Hey all, quick question. My wife and I were fishing with the kids and these two wardens check us. One being all conversational and asking about every single piece of gear I have on the boat. Dumb questions “So you like your livescope? [no I hate it lol] You like this boat? You like your graphs? Where you get your thumper?” Etc

So while he’s doing that his buddy writes my wife a ticket for a license 30 days expired (honest mistake, we own it)

As his buddy hands her the ticket the goofy question one asks her “so do you like livescope?” Like he was making some sort of point.

I’ve only ever had 2 other interactions with wardens and I guess it just struck me as odd they were being weird about my stuff. On top of that sticking her with a ticket vs a warning… first time, no prior issues, cooperative…

Is this all pretty normal for warden behavior? Or are my expectations out of whack.

Just weird he asks her that livescope question right after giving her the ticket.

Ah well, just wanted to see what y’all thought. Fire away

Not a clue, but sounds like you might be concerned about potential live scope banning.

Maybe just new and enthusiastic

I got pulled over years ago, doing 80mph up Sheffield pass (with a trailer on). Just topped the crest and a DPS nailed me, he said to me, “I’ve been thinking about buying one of these Dodge Rams with the Cummins. Looks like they run! I think you just made my decision, slow it down and have a safe trip”. First time in my life a DPS just gave me a verbal warning and didn’t even write it up. The GW just might be fascinated by LS and is curious.


That was the strongest pulling truck that I’ve ever had, almost miss it.


Maybe the GW was playing good cop & bad cop. Most of the ones I’ve talked too, weren’t overly friendly.

Maybe he was just friendly?
I know a couple of very friendly GW, not everything has an angle.

Some people just cannot take a risk, whether intentional or not. I am the one whom always gets caught ! Go figure !

How far past the expiration date do you think should be allowed without enforcement of the laws?

I get that it was out of date. I said that. It was just the asking my wife about livescope when he hands her the ticket. She doesnt give a rip you just gave her a ticket my man... and shes the type to beat herself up over it for forgetting to renew 1 mo ago... so why you asking her about livescope now? Not the time for small talk. We were trying to decide if he was angling but a poster said maybe not maybe just friendly.

Maybe. Dunno. I got it off my chest Im good. Happy fishing folks.

look on the bright side, you didn't go to jail so it's a win/win even with the ticket.

Buchanan as well as all the highland lakes get a lot of Game Wardens right out of the Academy since their Academy is fairly close in Hamilton.

Regardless of the interaction, I would rather see them out there checking folks than not. I am totally in favor of enforcement.

Maybe TPWD sent out a memo asking anyone who interacts with fishermen to get their thoughts as it is a hot topic right now and how else would they start to gauge the communities take.

We were on Buchanan one day and there were three boats of game wardens with three per boat doing a training exercise. One of them come up and check us out, they were very friendly and left, next cove over it was my neighbor warden who was quite the hard arse and check us and I mean he checked everything even though he knew me and finally left as well. The next cove over here come the third boat approaching us, I laughed and said we had done been checked by two of your boats and so and so was the last one to check us, he laughed and said you guys go on if he checked you out you guys are bound to be good. LOL It just shows you most are good but there is always that one!!!.

+1

I have known good and bad .you can never tell what you are going to get. I had the same one stop me 3 times on the same day within 4 hours and each time he acted like he had never seen me before.

Game wardens are game wardens are game wardens. I’ve rarely been checked in TX, even when I had my boat. On to Colorado this past summer… fishing with my wife’s cousin that lives in Steamboat Springs… A couple of wardens that had already checked me early in the morning stopped me again in the afternoon. I was at least 10 feet below them, and they told me to climb up to where they were just so they could look at my license. I told them that they had looked at it earlier in the day, but they insisted.

Once I had cleared the inspection once again, the female asked if I had kept my limit, knowing full well that I was fishing in a ‘C&R Only’ stream! I have no doubt that they could see my face turning red as I informed her that I was fully aware of the stream regulations. Then they wished me a good evening as they both grinned like opossums walking away.

