section 29.15 (f) violation

( big deal, no abs hurt)

when the viz is 25ft + and you see a 93/4 whats a guy to do?

Get a 10" guage and do it right, Craig, or be content with the ab you got.  Doesn't breaking the law and likely hurting abs kinda take the wind out of your sails for the whole trophy-hunting thing?

Upgrading makes a joke of trophy-hunting.

If I used a 10inch gauge I might get a cite. Right? Believe me when I say I have seen plenty of people release fish to catch bigger ones, so whats the beef. Other than its another law handed down to keep the public in line. I have watched rock pickers pull 5inch abs, toss them aside and keep looking. What I did in no way compares. As far as my concious goes? Doesn't bother me at all. I don't upgrade anymore obviously a 500 dollar fine and 18 mos probation  has made me find a more purer and loving GOD. All hail the state of California and their nonsensical laws.

Actually the warden does have a point because from the regs above the wrong line was highlighted, the pertinent line was: "All legal-sized abalone detached must be retained."

So if you pop an ab, get it to the surface and it turns out to be smaller than your 9" gauge it is illegal to return it unless it is smaller than 7" - and you need the 7" gauge in order to determine that. 

Actually the warden does have a point because from the regs above the wrong line was highlighted, the pertinent line was: "All legal-sized abalone detached must be retained."

So if you pop an ab, get it to the surface and it turns out to be smaller than your 9" gauge it is illegal to return it unless it is smaller than 7" - and you need the 7" gauge in order to determine that. 

Dave did retain all legal sized abs...

In 06 I got m first F&G cite for forgetting to fill out my card while in the yak, this is now (08) not required til I get to shore (ironic) but has nothing to do with my point. 

While in court for that, the judge let off a couple of guys that had a believeable explanation for the cite.  They had fished together, goten more than a limit between them but one had gone back to camp and left all the fish with the other at the beach, warden showed up and gave the guy holding the fish an overlimit cite and wasn't interested in doing the trip back to camp to check out the guy's storyat the time.  Both guys showed up in court to explain the story and the judge said "sounds reasonable to me" and dropped the charges.

Long way of saying keep us posted on the outcome, while it sounds like a slam-dunk dismissal to most of us,,,,,,,you can never tell what'll happen in court.

Good Luck Dave, what a bullshit ticket....outside of making some money for the state makes you wonder what the hell that was all about?

Dale L

I hope you can fight this one. i don't see where it says you have to have a 7" gauge in immediate possession.

I dove the other day with a 9" gauge in my hand and a 7" gauge in my bag - the 7" served zero purpose as my abs were all near 9".

Yep, all cops are bad and stupid. They are just out to generate money for the state. We should paint them all with the same broad brush. He should have eaten his doughnuts somewhere else and should only watch someone fishing for a couple of minutes. 

Bad cop...............no doughnut!

Yep, all cops are bad and stupid. They are just out to generate money for the state. We should paint them all with the same broad brush. He should have eaten his doughnuts somewhere else and should only watch someone fishing for a couple of minutes. 

Bad cop...............no doughnut!

I like your humor even if you vote Mc Cain! Rich Meade is an OK guy. Everyone has to test their boundarys once in awhile.

Yep, all cops are bad and stupid. They are just out to generate money for the state. We should paint them all with the same broad brush. He should have eaten his doughnuts somewhere else and should only watch someone fishing for a couple of minutes. 

Bad cop...............no doughnut!

Would you have given Dave a ticket for this?  How else could you paint something like this?  If it happened to you you'd be outraged.  At most, this was worthy of an advisement.

I think Dan is trying to point out that not all cops/wardens are bad folks.  As it turns out the 3 guys have made friends with in Ukiah are all cops, and so is my brother in law.  I love these guys.  I have personally watched Dan at work under the Perkins Street bridge and he does a great job.

Just like any job, there are things that happen at your work place that can make you jaded over the years...people sawing their heads off with a skill saw etc...it AIN'T pretty what these guys see day in and day out!  Dealing with random knuckle-heads all day can make you assume everyone is a knuckle head on your bad days...long and short of it...its a tough job, and sometimes they lose their cool.  There are some cops that are dicks, but you can say the same thing for any job.

This reg is however goofy.  If you had something to measure and prove that your abs were at least 7 inches (or in this case way over) you should be fine. 

Good Luck Dave, what a bullshit ticket....outside of making some money for the state makes you wonder what the hell that was all about?

Dale L

Since one of Mahi Mahi's comments included my money for the state comment I guess I should clarify.  My point was if not just to make money for the state, which I don't believe was the warden's intention, then it truly makes me wonder what it was all about. Seems like a stretch to write a violation in this case.  

Personally my encounters with wardens have been for the most part pretty pleasant, and I have been "let off" for an honest paperwork oversight on my part and I appreciated it.  The warden started off the conversation with "I bet you guys didn't know that....."  and explained the situation and said if you take care of that right now, we can call it good.  

Also the state is hiring wardens, this is from Carrie Wilson's last Outdoor Q&A column.

Question:  Are wardens hiring now? If so, how does someone apply? How much education is required? (James S. USMC, Al Taqaddum, Iraq)
 
Answer: Yes, wardens are being hired, right now! The application deadline is Nov. 7, 2008. DFG is hiring for the Academy class which starts in Jan. 2010. If you go to this link: www.dfg.ca.gov/jobs/docs/exams/FG-Warden-Cadet.pdf you will see the warden cadet job flyer and instructions on how to apply. The site also has basic job information about what a warden does, including a new video DFG produced to illustrate many of the job functions that many people don’t realize wardens do. Wardens must have the equivalent of two years (60 semester units) of college with 18 semester units in the biological sciences, police science or law enforcement, natural resources conservation, ecology or related fields.


Dale L

The beauty of it all is it was just a citation.  Although it was a pain in the ass and upsetting, you will still have your day in court.  Just because you got a cite does not make you guilty of any crime. In our great country you can go before a judge/magistrate and he or she will be the trier of facts.  Our system lets far more guilty people off than convicting an innocent person(s).  I think the DFG has a job to do, and they are very thin on wardens these days.  The part that sucks is they often cite people (good folks like us) for not knowing the law.  The F&G code is a tough one to figure out.  Look at it this way.  Because the fish cop was watching you, maybe the guy who wanted to break into your car picked another victim instead of you.  Maybe he was your guardian angel watching you in case you need to be rescued???  At least he didn't take your Abs and give them to the Fire Dept...... OOPPPPSSS 

Yeah!....two of those nutty cops (I know) are the coolest and friendliest guys you would ever want a ticket from.   or fish with or camp with or BS with.
Reads like you'll have a good chance to get this dropped.
I don't dive but it sure sounds like a load of crap to me.

I'm eagerly awaiting the judges decision in December on what appears to be a no brainer dismissal, but.....just to save people time in court.

These are on sale at Bamboo Reef in Rohnert Park for $20

It's a 7", 8", 9" 10" ab gauge all in one.

Problem solved!!