Bad experience with a warden Saturday

Ok....so....

Has anyone ever fought a citation giving to you by a game warden?

Saturday, on Aquilla, I was boarded by a couple wardens. After providing my valid fishing license, they proceeded to ask for a life jacket, then a horn, then a fire extinguisher, then a throwable floatation, then one noticed my registration sticker on the boat was "expired". And out came the book.

I told the warden that I was sure it was valid and my registration card says it is good.

He then wrote me a citation, without verifying my card, for "expired boat registration".

I immediately went to the ramp and called it a day...,,AS MY "Dec 8" orange decal was gone! On both sides! The old "6" was there.

My registration card says I'm valid till December 2018.

I just went and paid for a replacement sticker, $22, to stick back in the hull.

The reason I didn't argue with them on the spot was it seemed as though they were not leaving me until they got my signature on a pink slip.


Do I have any recourse?

Yes, call the JP, explain what happened, provide them with your current registration and they should dismiss the ticket.

Thanks for the response....

That's my plan and it's what I'm hoping will happen.

You should protest by taking a knee everytime you catch a fish.

Sometimes you can call the local District Attorney or Judge, explain what happened over the phone, and see if they will work with you. Sometimes they do, sometimes thy don't. I have had both success and failure on speeding tickets in the past doing this. I suggest you be extremely curteous, and only mention that you had renewed the registration on time, properly placed on the boat, and to your surprise it was missing when the GW checked it. Offer to email them the Valid Registration Card and let them know that you filed for a duplicate sticker because it was stolen/lost.

Good luck...

That's my plan....since it's a drive to get there in person.

As for courteous? I was very nice and compliant. I even spot locked our boats and moored theirs to mine. Offered them both ice cold drinks.....they just seemed to have a chip on their shoulders. So I didn't want to argue, as it seemed like it would have just made it go on longer.

They even insisted on seeing my live wells. Even though they were dry as a bone. When he started writing, I just smiled and told them to be safe. Haha. I was thinking some bad stuff.

Oh.....I'm a nice guy in person....just seem like an ahole here.

Had the same thing happen to me once on Monticello. They were NOT going to leave without writing a ticket. Mine was I didn't have a rope attached to my throwable. Shame on me.

They should have run the registration through TCIC/NCIC and seen the registration was current. A warning should have been issued only due to inacurate date on the boat. Was the current sticker stolen?

LMAO.

got a ticket on cypress one day for not having a fishing license. I was licensed, but i could not locate the paper copy in my wallet.
I know they can validate online or through dispatch whether i actually had a license but he wasn't at all interested, he wrote a ticket, and that's OK, i in fact could not produce my license that day.

I called the JP and they just had me mail or fax a copy of my license that showed i was in fact licensed at the time and they threw the ticket out. But it seems like i had to pay a $20 administration fee of some sort. Sounds like a very similar deal, you probably don't have to appear if you just call them and mail in a copy of your registration and the receipt for the replacement stickers.

My suggestion would be to keep your cool going forward (which you did on the water) and kill them with kindness at the next level, sounds like your good to go anyways. Maybe the GW was having a bad day?

One time I had a warden on lake alan henry wrote out a citation because I couldn't find my card. I found it as soon as he handed me the ticket to sign and I handed him the ticket with my card and said Here it is! The warden followed my boat for 3 hours waiting on me to do something so he could get my signature. He never did.

One other suggestion - when you talk to the JP, admit that you were at fault. The stickers should be displayed and they weren't, so technically you were at fault. I think this shows you're a logical and fair person. Hopefully the JP is also.

Had a warden give me a citation because I didn't have my navigation lights going. It was well before sun down and I was very aware of the rule she accused me of breaking. She sat at the ramp giving everyone that came in after me the same ticket while I waited at my truck for her to give me my ticket. Then she wrote the time on the ticket as the time she gave me the ticket and not when she verbally told me I was breaking the law. Went back and printed up every thing I could find on the rule and what time sunset was and how I waited for over an hour at my truck for her. DA must have believed me as they threw it out and said sorry for the mishap.

Have never heard that the throwable PFD must have a rope attached. Only that it must be immediately available for use (not in a bag or closed compartment).

Anyone shed light if there truly is an attached rope requirement? Checked TP&W and USCG info and cannot find anything about having an attached rope.

Never heard of the rope either. I need to see that in writing

The rope requirement is for commercial vessels only, under USCG rules. Although I have heard of folks being checked on Falcon by USCG and those anglers were warned about the rope.

yes, it was stolen.

It was there a month or so ago when I went to get the title changed at the TPWD office. The lady there told me it was current and good for over a year. And didn't charge me for a new sticker. I got the registration card printed in my name. When I got home, sure enough I had orange 8 stickers on the boat. Saturday, they were gone.

Looking at my upholstery remarks in "boats and motors" there is a pic of my boat with "red 6" stickers. So I lost the stickers sometime between late august and last week.

the rope is a requirement on vessels > 26 feet from what i have read

I'd also read about the USCG warnings on Falcon. What I'd read it was for the throwable being in a compartment and not being "readily accessible" - don't recall any mentions of an attached rope. If required for commercial vessels maybe they were checking Falcon guide boats when they warned about a rope and not a private vessel?

Maybe a couple of nights in the cooler will teach ya.

Tough crowd.

Much better

You should file a report for the theft of your sticker. They will have a number that the police can get for the sticker after running the registration online. If someone who stole it gets stopped and it shows the registration expired, they'll run the number on the sticker and it will come back as stolen. Call the JP and tell them what happened and ask to fax a copy of the police report and the proof of current registration to their office and ask them to dismiss the citation. At the very worst, you should only get hit with an administrative fee but probably not even that when they see a theft report was filed.