JR

Agree with the good and bad comment. I was approached by a young game warden years ago on the ramp at Fork as we were coming in. I had failed to put my new fishing license in my wallet and rightly so, he wrote me a ticket. As he was writing the ticket he asked how long we planned to be at Fork. We still had 3 days left on our trip. After I signed he asked for my copy back. He wrote his name, badge number and phone number on the back and asked that any other game warden to give me a pass on another ticket for no license. He was very polite and respectful which I very much appreciated.

Op just going to say this, doesn't matter how hard you worked to get what you have , someone will always be jealous or offended , be it a Leo ( law enforcement officer) or a tff member that's probably had the same thing happen to some degree being in a high end boat. I promise you they have seen enough YouTube videos to know what livescope is. That's just them throwing spite out there. Just calling a spade a spade.

It’s the old “good cop/bad cop” routine! You were being interrogated and didn’t even know it! Did you confess? They were good!…..or maybe you just met two humans w/polar opposite personalities?

Met a good one leaving the Lavonia ramp on Lavon. He was coming in just as I was leaving. I had my Tacoma back then and he had just bought a Tacoma TRD Pro. I got out of my truck and mentioned that I had not pulled the plug. He said not a problem. He just wanted to talk about Tacomas.

I did not fish Buchanan this year. I normally make 2 trips. One of my favorite lakes and brother lives off 29 west of Burnet. Where are people launching with the low water levels?

Edgewater

Looking at Google maps I see what looks like 3 ramps there and all out of the water.

Burnet County

at Edgewater you are launch off the bank on granite.

I think the Warden was curious with honest intentions, and maybe hoping for honest feedback from another fisherman.
Most Wardens are actual participants in hunting and fishing when off duty.

If there's two wardens, one of them has the job of distracting you while the other one looks in your coolers. Sometimes the distracting warden is really good at chatting you up, and sometimes they're not. Normally when a cop is chatting you up they're fishing for a "reasonable suspicion" which they can use to escalate the interaction, but wardens already have extensive search and seizure authority so the distracting warden is there mainly to avoid the embarrassment of having to explain to you that you can't do anything to stop them looking in your cooler.

I've never heard of a warden giving a warning, I don't think that happens. There's so few of them to cover so much ground, a warden would give their mom a ticket if the license was a day expired.

You ever see "Escanaba in da Moonlight" where the old man brags that he got every ticket the game wardens have? I think about that scene often. Getting ticketed by the warden is normal. The system is designed that way.

I've been given a warning on Buch. For not having boat registration card onboard

Been fishing for ages, first and only time I was checked by a GW was Lake Buchanan

I got stopped last month and after handing my license, they asked to see everything that I had of course. He then told me license expired 12/1 I told him my fault im out every weekend and theres no excuse. He told me give me a sec, looked on his phone and said you have had one every year since 1991, this is your get out of jail free, handed me his card and said call if you see anything out of the ordinary,

Got stopped 3x one day at Fayette, 2x by same boat. Told them you dont remember me, I was the smart [censored] that told all 3 of yall I dont have my type 4 but am by myself, who the hell is gonna throw ot me!!! They told me they were training and were cool about it. That was over 20 years ago though, attitudes have changed,

Game wardens are just doing a job, like most of us do. I've been checked on a couple different lakes and each time the warden was professional and fairly friendly. Of course all my stuff was in order, so no tickets but he did talk to me for several minutes about how the fishing was, etc.Some of that conversation was about my boat and if I liked it or not, I didn't ask him why I just figured he might be looking in to buying a boat? who knows

if they try to make conversation
they are looking for something

Could be that he's just an avid fisherman that's considering buying a live scope and wanted to know what you thought of it. The folks who are worried about them "looking" for something when they are making conversation are most likely hiding something that they don't want found and, thus, want to cut the conversation as short as possible.

Disclaimer: This is just my opinion, based on experience.

We got cornered by a GW trying to launch at Naconiche. He blocked us while we were backing the boat in. He was oddly friendly for like 30 minutes just chatting it up. Never checked anything. Just had a million questions about the Yamaha SHO this was all at about 6pm in the summer he was killin our evening bite

He was passing the time while they were writing the ticket. If you had been legal he would have been gone in hot minute.

