Another one bites the dust......

News from Fort Bragg:  Shore picker killed in Mendocino on Monday - swept off the rocks and drowned.  It's been raging up here - big swell, absolutely filthy water.......but good low tides.  So the lemming come out and chuck themselves in.  Yesterday was absolutely the most dangerous conditions I've seen in months - and the pull-outs were filled with rigs.  Yee-haw, everyone in the water!

Here's a pisser:  Two guys coming back from getting abs get pulled over by fish cops.  Somehow, they had forgotten their licenses, but had all the correct tags and everything.  Abs confiscated and a $1300 fine.  I dunno, this seems more like a parking ticket to me - considering that you can't get tags without a license.  Seems like you should just have to show a judge your license and get a slap on the wrist.  Maybe I got the story wrong.  You know how stories go.

Too bad about the guy who got washed off the rocks.   

Back when I was younger and even more foolish I'd hang out in the breakers with my buddy, Dan (he's the one who started calling me Abking) and we'd practice ducking waves while we worked on abs that would've been easy to pick on a calm day.  Now I wait for flat days if possible, because it's such a world of difference between getting the crap knocked out of you and just floating around checking stuff out.

That story about a big fine and confiscated abs sounds like something that seems to be happening more.  It's really a shame that the real culprits (poochers) aren't being affected by all of this ramped up Gestapo-type DFG stuff...

Its absolutely amazing what people will do for abalone.  I wonder if all the stupidity of  going out in the ocean when its not safe is from not growing up around the ocean?  If you are going to come from out of town, come in the second half of the season when conditions are generally better and come for a couple days, eat some the first day and get some more!!!  Or, if the first isn't diveable maybe the second will be!!

they might be able to get the fine suspended when their day in court rolls around.  Probably depends on what kind of mood the judge is in by the time their case gets called... As far as taking the abs goes, that is hella weak.

Its absolutely amazing what people will do for abalone.  I wonder if all the stupidity of  going out in the ocean when its not safe is from not growing up around the ocean?  If you are going to come from out of town, come in the second half of the season when conditions are generally better and come for a couple days, eat some the first day and get some more!!!  Or, if the first isn't diveable maybe the second will be!!

You're probably right, just no respect for mother ocean, or they just dont know any better.  Either way, if you fail to respect her, even for just a moment... she can and will kill you.

Most stores just hand you the card without doing anything.  You can also buy an ab card with a 1 day license.  I keep all my licenses in the same holder all year to avoid problems like that. 

Actually, if those guys were stopped by wardens in their car, they don't need a license to have abs.  You're only required to have your license when you're engaged in taking them and not for transportation and storage.  They could have been gifted, or they left their licenses at their cabin with their other gear, ect., ect., ect.

They could have been gifted, or they left their licenses at their cabin with their other gear, ect., ect., ect.

Yeah, that's right.  The story must of got perverted before it got to me.  I know the abs did get confiscated, because the story came from the Coast Guard guys who got to eat them.

Thread-jack in progress:
About 10 years ago, my family was returning from Paul Dimmick CG on the Navarro when we encountered a DFG check-point. My dad gave them permission to check our truck+trailer for contraband (because, well, we didn't think we had anything to worry about). They proceeded to go into our trailer and look through everything, including the freezer. Long story short, my dad received a large fine for "transporting abs outside their shell." We were completely unaware of the rule that says you have to consume the abs wherever they are cleaned....and we had cleaned+vacuum sealed our limits, which is apparently a NONO.
I guess the moral of that story is to know every single reg in the book. Because sometimes the wardens will go out-of-their-way to pin an infraction on you.

Here's the capper: One of the guys told us that they do the checkpoint the week prior to a big crab+ab (or ciopinno or something) feed each year. They certainly had our ab donation for dinner that week. It was a l-o-n-g ride home.

dirrrrrrrty rotten motherf'ers!

Here's the capper: One of the guys told us that they do the checkpoint the week prior to a big crab+ab (or ciopinno or something) feed each year. They certainly had our ab donation for dinner that week. It was a l-o-n-g ride home.

Shady. 

Hi Yakers:

      The Mendo DFG needs your donations for Payroll and their new Boats.
I lived in Albion and the DFG  doesn't cut any slack for what you would think a minor problem.
      Road blocks at the Intersection between the Navarro River Bridge and 128 are quite common during Ab Season.
                                                         
                                                           Ernie

Here's the capper: One of the guys told us that they do the checkpoint the week prior to a big crab+ab (or ciopinno or something) feed each year. They certainly had our ab donation for dinner that week. It was a l-o-n-g ride home.

Wonder what happens when they bust someone for bud or prostitution

 

My dad gave them permission to check our truck+trailer for contraband (because, well, we didn't think we had anything to worry about).

Off the original subject again, sorry, but this seems to demonstrate why the ACLU advises never to consent to a search even if you consider yourself a law-biding citizen with nothing to hide...

Back to the shore picker, it's a tragedy anytime something like that happens. Chances are it was from a lack of experience and/or knowledge of the ocean's power but there's also the possibility that we all face every day of just making that one mistake at the wrong time and BAM, hit by a bus! Then there will always be people who simply tempt fate and . . . lose.   

#2 http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080509/NEWS/805090335/1033/NEWS&template=kart

Back to the shore picker, it's a tragedy anytime something like that happens. Chances are it was from a lack of experience and/or knowledge of the ocean's power but there's also the possibility that we all face every day of just making that one mistake at the wrong time and BAM, hit by a bus! Then there will always be people who simply tempt fate and . . . lose.   

I can understand making a mistake, and it's a calculated risk...anytime, but to go in the water in those conditions - especially with all the press about the "Sacramento syndrome" - just seems incredibly dumb.  The day before the guy died in Mendo (Sunday), our local Coast Guard guys had 3 diver in distress calls.  That day was about as Sh*tty as it gets.  Seems like the CG should be able to charge for rescues in these type of situations.