Violations of Pier Rules and Alabama Fishing Regulations

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Originally Posted by Jbearden

n529;103779]I haven't read the entire thread but last year's Ranger was considered heavy handed and overzealous?? .Wow I thought he did a decent thankless job.

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He gave multiple people pier passes so that they would keep him informed on who was doing what. He would show up at the pier at 2:00 am to see if anyone was shark fishing in the middle of the night. He was always threatening to arrest or throw peole off the pier. He would carry kids in his office to interrogate them about shark fishing or getting in the water to release a Tarpon. The sunglasses he wore had a video camera in them and he would tape every conversation that he had with you. He once threatened to cause trouble for a person that worked at the state park because of something his son said and did. So yes he was heavy-handed!!! This is a fishing pier not a gang infested inner city.[/QUOTE]

His job was to catch people breaking the law. For as long as I have known game wardens have been hated because they catch people "enjoying" their time outdoors.

For the most part we do police our own on the pier but plenty of people nod and wink when younger guys throw Spanish heads or other fish parts at the sharks. Is that not a violation? If giving pier passes was within his authority then how is that wrong? That video he collected protected you as much as it did him. I guess you have a problem with police officers wearing body cams too?

As for threatening someone for something his son said or did then a complaint should have been filed and investigated. BUT as it seems he no longer is here then all of this is mute.

Very easy to understand guys. As I've said before. Can't be too aggressive or things will turn ugly, and can't be passive or people will walk all over you. Need to be assertive and treat everyone with fairness and equality and you'll not only get compliance, but earn respect as well. Then if someone gets a ticket, they only have one person to blame. IMHO, enough said.

Witnessed the first enforcement action today and what do you know? Numerous anglers were fishing without licenses. Perhaps MORE importantly a number of people were issued citations for over creel on pompano. Including one fisherman with 13 in his cooler.

Regardless of where you stand on this issue, and whether or not you have "witnessed" anything illegal. It happens, all the time, and in the name of protecting our resource, enforcement is what is called for.

If they had come out and found nothing, I would be the first to admit my mistake. They didn't find nothing. They found exactly what I had reported to them. Five days ago they couldn't fathom how what I reported could be true. Now they know. If you don't make at least a token show of enforcement, most people will choose not to follow the rules and simply serve their own needs.

"Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men."

Forgive me for not being indifferent.

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Originally Posted by GBergmann

Witnessed the first enforcement action today and what do you know? Numerous anglers were fishing without licenses. Perhaps MORE importantly a number of people were issued citations for over creel on pompano. Including one fisherman with 13 in his cooler.
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LOL Like i said, them pomps are the most frequent violation i see. It's unfortunate the limit is 3... 5 would be a bit better... and license are cheap... not sure why people that enjoy the fish wont spend money to protect the habitat..

13 fish is gonna be pretty damn expensive. Judge may cut you a little slack for being 1 fish over. But 10 fish over is blatant, they don't like that at all.

I'd never heard about the interrogations, camera glasses, etc. I always thought Lynn was the best thing that ever happened to the pier and was sorry that he left. He was friendly to me but I have no doubt that he'd have given me a ticket in a heartbeat if I did something wrong. Yes, he could have smiled at the tourists more, but he took no crap from any quarter.

I'm glad the wrong doers were caught. I just want to know how that dude caught so many pomps---I haven't caught the first one off the pier this year.

Excellent point on the regulars helping those who are, shall we say, less experienced. I especially try to help kids catch fish and most often it's just getting them to take off the black wire leaders, big hooks and whole dead shrimp. I love it when I show a kid what to do and he hooks up almost immediately----the grins will sometimes go all the way around the back of their heads.

We can, and do, work to make this the best community of pier fishermen on the coast.

Haywire I have witnessed first hand you helping kids catch fish, even some of us older kids. I have also seen you transform into a free tackle store for some of these folks. I feel your pain on the pompano. I was pretty much a spectator for 4 out of 7 days last week watching those all around me catching pompano. I finally discovered that the people catching fish were using frozen dead shrimp with fishbites in that dirty water and I was killing and peeling live shrimp with little success. In those few days more scent=more bites. There was one day that I caught 1 pompano and had a guy give me one and another guy give me 2. I got their names and even clipped a left fin on one and the right fin of the other 2 so I could tell who had given them to me. I went up to the office and told the ranger and he said that was fine. What I NEED to know is this: what is the LEGAL way to catch my limit and to possess fish that were caught by others that day and given to me?

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Originally Posted by chillinfish

What I NEED to know is this: what is the LEGAL way to catch my limit and to possess fish that were caught by others that day and given to me?

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Every fish you catch (land) counts toward your limit whether you keep it or give it away.
If someone gives you another fish then you are over the limit.
Fish 'given to you' also count toward YOUR limit (it's all about possession ;-)

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2...bamas_mar.html

I've noticed that a lot of people don't look behind when casting. When I'm fishing either a bubble rig or the chugger I throw I learned real early to look behind me cause if anything hit my bait caster I usually have to cut all the line off and replace it due to the bird nest it causes.

What pierpounder said about limits!