I typically fish in a different neighborhood for each species, so I get around. I have one for gar, one for carp (my gar hood is militantly opposed to non-residents fishing there because that lake is full of footballs, but they let me fish because I take their trash), one for bass, catfish, etc. I run into other fishermen all the time, and aside from a small kid wanting to keep their first fish that's too small, I haven't seen much of anything illegal beyond putting tilapia back, which I admittedly do occasionally.

The first trout stocking happened the day before Thanksgiving, so I've been chasing them almost exclusively at the public park lake. I've been 5 or 6 times since, for only an hour or 2 each time, but EVERY time, I've seen SOMETHING illegal. It's a highly pressured pond, not bigger than 2 acres, and it's pretty standard for there to be 3-5 other guys fishing, mostly for catfish. People fish with 3 or 4 rods (2 rod limit), take more than the limit, and today I saw 2 guys using a casting net. On top of all that, I've spent at least 15 minutes cleaning up trash/discarded line 20 feet from trashcans all but one time, and that's because I was last to leave in the evening and the first there in morning, as I felt like soaking a line before work.

Would you make the call? Given how many disregard regulations and how freely they discuss their violations, I tend to doubt whether or not many of these guys are even licensed.

Several of them are clearly feeding their families, which is where I pause.

What say you?

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by mypostingname13

I typically fish in a different neighborhood for each species, so I get around. I have one for gar, one for carp (my gar hood is militantly opposed to non-residents fishing there because that lake is full of footballs, but they let me fish because I take their trash), one for bass, catfish, etc. I run into other fishermen all the time, and aside from a small kid wanting to keep their first fish that's too small, I haven't seen much of anything illegal beyond putting tilapia back, which I admittedly do occasionally.

The first trout stocking happened the day before Thanksgiving, so I've been chasing them almost exclusively at the public park lake. I've been 5 or 6 times since, for only an hour or 2 each time, but EVERY time, I've seen SOMETHING illegal. It's a highly pressured pond, not bigger than 2 acres, and it's pretty standard for there to be 3-5 other guys fishing, mostly for catfish. People fish with 3 or 4 rods (2 rod limit), take more than the limit, and today I saw 2 guys using a casting net. On top of all that, I've spent at least 15 minutes cleaning up trash/discarded line 20 feet from trashcans all but one time, and that's because I was last to leave in the evening and the first there in morning, as I felt like soaking a line before work.

Would you make the call? Given how many disregard regulations and how freely they discuss their violations, I tend to doubt whether or not many of these guys are even licensed.

Several of them are clearly feeding their families, which is where I pause.

What say you?

--
by mypostingname13