Maybe he "knows" your wife?

spend more times with the netters,,, keeping everything they catch from the bank on Fayette Lake ,, looking for tilapia,,
tearing up all the perch and bass beds,,

I've never received a warning from a game warden, and I've had a couple over the years. It's always a ticket.

Game wardens are just like everyone else. Some are friendly and others are straight forward and actually seem to hate the job. With the exception of one occasion, every warden I've ever dealt with was super nice. The one that wasn't checked us for everything in the boat. I mean EVERYTHING. Stuff I've never had a warden check. I stay pretty current on all the laws and knew we were good. After he'd basically done a total boat inspection, checked our licenses, etc., he seemed to be even more upset that he hadn't found anything. Just before leaving, he said, "I'm going to give u guys a break today, but there's another warden out here that's not so lenient and, if I were u, I'd go ahead and head out." I asked if there was something we were doing wrong and he never even turned around. Just got in his truck and left.

BTW, he actually flagged us down from the bank like a mad man. I'm talking about yelling, and waving his arms frantically like we might not see him even though we were within 20 feet off the bank and idling. We were in a creek off the Sulphur river scouting some public land for deer and were going under a bridge. I don't know. Maybe we were in his honey hole. Either way, it left a bad taste in my mouth and we never went back to White Oak Creek WMA again.

I'm fortunate in that while stationed at Sheppard AFB, Tx for 4 years, I was never checked for my fishing license. Same thing now in NY - never been checked for either and for good reason: the lakes I fish are way out of the way off backroads; the small river I fish doesn't have a boat launch and I fish way upstream; and the private lake I fish has no public ramp.

Been back in NY for 40 years and have never been checked. Course now I have my lifetime license and don't have to worry about anything except my boat and trailer registration and trailer inspection.

No one in my fish & game club has been checked as far as I know, but recently I just found out about a boat-safety certification all boat owners or drivers with gas or electric motors must have proof of or get a ticket. This supposedly began in Jan. 2020 without warning of any kind. I'd be curious how many got fined or warned and found not to have proof of certification.
The whole thing sounds like B.S. to me and another way for the state to make money. In my mind you either know how to drive a boat safely or you never will. And those that don't give a d.^&*, will still drive like the same a.holes you see all the time driving on roads - safety course or not.

As far as the initial post, I would have asked the warden if I was going to be ticketed - no small talk necessary. If I'm legal, you're wasting my time; if not, get it over with. (BTW, In my opinion, protection should be based on biological surveys to determine a fishery's health. It never happens, so why generalize limits to all waters especially those rarely fished?)

I also found out recently that I was breaking the law by bringing fish from another water to my manmade pond. The law states that no fish will be transported from one water to another - NO EXCEPTIONS. (I stocked the pond 15 years ago via permit and with fishery fish.) The reason for the law: diseased fish from one water will infect fish in another. (How many fish have you caught that ever had any sign of disease? Not me!

If I'm ever asked what I'm going to do with the legal fish in my livewell, no matter how small the pan fish are, I'm going to say. " I'm - not - sure". - We good?!

I received a warning on Fork for a 9-7/8" crappie.
He gave me a lesson how to measure a fish. I just listened and kept my mouth shut. I only kept it because it was bleeding. Just a verbal warning. Wife got a warning on Texoma for registration card minutes after launching. It was in the boat but she had no idea where.

Fond memories fishing Lake Texoma.

Guess it was better for that dying crappe to die of natural causes such as letting it die a slow death rather than make use of it. Of not an issue is keeping bass in a livewell for 5 hours regardless the damage to the slime coat after being mishandled then weighed in in a dry bucket and then released. Guess the state doesn't consider that an issue nor the possibility that a bass virus may be in livewell water kept from another water.
I'm not against tournament fishing (did it for years) but it seems the state's priorities when it comes to protection are a bit misguided and more in line with fines/ tickets than real protection.

It's always all about the Benjamin's. The more money they bring in the faster they advance.

Maybe, just maybe they were doing their jobs.

