I was fishing the green The other day, and watched the WDFW Enforcement Officer make a fool of herself and did no good to better the publics relationship with the WDFW. This Female warden asked for my license,and punch card. I had all the right stuff together and no problems came up with me. The guy fishing next to me had a small problem. He stated his paperwork was in his rig and could he just run up to the car and get it. In a *****y tone she said that she had more important things to do and he could tell that to the judge when he went to court. The guy was not happy but he was in violation. I heard him ask her for a break and he was not going to get it. She gave him a ticket for no license on hand and then she took the two rods and vest he was useing. The guy grabbed the vest from her and said his wallet,money,car keys

I'm sorry the guy was in the wrong just as I was yesterday on the Klickitat(went for a float and left my vest in my truckwhere my license is ALWAYS stored). If i'd have gotten a ticket it would have been my own fault! The regs are extremely clear while fishing your license needs to be on you. I have nothing but the upmost respect for WDFW enforecment personel even if they do have a bad day. I really wish that i'd see a warden ever time i went out I actually see one about every 10 years. I haven't been checked in WA for about 15 years.
The problem is judges always reduce these fines or throw them out all together. If i ever get caught doing something illegal I'll be happy to pay for it. Everyone who cares about our resources should feel the same.

Couple of points here...first, wasn't there a thread a while back about a female officer that had gone a little overboard?? Maybe it is the same one?

Second, RA3. I agree the guy was wrong, however people make mistakes (IE leaving the license in the rig) I guess that for me it would depend on how fast this guy could produce it...was his rig within a distance where he could just walk over and grab it? I don't think it would be correct to lump him in with the guys that fish with NO license or for Salmon etc with NO Catch record card. Not to be confrontational with you, But I also don't agree that you would happily give up all the fishing equipment/vest/wallet/keys/etc etc etc if you had forgotten your license in a vehicle that was within walking distance.

If I am the officer in this situation...I am thinking that the right way to handle it is get all his equipment/wallet(ID) and give him the car key only and tell him to go get it. Could he run off? sure he could...but you have all his stuff already plus this just adds another charge...evading or something like that I am sure. but more than likely the guy will be back with the license ETC in a couple minutes with a new appreciation for ensuring it is on him in the first place.

I agree with all the above posts. Yes it does sound like the officer went a bit overbaoard. I wonder, why we keep mentioning she was a woman? Is that relevant?

Sometimes they do gt a bit zealous. but I have sevral friemds who are game wardens and one who is an ex game warden. I can tell you they work hellish hours, are always second guessed, both by anglers and judges, and are constantly under preassure to keep up the number of tickets.

I am forever hearing about someoen who saw blatant snagging or some other nasty offense and who couldn't get a game warden out to write some tickets. Taht is usually because they are spread waaaay too thin, are out investigating a deer/car wreck, doig the ton of paperwork required by the courts or perhaps trying to see their families for a few moments. Its a really tough job that is made tougher by constant second guessing by all involved.

Last year I found a game warden to report snagging on the Quilicene. He said he knew, that he had written 12 tickets the day before and now was busy trying to get all the paper work in order for those cases. He was doing that while staking out an illegal indian netting operation that he said he had ot keep watching to be sure of a solid arrst in that case. Lets support oru ganme wardens all we can! There are way to few of them to enfore the large minoroty of jerks who ignore the rules.

surecatch...I agree, the gamies are spread thin and I support them...male or female. I only brought up that she was female because I seem to remember a similar post (same river maybe?)and wondered if it was the same female...thats all

eggroll I don't disagree with you just think people should cut our gamies a little slack. The best way we can do that is for each of us to obey the law. I didn't fish after i realized i left my vert in my truck and I had driven an hour to get to the river. I have never fished the green but from what I hear there are a lot of unpleasant things that occur up there in the salmon season and I would guess that any game warden absolutely hates going up there. Also a game warden doesn't know anything about anyone, they don't know who is a good guy and who is a bad guy. a guy who "leaves his license in the rig" could be anybody he could just as easily be going to jump in his truck and drive off or worse. The guy was probably a good guy who made a mistake but there is no way for her or any other game warden to know that.
I guess all i am saying is that I can see both sides here and bth sides have merit.

fishingfool, you seem to know a lot about this guy fishing next to you.

That's fine....... Write this guy a big, fat ticket, take all of his gear, and make him take a day off of work to go to court..... All of this when a fifty foot trek to the car would've gotten the fish cop everything she needed to see. Who's the real criminal here? The guy who screwed up and forgot his license, or the fish cop who is sooooooo damn overzealous in her duties that she would be willing to waste all kinds of time and money just because she was too "busy" for a little walk to the car. This is all about discretion. She was probably having that "not so fresh" feeling on the day in question and as such wasn't in any kind of a mood to act like a human being. I hope the judge throws it out of court.

Me and a buddy were fishing out at Potholes one time and we were out in a boat and a WDFW boat pulled up to us to check us for life jackets. He also asked to see our licenses. I had mine, but my friend had changed his pants that morning and left his wallet in his old pants. The officer wrote him a ticket, but told him to mail him a copy of his liscense and he would not submit the ticket or something like that.

