20 minute unattended trap bill.

[Scalloper]

You would be surprised how many times you are being watched through spotting scopes or binoculars from the woods, and they write down the times ...... 

Well said Salty. I remember when two watched a group on WG from midnight until 3am at -5 and blowing. They thought they had the guy for unattended traps but the fisherman left the traps in the holes with the lines on the reels unbaited. 

[Dags Bait Maine]

I don't like the bill.

-Dylan

[Loves To Fish]

The rulemaking process is simple and would not require all the rigamarole of legislation...IFAW  would suggest a change in the rules...explain why they want to do...hold a public hearing...and then just do it...all on thier own...no legislation required!

There's 2 things wrong with your way of thinking, Cap.
1 What if IF@W doesn't support this particular change? It would then be doomed to failure trying to go through the rule making process.
2 What if the law being changed is already a law which by default can not go through the rule making process?
That is exactly what happened last year when we, recreational smelt fishermen, wanted to change the " only 5 dozen smelts alive " back to being able to keep all your daily limit of smelts alive. We first tried to go through the rule making process and was told it was already a law and we had to go through the legislature in order to get it changed. And I'm glad we did. It was worth the effort and I encourage everyone to use that avenue. The process works.

BTW, I think the above proposed legislation is an excellent idea and is long overdue. Each season, people have been running to shore for a variety of reasons hoping not to get ticketed for unattended traps. Now, they just might be able to do it legally. I sincerely hope this passes.

[lobsterman]

i just wouldn't want to leave my traps out there to get run over or stolen? i like to walk away from them but i can always see them i don't see the point in wasting tax dollars grow more fish not bills/laws

[ICEMAN-73]

Dags Bait, what is it about the Bill you don't like?

[cap]

There's 2 things wrong with your way of thinking, Cap.

Nothin' wrong with my way of thinking at all....

We already have too many laws and way too many legislators legislating trivial BS!

1 What if IF@W doesn't support this particular change?

Then there must be a reason for it.... probably it is to protect the resource! 

I  think wardens should be allowed a certain amount of discretion...it does'nt require a friggin law and the friggin' governor's signature to figure out if you are actually fishing unattended traps...or if you are just taking a whiz in the woods!  I see people set traps and take off on their snowmobiles for hours at a time and often there are flags flying.  IMHO, if you want to fish you should have enough sense to stay with your lines...if you want to snowmobile and race around the lake...then go snowmobiling.

I do think that wardens sometimes are overzealous in sticking to the letter of the law...and that should be something that the DEPT should try and wnnow out, policy wise...making a bust and collecting a fine just to do it by not being reasonable and using common sense is just wrong... the guy whose sled broke down and got a ticket got screwed....and that warden acted like a complete and utter DB!

2 What if the law being changed is already a law which by default can not go through the rule making process?

What if it isnt? Then we have an uneccessary law on top of something which could have been changed by rule making...

If it is then the first law was wrong too!  This is exactly the problem...too many laws are being enacted on top of laws that already exist!  Too many laws are being enacted that should be taken care of by common sense action by the policing agencies....Cripes ....the police already have too much to do than get out stop watches....

I understand "the nature" of  what the intent of this new legislation is....but the intent of the original rule was to prevent unattended lines in the water...not to ticket guys who went to take a whiz and whose snowmobile broke down....

The Commisioner at IFAW could fix this in 5 minutes by sending out a policy notification telling wardens to back off on all the BS ticketing practices that they have been doing....and to concentrate on real and actual problems like poaching and illegal bucket biology...and REAL game management enforcement......

WE have too many laws...and too many legislators with too much time on their hands coming up with BS crapola legislation...did n't you read the list I posted...lookit all that crap!

We also have too many wardens who are trained to get a bust and to follow the letter of the law strictly without any common sense in the field!  We need more Andy of Mayberry in the warden service.....guys who use thier heads instead of following the letter of the law and some BS protocol.

Like I said I get where this is coming from....I just don't think legislation is the way to fix everything...that is why we live in such a litigious society and why nothing gets done anymore...the world is screwed up because lawyers and everyone else are all sueing everyone else over minutiae...and the cops have lost thier humanity!

