When he reeled in "her" fishing rod, "his" was not in use.

At the time he picked up "her" rod, it became "his". No problem.

People pass rods back and forth all the time. The law was never intended to cover something like this. If it was, then the law would be more specific.

Most of us have several fishing rods that are not in use, but are under our control when we go fishing. For the instance at hand to be a violation, then everyone with a spare rod in the boat or on the dock with them would have to also be in violation.

This is a perfect example of an undertrained or incompetent game agent. That is it, pure and simple.

In an era of state cutbacks, all state employees have had a "brain drain". Good workers are forced to find other work. I would bet my 9 foot loomis that this guy has not been a game agent more than two years, and less would be my guess.

Write a letter of complaint to his supervisor. Take it to the judge. This is wrong morally. This is wrong legally.