Whether the officer was right or wrong in her actions, what was the end result? What did the guy learn?

1) Don't forget your license.
2) Gammies are jerks and cooperating doesn't win you any favors. Might as well be a jerk back.

So in the end, did the officer act correctly? In my opinion, NO!

I was anchored up casting to coho in the Oly area several years ago and approached by a couple wardens doing boat patrol. They checked me (license is always in my wallet and always in my back pocket whether I am fishing or not) and at the same time asked a line of bank anglers to hold up their licenses. One angler said he "left it in the truck" and could he just go get it? Warden said fine, just leave your rod and tackle box on the beach and come right back. Guy picked up his gear, mumbled something about not wanting it to get stolen and strarted walking away somehwhat rapidly. Wardens gunned the boat to shore, one jumped in the water and ran after him. Came back about a half hour later after grabbing and cuffing the guy as he was getting into his truck, calling the local sherrif after running ID on him and finding out he had no fishing license, no drivers license, and was wanted for a few other things (I asked the other warden waiting in the boat who had been talking to him on the radio). When he returned and indicated success all the other anglers applauded him

Pretty obvious to me what "left it in the truck means

I was fishing on the green last tuesday. Saw the warden (female) and thought were is my license then remember I had lost it sunday. She asked for my license and i told her the story. She was very pleasnt with me. She wrote me a warning and said that if I could prove it by producing a duplicate license within 5 days I would not be charged. I was pretty happy about that. She had over 2000 dollars in tickets that day for snagging. I'm happy the rivers are getting monitored.

Buddy of mine got ticketed for not having his license on him while we were trout fishing. The warden was pretty forthright in saying that if he actually had a license to send a copy to the court with a letter explaining the circumstances, and the ticket would be voided. He did, and it was.

Now, we weren't steelhead or salmon fishing, and the rules are pretty strict about having your tag on you. Seems to me that if one's tag was 'in the truck', that that could be used as a nice excuse to just carry your fish up to the truck and put it away without tagging it. Not saying that's what your friend was doing, but that may have been how the officer looked at it.

I dont want to comment on the Female Warden and the events that prompted this post, but I would like to say that I do Believe there is "Unbalancd Enforcement" on our Westside rivers. I too have seen many WDFW wardens in the Green. Once I was fishing in the gorge from a kayak, and had two Wardens on kayaks zip by, pull over, and checked me out. No problems with this encounter, but I was amazed to see them working the river like that.

I Have never seen that type of enforcement on any other river, ever. Have any of you??

Furthermore, I never see Wardens on Skykomish or Snohomish....I'm 30 and have fished that river for 25 of my years. Never ever seen them on the Skagit or Sauk. Not on the Bogey or other peninsula streams either. Why does the WDFW heavily patrol some rivers and not others when fishing pressure exists on all rivers with decent fisheries? It is a STATE agency isn't it?

On another note, I personally dont mind being checked because I am always legal. I like to see the license and tax dollars I spend at work, and most of the wardens I have met are nice people that are fishermen/women themselves.

Sky-Guy

I think if a guy can remember his rod, vest,wallet, money, he should be able to remember his licence-- if a cop stops you on the road and asks for your licence---ah I left it at home, I'll be right back doesn't work either. I think [pretty sure] it was fishingfool who posted about a female gammie before.

Everyone complains about snaggers, trashleavers, dishonest fishermen, etc, along with the lack of enforcement...... you'd think that if these types of things are so prevelant, it would make a person more likely to be legal themselves???

I agree with the wise one, Mr. Garcia....if you can remember how to get to the hole, and remember your rod, you should darn well remember your license. Tough luck, tell it to the judge

As for whether or not the officer was rude, well, try putting up with the excuses they get sometimes!!

TR

I think the difference in enforcement levels is due to the different gamies. Some are more hardcore than others about their jobs.

Not sure if he's retired or not yet but there's a gamie that lives in Enumclaw named Bruce Richards. That guy is hardcore!!

Probly one of the guys you seen on the Green. I remember when I was a kid he used to put a drift boat in and float it all the way through the gorge

There was always the rumor around town "Don't even try to outrun him cause he WILL catch you!!"

Rumor had he was into triathlons and stuff. Not sure if was true or not but by looking at him I wouldn't have doubted it or wanted to tangle with him.

ok anyone ever hear this excuse, "the reason i didnt tell you sooner is i didnt want to lose you" the excuse my wife used after i found out she cheated on me...my currently seperated wife that is..bb

I have seen and talked to wdfw on all the rivers stated and always been treated with respect! I also have a couple tickets for ignorance that were dropped with proof of licenses so I am kind of surprised at the officers position on this day must have been a bad hair day.

Yes... Damn the authority! Common guys... I hear this crap in High School, and the only person I've ever had a problem with that had to do with authority was someone who called me a liar.

The game warden did her job great. I commend her. By not bringing his license, he made it longer for HER. We are supposed to make it easier on them guys... Not vice versa. What do you think this is? A peaceful democracy or something?