Have you ever been busted

[RIJIMMY]

when Im heading out in the boat at 2am, i go about 8mph in the harbor instead of 5mph.

[the point]

I've been busting for fishing without a license. But i dont poach so i cant get in trouble... but you need to catch fish small enough to poach to poach.

[Rockfish9]

I got a stern talking too bu the EPO's for keeping short red fish in Fla visiting my Aunt on Vacation........ I was 12 years old...

[JFigliuolo]

Originally Posted by Rockfish9

I got a stern talking too bu the EPO's for keeping short red fish in Fla visiting my Aunt on Vacation........ I was 12 years old...

I had no idea your checkered past went so far back... really explains a lot

[WESTPORTMAFIA]

Every year except for last I usually get busted once or twice. I don't really freshwater fish much but when I do I fish an illegal spot. We dress in full camo and even sport war paint. The last time we got busted we forgot the war paint and they saw our faces. They get a kick out of catching us because we make it very hard for them to find us. The fishing is well worth the ticket or 2 a year. And the guys who bust us have always been pretty cool about it. They always say You know your not supposed to be here right? Yep but the fishing is too good not to.

[FishermanTim]

Are we talking about past offenses, committed when we were young, or currently committed (recurring) offenses that we commit because we don't practive what we preach?

I'm not innocent by any means, but once I found out what the rules were, I played by them.
Do I keep short fish/poach fish? NEVER!
Do I exceed my limit? NEVER!
Do I fish restricted/posted waters? NO!
Do I fish without a license? NO!
(I may not have it on my person, but I ALWAYS buy a license.)
Do I care what "the other guy does"? Not always, unless what "the other guy" does is illegal, immoral or dangerous!

I wonder just how many replies a post titled "Have you never been busted?" would get?

[MAC]

25 or 26 years ago we were down at Bell Rd. (yes alcohol was involved) We weren't catching so decided to try a crab trap off the top of the bridge abuttment (slack). We were shining a flashlight down and see a good lobstah crawling on towards our bait.

Then we hear "hey, whatcha doing?" We all about went swimming after jumping as we never saw him coming. He then told us he was getting a laugh out of watching us and said "glad you didn't catch one as that is illegal". We chit chatted for a little while and decided it was cheaper to just go buy the bugs.

No citation, just a verbal warning.

[vineyardblues]

Busted in 1978-79 fishing at night @ plum island for weed, 3 guys, just fishing , Fed agents / choppers in the air the whole 10 yards
They checked everything even inside the subs we had to eat......

wrong place at the wrong time the judge said
ps. the funny part was I joined the police K9 the next year for 4 years.. free smokes ..... lol

[Raven]

With my Buddy Matt from Mattapoisett

we are out at Dusk duck hunting IN ROCHESTER
AT SNIPTUIT (SP) and i called in a pair
of what i thought were Mallards so i shot and low and behold
i got both with one shot but i could only see the "ONE" as they
were flying real close together ok...

Turned out they were WOOD Ducks...
a highly Prized trophy and here i get two
with one shot...

This kind of infuriated MATT a wee bit
and as the sun began to sink and it was about time to leave
he fires his shotgun into the water just for the hell of it.

Well that was PLAIN Stupid because that meant
it could have been my ducks that were shot at that
precise moment rendering mine shot illegally when
i had shot them BEFORE sunset.

So .....
Matt was always kidding Around and as we emerged from the bushes
he says quite urgently with a muffled VOICE
"Game Warden" and i fell for it and imediately dropped them.

Well sure enough...just my luck -> we part the BUSHES
and "THERE IS " a Game Warden standing there waiting
for us to emerge....

He checks our I'D's and Hunting Licenses and all that
and then lets us be on our way AFTER A STERN LECTURE ABOUT SHOOTING AFTER SUNSET.

We stalled on packing up and after he left
i ran back and grabbed my
legal WOOD Ducks.

I was gonna give Matt one of them but since
he pulled that dumb shot after suset and almost got me Busted
i said No WAY.

[gone fishin]

Maine - I got popped for fishing without a license in front of my camp. I was trying out a new fly line with a piece of yarn tied to it for practice. He was in a canoe and spotted me stretching the line from the water. It took a lot of arguing before he Left me off with a warning. Maine is unbelievable!

Once got stopped scooping smelt at lake Winnesquam NH. I had the hat and license from another guy on and the law recognized the other guys name as he just busted him a few hours before for being over da limit. We were fairly well lit and he made us dump our catch and followed us back to camp. Never wrote me up!

Same trip - It was a father sons weekend smelt fishing and one guy was famous for falling asleep after a hard night. He returned to the dock and just left the boat adrift. No one missed him til we got a call from home. The boat was found and the guy who owned the launch area saw his car and trailer in the lot. He called the law and they had a full out search going on at the lake. They thought he fell overboard. He was sacked out under the porch in a sleeping bag. A trooper came calling and the guy crawled out asking what was happening. Man that trooper was pissed. It actually was reported on the radio. We had to stop the father sons trip when the sons were caught swiping our booze and smoking weed. They were having a better blast than the dads. The sons are now in their 50's and tell some stories that are unreal...

[Swimmer]

Me and my brother are pretty straight shooters. We have a bro-in-law thats covered all the bases several times over for our family and most of youse guys too.