You don't say?

Well I had a good experience with one of the game wardens there last week... cant remember his name but we talked awhile as it was after dark and one of the last ones still loading up, never asked for my license, just asking about the fishing and mentioned he was going to check me on the water but I was so far back up the creek he didnt bother. Told him that was the only place I was getting bit. I never saw him.

Have been checked a few times, always produce anything they ask for and have always been treated with the same respect I show them. Asked some of them if they were ever going to be on Lone Star Law, usually gets a laugh or two. Surprised how many know some of the wardens on that show. One of the last times I was checked, I was back in fairly heavy cover and I noticed they were heading my way, I put down the rod and made my way out to the channel and open water and began pulling out life jacket and a fire extinguisher before he was quite to my boat. He said he appreciated me coming out to the channel, (maybe 25 yards) and just asked if we had our fishing licenses. We said yes and he said thanks and have a great day. He didn't even look at our licenses. A little courtesy goes a long way.

Keep something in mind when you have interactions with game wardens. Contrary to the "protect and serve" propaganda, game wardens are not in place to keep anybody safe or protect wildlife. Game wardens are revenuers. Their main purpose is to collect money for the state. Everything else is secondary. I'm not bashing them. That is just the simple truth. Game Wardens have A LOT of pressure on them from Austin to keep the money rolling in, so don't ever expect a simple warning from a game warden without a costly citation.

WHAT??? Oh... April fools. Got it. I thought for a minute you were seriously saying GWs job is not to protect and serve wildlife.....

Apparently you need a reading refresher course, because I did not say that. I said collecting revenue comes first. Everything else comes second. The word "Everything" includes "protecting wildlife." Next time read the entire post instead of billowing out a lie the first time your knee jerks.

There is revenue generated by citations, but TPWD doesn't get as much as one might think.
Here's an example of how the money gets dispersed ......
Citation is issued for whatever violation, let's use no fishing license. Judge sets fine at 150.00.
The actual "fine" is 50.00. The county court costs and fees are 100.00.
Of the 50.00 fine, TPWD gets 85%, or 42.50 and the county pockets 107.50.
Also, if the GW citation is issued for something that is not a PWC violation, like MIP or drug paraphrenia or whatever,
the county with retain all of the fine and court cost money.

Similarly, with boat sales tax collected, TPWD only retains 5% of the tax paid. The rest is placed in the State fund.
So you buy a 20K boat, the sales tax collected is 1250.00. Of that amount TPWD will receive 62.50 for operating costs.

Where you might really get hammered financially is in the civil restitution (civil penalty) for taking game or fish illegally.
Restitution for fish is determined by the length of each fish, for game the amount is set by each species and gender.
Like a doe deer is less restitution and a buck deer.

I really don't think there is much incentive on the part of game wardens to write more to collect more.
They are not paid more for writing more citations. 1 citation or 50 citations, same paycheck.
Some of them just like to F with people and take joy in dishing out misery because they can.

CDS you got a lot of growing up to do. You sound like an angry person. Relax.

HMMMM.... "Contrary to the "protect and serve" propaganda, game wardens are not in place to keep anybody safe or protect wildlife."........ Who was that needing a refresher?

WTH....

Last one I talked to was chippy about livescope too, does make me wonder what discussions are going on with the DNR about it, then I brought up Fairfield and he got real butthurt Oh and lone star law is a sore subject as well, comment was something to affect "some need to worry about doing the job and not trying to be movie stars"

I have only been checked once in 60 years and that was on creek off Lewisville. My license expired that exact same day and when he ask for them I told him to pay close attention to the expiration date. He got a big chuckle off that one.

Did you make this up all by yourself or did some drunk in a bar tell you that?

A warning is sufficient for first time...... hard to agree with having to pay the kings ransom to fish in a supposed free county........ maybe you think differently.

He isn't wrong, who the hell is a GW protecting? I get not poaching deer, road hunting etc..... but fishing without a license? Very minor! Dynamite fishing .......... I can see getting a small fine for that.

If you don't know by now you never will.
Small fine for Dynamite Fishing