Hey Mikey, you and I both find it hard to believe. I didnt realize it was a felony until the judge explained that to me in court. All i knew is that I had a mandatory show in court and could not simply pay my fine. But that was California, and they just simply do things a little differently down there. (one of the reasons I dont live there any longer)

The slap in the face for me (albeit getting a fine such as this while fishing for shad is a bit of a slap to begin with), is that there was a group of mexican farmworkers using live minnows in the hole directly across the river attempting to get a striper. This was on the Yuba in 1996 which is artificial, single barbless. I pointed it out, and the gamey looked at them and shook his head, but never went over there at all.

...That was the day when i learned fish and game rules are meant for revenue and not for protecting our resources.