't, then the fish is back in the water.

I just detest the implication that because someone is with a fish/fishes in a picture, that they're automatically poachers. That's a very dangerous implication without the complete facts.