[fishingsurveyor]

out of curiosity has anyone been caught for unattended traps or know someone that has, and what was the fine?

Oh yeah last year. Guys sled broke down while scouting a spot
Fine was in the $135 range I believe but I am sure he will chime in
  was watching us for at least 3hrs

[rude the dude]

out of curiosity has anyone been caught for unattended traps or know someone that has, and what was the fine?

try Reading the thread from the beginning

[fishlessman]

game wardens will not let this pass, all that time wasted while watching. even if it did pass you were unnattending traps for 20 minutes 3 seconds, heres your ticket i had a gamewarden hiding in a tree for a good 3 hours in a camp site watching and listening to us while we made a fire, coffee, breakfast, broke the tents down, when the dog found him he pulled his gun

[zorchester21]

game wardens will not let this pass, all that time wasted while watching.

Its not like they dont do this already.. If they just walk up to you they will see if you have one extra trap or an illegal fish. You dont need to sit and watch me for 3 hours. Sometimes if i see the game warden truck on the side of the road where is fish i try and play wheres waldo and pick him out. 

[TroutSlayer14]

Oh the GW watching will blow your mind. I was watched about 5 years ago on remote broke pond in June. I had been out fishing for about 4 hours and had caught 9 trout. Kept 2 and released 7. Came back to shore and ran into the woods police. He had written down on his hand in pen every fish that I had caught, the time, and wether I kept it or let it go. In addition, he was able to tell me what exact lures I was fishing with, and what brand of cigarettes I was smoking. Do not under estimate them!

[saltyshores]

If you don't want to fish for 20 minutes, pull your gear, or leave it and take a chance on getting a ticket. Changing the law to allow laziness at the expense of the fish is crazy. We have posts on here about the right and wrong ways to hold fish and everyone is on board, why would anyone want a fish swallowing a hook any more than necessary, even if you can cut the line and the hook will eventually rot away? You're still pulling all of that excess line in with a gut hooked fish one the end of it. This also adds a definite time measurement to you getting a ticket, 20 minutes, taking away the discretion of the warden because it's now a law(even if you would likely have gotten a ticket anyway, you never know). I say, if you need to leave the ice, pull your lines up into your holes and drop them when you get back, it takes 5 minutes... no extra damage to the fish and no ticket. win win. By the way, I'm new on here. Been reading for a while, just logging on.

x2. Well said.
I often fish along the shore. Several times I have hurried over as soon as a flag went up only to find the fish has already tangled the line in the rocks. Sometimes I free them, but other times I can't and the line breaks. If I didn't tend for 20 minutes, there would be many more tangles. We should do what's best for the fish.

[spinzer]

First, I respect what game wardens do and the amount of crap they probably put up with and for the most part think they do a great job. From reading thru this thread it is eye opening to find out the amount of time they sit and watch people fish, I understand why they do it, but to spend 4 hours watching one solitary fisherman seems like a waste of resources IMO. I'm sure they bust people here and there for things like unattended flags, over the limit fishing which is part of the job but the length of time they spend seems excessive.

Regarding the bill, I'm undecided, it would be nice to be able to run to your truck if you forget something and not come back to a ticket, but also alot of people make good points on here opposing the bill.

Just my 2 cents. Good luck this weekend everyone!

[saltyshores]

Generally if the wardens are watching ice fishermen from the woods with spotting scopes or binoculars, they are watching however many anglers they can see, rather than just 1 or 2 in one spot. So there time is being spent watching multiple fishermen.

I looked through one of their spotting scopes once and could read the serial number on a truck's inspection sticker from 35 yards away! They have made littering pinches on lakes from 5 miles away.

