Got ticketed for fishing w/o a license.... except I wasn't fishing...

[shibumiseeker]

By the way, what kind of " country boy" doesn't fish??? I smell an imposter! Lol

I live deeper in the woods than most folks, drive 2 trucks and a car, hunt, have a 2-3 acre lake, and can fix most things. But I don't fish. Like CB19, fishing bores me silly. There's a fine line between fishing and sitting on the shore or in a boat feeling like and idiot, and I don't quite know where that line is.

If you fight it......Good luck proving your case. Looks to me like the deck is stacked.

The deck is ALWAYS stacked when it comes to citations, no matter what they are for.

 

[clt46910]

A fishing license is timed and dated. So buying one after the fact will not help you.

By law, you was fishing. Just pay the fine and call it a lesson learned.

 

[ATOMonkey]

All of this is just ridiculous. Whatever happened to catching someone red-handed.

No fish = no fishing

No dead animals = no hunting.

Why is this so hard to understand. Why do you need to be citing people for their intentions. Just...what the hell...

 

[right winger]

Here is what I would do:

1. Call the local prosecutor's office and try to talk to whoever has the court you were cited into. Get a signed affadavit from your BIL that he/she can look at if they want. Tell BIL to avoid making it a rant bashing cops/prosecutors/judges. See if he/she will work with you.

2. If that fails, call the court and see if they will enter a denial for you either over the phone or via mail. If not, you probably have to go in and plead not guilty and then you will get another date for trial. Since you live a ways away, that would suck.

3. If they will let you deny not in person, ask them if there are any available trial dates that coincide with you being there. Be very nice to the court staff you talk to; they can make life very nice for you or make it very difficult. They deal with tons of angry jerks a day; a little politeness can get you a long way.

3. Make sure you BIL can come and testify you never had a line in the water. If he can't; there probably isn't a high probability of winning at trial unless the officer no shows.

Not legal advice, just my personal way of dealing with such things.

Best,

Joe

 

[yotewacker]

I agree with the CO. If he saw the pole in your hand with a line in the water, you were fishing. That is like setting in car car drunk with the motor running and you in the drivers seat. You were not driving, but you were in control of the car. Just pay it and it will be forgotten.

 

[tyler34]

I would pay it, regardless of if you were fishing or not. the emotional toll it could take on your BIL who's already uber stressed about his being a father, compounded with him likely feeling at least somewhat at fault with your citation pales in comparison to the fiscal toll. pay it and tell him you talked to the court and they dropped it and put him at ease, that's the whole reason you were there correct?

 

[ATOMonkey]

I agree with the CO. If he saw the pole in your hand with a line in the water, you were fishing. That is like setting in car car drunk with the motor running and you in the drivers seat. You were not driving, but you were in control of the car. Just pay it and it will be forgotten.

I disagree. Driving requires movment.

Fishing requires fish.

Intent to drive and intent to fish shouldn't be crimes.

 

[hooky]

All of this is just ridiculous. Whatever happened to catching someone red-handed.

No fish = no fishing

No dead animals = no hunting.

Why is this so hard to understand. Why do you need to be citing people for their intentions. Just...what the hell...

That's why it's called fishing and not catching.

Sounds like the OP is hosed. I think OP got some good advice to try to explain the situation and see if they'll let you go without paying up, but I doubt that will be the case. Doesn't cost anything but your time to try though.

Best of luck.

 

[ATOMonkey]

So, why is not catching fish illegal?

 

[hooky]

Cause the man says so.

 

[ATOMonkey]

Nothing to see here subjects, move along, please bend over for your government re-education.

 

[LEaSH]

The CO's could use discretion if they feel confident about someone not poaching.

I don't know why a warning wasn't given if the OP was straight up and forth coming.

$$$ probably.

I think if I had the time, I'd fight it. I don't like the idea of having been accused of something as despicable as a poacher. An that's what the CO did when he issued the ticket.

 

[wildhare]

So, is it illegal to hold a fishing pole? These co's these days are freakin rediculous. If the lure wasn't actually in the water, you were just holding a pole. I would fight it but you would loose more money fighting it than just paying it. Still it is a stupid situation.

 

[USMC_0311]

So, is it illegal to hold a fishing pole? These co's these days are freakin rediculous. If the lure wasn't actually in the water, you were just holding a pole. I would fight it but you would loose more money fighting it than just paying it. Still it is a stupid situation.

A lure was in the water or would appear so from a distance.

Well, there we were sitting along the shore of Salamonie talking and he was fishing. He switched to a different fishing pole and so I picked up the pole he just put down. I was goofing around with it, tapping the lure on the log in front of me, messing with the reel etc, but NOT fishing.

So anybody ever go fishing and not catch any? You don't have to have fish to be considered fishing. If you have no fish you just suck at it but you are still fishing.

 

[ATOMonkey]

So anybody ever go fishing and not catch any? You don't have to have fish to be considered fishing. If you have no fish you just suck at it but you are still fishing.

So, without proving intent and without evidence of wrong doing, but just through coincidence, you can be guilty of something?

Are you really ok with that?

 

[Win52C]

I SWEAR, I was just sitting by the water, holding a fishing pole. Would you believe that if you were the Judge?? Pay it now or go to court and pay it plus court fees....just pay it and cough it up to experience

 

[Glock22c]

So, without proving intent and without evidence of wrong doing, but just through coincidence, you can be guilty of something?

Are you really ok with that?

the evidence is the fact that you were standing at a body of water with a means to fish in you hand... by all means, unfortunately, you were fishing. the act of fishing most times requires casting, flipping, tossing, ect... your line into the water. therefore you dont need to have the lure/hook in the water to be doing so...
loosing battle if you ask me
its an expensive lesson, yes but, if you don't learn from it... it cost you more than $135
just my

 

[ATOMonkey]

If you are a man standing next to a woman, you have the means to commit rape.

That does not make you a rapist.

You're not fishing until you catch fish, you're not a bridge builder until you build a bridge, and you're not a hunter until you kill something.

I just hope none of you are ever on the wrong end of the thought police.

 

[theweakerbrother]

Fight it. If you ain't guilty, you ain't guility.

Protip: Offer to let the Judge/CO smell your hands. If the smell doesn't fit, then you must acquit!

 

[USMC_0311]

If you are a man standing next to a woman, you have the means to commit rape.

That does not make you a rapist.

You're not fishing until you catch fish, you're not a bridge builder until you build a bridge, and you're not a hunter until you kill something.

I just hope none of you are ever on the wrong end of the thought police.

Do you hunt or fish? I have hunted all day and not killed anything. I have fished all day and not caught any. If you did either one you know that it does not always end in sucess with a kill or a catch.

Your rapist anolgy is week, I can't get a license for that.