Knuckleheads, Dimwits and other stupid people — Stay Home!

People for the past few weeks have experienced good fishing at the Mole at Avalon and unfortunately some are taking advantage of the situation and breaking the rules.

(1) Last Sunday Fish and Wildlife nabbed three anglers at the Mole in Avalon with 17 sub-legal size sheephead. Each received a ticket and all will be paying hefty fines. It depends on the judge but they could also lose tackle and be prohibited from fishing.

(2) On Tuesday a group of people on the Mole were catching sub-legal size fish (including kelp bass and sheephead) and illegal fish (garibaldi) and not only keeping them but cleaning them and cooking and eating them right on the Mole. Their actions have upset the city and there are now threats of making areas on the Mole off limits to anglers.

Wise up! Follow the rules and do not ruin it for others. It's my understanding that Fish and Wildlife people will be at the Mole this long weekend and I am hoping they are able to catch any dimwits/knuckleheads/stupid people breaking the rules.

I do not usually recommend reporting people to Cal-Tip but this activity warrants reports. And, don't be afraid to talk to those who you see breaking the rules. Most of these recent acts have been done by the "opaleye hunters' who are regulars and who, I am sure, are aware of the regulations. They may say they do not understand English but most do. Keep it calm, and we do not want to see anyone injured by someone else, but get the word out to stop such illegal acts.

I would hate to see us who follow the rules lose one of the best pier fishing locations in the state.

All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. Use prudent judgement when dealing with people you do not know. Ken is right; If we don't stand up and become part of the solution, we will loose yet another place to fish. We need to make it culturally unacceptable for poachers to openly break the law. If enough people call these miscreants out, they will either straighten up or find another place to practice their lawlessness.

What's the reasoning behind not reporting people to Cal-Tip? Curious because I feel like the safest way to approach this kind situation would be to report them. Avoiding confrontation and ensuring that poachers are actually being caught instead of just having a word with them, which I feel like in most cases without some kind of legal recourse would be hard pressed to actually change their behavior. This is just my opinion not saying that I wouldn't speak to poachers about their wrongdoing because I have never been afraid to but legal action leaves more of a impact on people who are going to poach regardless.

The only reason I do not recommend reporting to Cal-Tip is that the response over the years has been so bad. It has been, for the most part, a waste of time. I wish that were not true but it's been our experience.

The number of wardens is far too few, their duties have been enlarged to the detriment of in field enforcement of fish and game laws, and they by and large give piers a very low priority when it comes to enforcement (for a variety of reasons). A quick response to Cal-Tip tips is often needed but a quick response is often almost impossible.

As said, I wish that wasn't the case.

I agree with this. Cal-Tip will almost never respond to individual fishing violations in a timely fashion. They will respond to large scale poaching, ongoing issues and especially illegally selling of fish, particularly to restaurants. I think it is simply a matter of resources vs. priorities.

The legislature over the years has given the DF&W a number of new responsibilities that call for additional resources but has failed to give them those resources,

If you study the actual F&W budget it's amazing how small a percentage of the budget actually goes to wardens.

This could be short sighted. Fines could potentially pay for the wardens (if judges took wildlife regulations seriously).

Steve

Agreed.