unattended rod

[Stephen williams]

I recieved my first infraction from the california fish and game today. It was for fishing with an unattended rod. I have had a valid license as well as a 2 pole stamp forever.The warden said he had been watching me and he saw me walk away from my 2nd rod. I plan on fighting it because i was fully capable of getting to it if i had a hit. Has anyone ever heard of such nonsence in Ca?

 

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

JB nailed it - you got nicked by an officer who knows you can do little against his field ruling. Your word against his, in essence. It is a nonsensical point, I agree.

I meant it when I said I was born and raised there. I left in 1982; you may not have been born then. California has gone to crap since then, I assure you. This sort of thing never used to happen and I did a LOT of fishing all over the state. I have reviewed the CA current fishing regulations on occasion, too - yours is not the first time their draconian rulings has come up in conversation. Some of the stuff they impose makes me say, "WTF?"

I feel your outrage, and it's normal. Naturally you want to fight it. Moral outrage wins the day and you save the fine... Okay. Will you win more than a hollow victory, should you get it overturned? Only you can decide that. If you lose, you're in the same place you are now.

You want input? Here you go. Fight it, but expect to pay the fine. Either way, send some scathing letters to the highest levels and vent on your legislators.

Then, get on with the business of fishing. 

[Stephen williams]

Thanks so much for your valuable input.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

As far as I know, the two words, "nonsense" and "California," go together?

I was born and raised there, after all.

[JBplusThuy]

I should add that it's pretty common to see people who are catfishing set up a rod or two, then go sit down in a lawn chair in the shade, not right by their rods. Close enough to see if they get a bite, though. I wonder if they are going to start getting ticketed, too?

California has truly gone out of control, I'll tell you. It seems like they will now do anything to squeeze a buck out of anyone. Sure ain't the great state I remember :(

[JBplusThuy]

I haven't heard of such a thing, no. I've often seen people surf fishing with their rods set a goodly distance apart, 50 feet or more. How far from the second rod were you? I sometimes bait a rod for catfish and set it in a rod holder, put a bell on the tip, and roam up and down the bank (never out of earshot of the bell) while fishing for bluegill. If a cat were to take it, I would certainly drop what I was doing and zip right over there. If this will now be regarded as illegal, I may need to re-evaluate having a second rod stamp.

I just took  a look at the California fishing regulations, and all they have to say on the subject is that "all fish may be taken only by angling with one closely attended rod and line or one hand line with not more than three hooks nor more than three artificial lures (each lure may have three hooks attached) attached thereto. Anglers in possession of a valid two-rod stamp and anglers under 16 years of age may use up to two rods in inland waters which regulations provide for the taking of fish by angling, except those waters in which only artificial lures or barbless hooks may be used."

I'm not a lawyer, but it appears to me that it all hinges on the definition of "closely attended." Said definition is not provided in the fishing regulations booklet, so if it *is* defined somewhere else, you couldn't reasonably be expected to know that, since the book seems to leave it up to your judgment as to what constitutes closely attended and makes no reference to any definition of the term.  If the law does not define "closely attended" then I think you have a good shot. You might need the assistance of a lawyer who understands fish and game issues, at least to advise you on what to do and say, but I think a reasonable person would define the term as being something along the lines of "close enough to the rod that you can tell when you're getting a bite, either by sight or sound, and can reach the rod quickly enough to deal with the situation." It's not like you went off to the bathroom and left the bait in the water, or left the rod in a spike overnight so that a fish would spend hours stuck on the line (both of which are clearly not legal in California).

Do let us know how this turns out. It looks to me like you've been shafted by an over-zealous officer.