Lessons Learned! $500.00 fine for using Two Poles OTW

Sorry about the fine, that is a costly one for just a mistake. The way you describe it, seems like BS and a warning should have sufficed.  Thanks for sharing the story, and hopefully it will help others avoid a costly ticket. 

Easy/er on a Hobie!

  There's a couple species that are endangered but very common. The ticket is probably double of what you received.

Even though I have been ocean fishing for 5 years I too was caught in a mis-identified fish. I feel so stupid for this but since I have had time to reflect and learn from it I hope no one else gets caught either. I have looked at many Yellow eye photos but when I finally caught one it looked nothing like the photo's I have seen. This one looked much like a Copper than an Orange yelloweye. I felt bad when I was caught with this fish and now know much better how to identify them and hopefully will NEVER have this happen again. I am still unclear on the correct way to identify them other then the smooth chin since this coloring seems to be quite varied from fish to fish. It was a costly lesson that I will never forget.

Thanks for the post. I am new to kayak fishing and it has been many years since I last had a license. I now will spend some extra time reading up on all the rules and regs, not just the ones I think apply to my intended catch. Ken

PS: Is that in one of the stickies for all us newbies?

So is there anything else you can use two rods on besides WSB and Halibut. I take two rods but use only one. I'd hate to get in trouble because I have two rods with me.

You can use multiple rods for ANYTHING which does not have gear restrictions stating otherwise (rockfish, salmon, anything inside sf bay)

Thank you for sharing.  I have found success in calling the Dept of FG and asking to talk to a game warden about any questions I may have.