[PerchPro113]

If you don't want to fish for 20 minutes, pull your gear, or leave it and take a chance on getting a ticket. Changing the law to allow laziness at the expense of the fish is crazy. We have posts on here about the right and wrong ways to hold fish and everyone is on board, why would anyone want a fish swallowing a hook any more than necessary, even if you can cut the line and the hook will eventually rot away? You're still pulling all of that excess line in with a gut hooked fish one the end of it. This also adds a definite time measurement to you getting a ticket, 20 minutes, taking away the discretion of the warden because it's now a law(even if you would likely have gotten a ticket anyway, you never know). I say, if you need to leave the ice, pull your lines up into your holes and drop them when you get back, it takes 5 minutes... no extra damage to the fish and no ticket. win win. By the way, I'm new on here. Been reading for a while, just logging on.

x100

[PerchPro113]

I often fish along the shore. Several times I have hurried over as soon as a flag went up only to find the fish has already tangled the line in the rocks. Sometimes I free them, but other times I can't and the line breaks. If I didn't tend for 20 minutes, there would be many more tangles. We should do what's best for the fish.

x2

[SBHR]

I have not read all the posts and it has probably been said before but IMO I have thought you  should be allowed to designate one of your fishing companions to tend your traps for you, for a few minutes, so that you could step out of site and do what you got to do.

[woodchip]

That would make to much of a gray area. We just don't need any more laws. What we need is law enforcement with More diplomacy and peripheral  vision. Its a pretty hard request since they are like some fisherman Jerks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  That's the way us humans are some good some bad.

[Shrinkage]

No one should be in favor of any more government interference in our God given right to fish. 20 minutes, who came up with that number? Lepage? Ha Haaa! One thing I do agree with here: warden sneaky...

[Fatcat]

They watch, You watch. But really. 20 minutes is just a starting time for the GW. I have been all alone sitting on shore out of the wind and have had a GW watch my traps for over a hour from his truck/sled before he came for a visit. There other fish to fry than a 20 minute rule...

[Anomaly]

It would give a person PLENTY of time to jig near the flag before pulling the trap and may double up on the catch per flag.

[Dags Bait Maine]

Dags Bait, what is it about the Bill you don't like?

I'm trying to think of the times when I wanted to leave my traps unattended, and can only come up with a few times ever. I don't see the necessity of it.

-Dylan

[greensider]

i watched a warden sit in the bushes in the sun on a hot day and eyeball a guy in a canoe for over an hour he must have been cooking in those heave greens they wear

[MG39]

I ilike the idea of banding the flag so it trips but only moves a couple inches from the trap shaft.
Can’t tell it’s tripped unless you know it is. Sure can’t tell from the woods.......     

REALLY THOUGH. I hope it passes. Good idea.

Not really Joe. They have those telescopes that can read a dollar bill from a hundred yards.
As for discretion, in any law enforcement capacity you have those who see  the law as black & white and others that know what discretion is. I observed it for years.
Just reading the daily threads, you see different views of law enforcement attitudes and it will always be like that.

[Scalloper]

Its 1 hr at night so why is 20 min a big deal during the day?

[mainer62]

^Really?  Cusk(while tasty and fun to catch) are not managed for by the state, like other gamefish. It makes sense to give a guy a little bit of leeway when it's dark out and you can't see your tip-ups, let alone have them all under your "immediate supervision". I think that's what it comes down to on that one, you can't see them at night so they made a requirement for a once-an-hour check. As a fisherman, I think that's a decent deal... I don't have to stand outside walking from trap to trap making sure they are supervised, but they do have to be checked periodically.

[mainer62]

....and how often do you get spooled by a Cusk? Usually I find they only take enough line to trip the flag and hang right there.

[Scalloper]

....and how often do you get spooled by a Cusk? Usually I find they only take enough line to trip the flag and hang right there.

What does cusk have to do with anything?Where in the law does it say anything about cusk fishing at night only? We can now fish in all lakes 24hrs a day. This may be a complete surprise to you but many togue,brown trout, crappy,white perch and white fish are caught at night 

[mainer62]

Read the book. The one hour rule at night applies to CUSK lines. So maybe if you're targeting other species at night, you should have those lines under your immediate supervision. OR... you could be Cusk fishing and catch an incidental trout/togue/whatever when you check every hour.
I'm just saying, if we fishermen start pushing these little things, we may get pushed back. What constitues a Cusk line? Who decides that? Do you want someone to decide that for you? I don't!
I think the State is throwing us a bone by generalizing lines fished at night to be "Cusk Lines". We have great trout lakes that are restricted to 2 lines until dark, and then you can fish 5 "Cusk Lines". If those 3 extra lines are intended for anything else, I'd keep that under your hat.