Catfish hunter Loc: Riggins idaho (Paradise)

Oh good. I don’t really care who’s watching me either because I operate within the law as well. The problem is the law officers don’t operate within the law. I just don’t want to give them an easy route to keep track of me. Or any reason to hassle me any more than they already do. I’ll bet I’ve been stopped and check 100 times over the last 20 years and they’ve never found a reason to cite me for anything and they won’t. Not legally anyway. I've had friends cited for things they didn’t do. It’s the cop’s word against ours and judges will ALWAYS side with the cops. It’s a risk I take with the fishing program I’m involved with. It takes place in Oregon and Washington on the Columbia and Snake rivers. Two worst places in the country to fish and not be hassled by cops. I never fish alone in a boat on either river for that reason and it’s saved my bacon more than once. There ARE more ethical game cops now than a decade ago but still a bunch of ticket writers out there. It’s how they get promoted and nothing I can’t stand worse than some 20 year old punk with a badge and no respect for anyone. There’s lots of em. Give em a badge and they forget they’re working for us.

Ben Bragg Loc: Dayton Ohio

Thanks machine. I don’t think someone being able to track my movements will even enter my mind. In the event of an emergency, that may be a good thing.
Im mostly interested in being able to monitor my engines performance , hours , fuel burn etc.
I like how it tells run time at certain RPM. And how it gives notice of maintenance requirements.
I’ll pick one of these up over the winter and install next season

Catfish hunter Loc: Riggins idaho (Paradise)

Different ideas fishing different places I guess. If you fish where people don’t care what you’re doing and it don’t hinder your sport you shouldn’t have to worry about it. Where I fish it costs me money every time they check me and make me pull my gear out of the water so they can see it and measure everything trying to bust me for having my weight 1/8” too close to my bait. They’re good at waiting till you lure fish in and start catching. That takes about 30 minutes. They swoop in about the time you land your first fish and stop you for an hour checking things. Then you’ve lost the bite and have to start over. Frustrating. About the time you get the fish hitting again here comes a different boat with different cops and they do it all over again. Fishing at night reduces their attempts but but completely. It’s a revenue thing for Oregon and Washington since the rivers are so big and popular with anglers. I’ve fished the waters of Idaho for two years. Seen two fish wardens so far. One just waved as he drove by and the other came down and visited with me while I was steelhead fishing from shore. He asked “doin any good?” Then visited for about 10 minutes. I asked him if he wanted to see my fishing license. He said “no your good. You probably wouldn’t be here without one. We don’t need the money” and smiled and left. Didn’t check my gear or even ask about anything related to fishing other than “doin any good?”. It’s nice here. 👍

Ben Bragg Loc: Dayton Ohio

Never been hassled like that.
Had a dude doing a creel survey One time pull up to me right after I’d located fish on a deep ledge.
He asked what I was fishing for and I told him smallmouth.
He said he had talked to a lot of fishermen who had told him they hadn’t caught a smallmouth there in years.
No sooner than he said that , I boated a fat 1 1/2 pounder.
He left me alone after that.

Fishing Machine Loc: Leesburg, FL

Here in Florida on the Harris Chain of Lakes we live on the Sheriff & Fish and Wildlife monitor the lakes and I see them almost everytime out, but I've only ever been checked twice in the last 18 yrs. They mostly watch for speeding in low and no wake zones and I sit on one of those no wake zones, so I appreciate them doing their jobs! My son did get stopped in a no wake zone along time ago and they just gave him a warning and he hasn't been stopped again..., but he does have a heavy hand on that throttle 🤣🤣!!!

Catfish hunter Loc: Riggins idaho (Paradise)

Kids😂
We don’t have any problems here in Idaho either. You’re lucky to be where you are and can enjoy fishing. On the big rivers in Oregon and Washington they get to know who’s down there fishing a lot so they watch all of us. I’ve even smiled and waved at a few drones down there. They come flying in and just hover above us with a little video camera going underneath. The head fish checker warned us the Oregon fish and game were operating the drones so don’t do anything wrong and they can’t bother you. Video proof is sometimes beneficial to us leagal beagles. 👍

Fishing Machine Loc: Leesburg, FL

Wow! That's certainly not a place I'd like to fish! Drones hovering above... that beats all!!! I'll stick with sunny Florida!! Keep safe and Happy fishing!!!!

Catfish hunter Loc: Riggins idaho (Paradise)

Good choice. The west coast is not a good place to hang out for sure.