Next time you will know to report it to the GW at the time and since he wanted to do some writing, let him write up the report for the theft.

I had a run in with the USCG on Amistad about not having a rope attached to the throwable. No ticket thanks to the TPWD Warden that also showed up and quoted them the correct regulations regarding that. I assume the Coasties were new to inland enforcement and were used to doing the checks on saltwater boats.

The ticket is dismissable once you show proof of current registration. No biggie

In many instances when a court date is established and the citation is dismissed, the accused is still responsible for court costs incurred, so be prepared.

How was fishing on Aquila?
J D

Some thing happened to me. After getting a duplicate sticker (I had lost the new sticker somehow) I contacted a nearby JP and he cancelled the ticket.

If they ticket I usually end up paying one way or another.....popo any way, never had a GW get me for anything, I passed a field sobriety test on Ute years ago by a GW and I just new he would find sumpin to jack me on.

Caught 3 dinks.

One was 13-7/8". Thought about holding it a while to see if it would relax.

GLAD I DIDNT!

Most are GW are ok, they have a job to do like every body else.

I've only had a couple of encounters fishing that didn't go good. One dropped a 3.5 pounder in the lake during a tournament. He just had to measure my three fish I had at the time. I held them up and told him they are way past 14 inches, all three were over 16 inches.

He let go of one it before i could get a grip on it. He could have cared less. I was not happy, I was fishing a team tournament by myself. My partners wife had surgery so had to fish by myself.

I never been written up, couple sure seemed disappointed they couldn't find anything.

I had one put a pretty good ding in hydrosport I had back in the 80's. I let him know bangin into the side of my boat wasn't going to cut it. He dang near put that big aluminum GW boat on top of me.

Just life experiences that build character!!!

So the throwable float needs to be out in the deck all day when fishing and can't be in a compartment?

Does it matter if you are alone?

Steez....you being unruly again? I didn't read the thread. Watch him, he'll con you outta 5 bills if he gets the chance....

Nah....I was trying to be really cool.

When they started to write a ticket for the registration, I figured that would be my boiling point. But, something about being on the lake on a cool morning I just smiled and offered them something to drink. Figured it's the 3rd time in 40years I've ever been approached by a warden and I fish 3-5 days a week. It was due. The first two times I had coanglers on my boat without fishing licenses. It's amazing how when that happens, the boat owner still gets their feel of the heat.

Last time I was taking an illegal coworker fishing. Lol. That one almost turned ugly. Warden threatened to take us both to jail.....so I took my coworker to Walmart for a single day non-resident license.

I know the laws and I always try to stay within em.

Saturday I figured I was gonna get some type of citation...weather it be a missing sticker or the wrong color boat...or whatever. So....I just smiled and enjoyed to visit. It was when he asked if I was fishing a tourney, and I said yes, and his partner laughed and said I was the only one without box full of fish, that I decided I was done for the day. Haha.

Federal PFD requirements for recreational boats:


Accessibility

• Wearable PFDs must be readily accessible.
• You must be able to put them on in a reasonable
amount of time in an emergency (vessel sinking, on
fire, etc.).
• They should not be stowed in plastic bags, in locked or
closed compartments or have other gear stowed on top
of them.
• The best PFD is the one you will wear.
• Though not required, a PFD should be worn at all times
when the vessel is underway. A wearable PFD can
save your life, but only if you wear it.
• Throwable devices must be immediately available for
use.

I bungee cord it to the back of my seat.

Last time we were checked at Fork was really pretty funny. Two young GWs in a big V-hull boat came up on me and Slade D. in Little Caney. Slade's birthday was just the week before and there were plenty of gag gifts. One in particular was a large clear plastic box and on the outside was written "Slades Sex Toys". For some reason he used that to throw some stuff in before we went fishing. The GWs come up on the side of the boat and wants to see the usual, license, life jackets, fire extinguisher, etc. I hand him my license and start getting the fire ext., cushion, etc, when he see's that box and asks us if he should be worried about us. I said "what for?". He looks down at that box, and I immediately say, "That's not my GD box". He looks at Slade then looks at me, hands me my license back, and pushes away from our boat. Never checks cushion, fire ext, nothing. He and his partner just idle off, laughing, when they get about fifty yards out I hollar one more time, "That's not my GD box". They never turn around, just wave and drive off. Never seen these two on Fork before or after this

I keep mine in my storage box. I always make sure that it is on top of everything and not wedged in so I can defend that it is readily accessible. Might I get a ticket? Sure. It seems so many people have had so many different experiences with Game Wardens that it is all going to be up to the interpretation of the particular warden that you get that day as to what the law states.

STAND FOR THE FISH, BUT KNEEL FOR JESUS!!!!

sounds like you got the Volcik, I swear he checks me at least once a year out there.

Fight the man!!

They normally will look at the registration docs verify you are valid and write you a warning for the obviously stolen stickers.

this should have never happened and one of the reasons it did is that we as fishermen/hunters don't challenge enough tickets....it's easier just to pay the ticket than it is to go to court and contest it...and the game wardens know this plus they will deny it but they are judged on how many tickets they write....
in your case,you can just about bet that those stickers had some cheap adhesive and just fell off your boat (we had that problem here a few years ago)....
if that game warden had known you were gonna show up in court plus write a letter to the DNR board of directors about his unfriendly attitude and poor judgement,you can bet that ticket and similar ones would not be written.....