Open letter to the MDWFP

[crowder critter]

i know of one fellow that fishes sardis spillway regularly that gets $2 a pound for crappie scaled with the head cut off. he can sell all he can catch.

I regularly give away more than I keep for myself to elderly people who are not able to catch their own. They are very appreciative also.

[hawkeye]

Here's an idea, prolly never fly, but worth a try. I heard that of the $3 boat launching fee that we pay to the COE to launch, not one penny goes back to the lakes. How about we bump it to $4, or talk the US government into letting the COE keep $1 of it to go back into the lakes. They could then hire part time enforcement to try and nab the wrong doers, OOS or local, whoever they may be. Or maybe we could have a draw system on the fishing as well.

[MSDawg870]

I had some friends get checked pretty good this weekend at Enid. They were all legal although one of the guys caught just 12 and gave them to another guy before loading his boat. I am sure that looked suspicious so he was questioned pretty hard. I am glad that the guys are out and about making their presence felt. After all if you're legal you ain't got nothing to worry about.

I do have one question maybe Wingman could answer regarding boat numbers. My buddy has an OD green boat and camo numbers. I'm under the impression that as long as you have a different color boat than your numbers then you're in compliance with the law. The GW gave him a hard time and got kinda smart about the whole thing. Just wondering.

[Wingman]

The GW gave him a hard time and got kinda smart about the whole thing.

Were you there or is this hearsay?

The numbers are supposed to contrast the boat color. Not a big issue in my book, but some of them are hard to read. I have the red/black fade kind on my OD boat.

[MSDawg870]

The GW gave him a hard time and got kinda smart about the whole thing.

Were you there or is this hearsay?

That is just what the guy who owned the boat told me, I don't think he has any reason to just say something like that and it not be true. I have had good experiences with GWs checking me. I know others that aren't fond of law enforcement b/c of one bad experience. It only takes one "turd-cutter" to ruin the public perception of the entire dept.

[torch]

Yeah, I mentioned to one that I knew Rob and he gave me a full body cavity search.

[dawg-n-duck]

Yeah, I mentioned to one that I knew Rob and he gave me a full body cavity search.

BWAAA ...

[Wingman]

I don't think he has any reason to just say something like that and it not be true.

You'd be very surprised. If I wasn't there, I don't go telling everybody how so and so was being smart or rude or whatever. I've gotten caught up in repeating gossip I heard and it came back to bite me.

Prime example: Last year I pulled up on a man and wife in 16 foot aluminum boat. Both had jig poles in hand. I asked for licenses. Man produced his, wife did not. I asked the wife if she had caught anything. Husband immediately responded, "Naw, she hasn't caught anything." I looked at the wife and she gave a sheepish grin. I asked again if she had caught anything and she said, "One." I gave her a ticket for fishing w/o license. They made a big production about how the last game warden (since retired) wouldn't have given her a ticket. I went on about my business.

A week or two later I'm in the local road kill eating a hamburger. A guy sits down and says "So, I hear you wrote Mrs. So and So for fishing w/o license and all she was doing was sitting in a chair on their pontoon boat, reading a book."

I explained the story and he laughed. No telling how many people in town were told the story he heard. Wasn't even the same kind of boat and a chair and a book had been thrown in for good measure.

People sometimes make up crap to keep themselves from looking stupid. I hope your friend really didn't get the run around about camo numbers, but since neither of us were there, I guess we'll never know.

But...the numbers are supposed to be 3" tall, placed on the front half of the boat and in contrasting colors from the background color. Hope that helps.