When a fishing buddy isn't

My neighbor and I own a boat together. We we were out salmon trolling saturday. Fish and Game pulled up to check our gear. There were three wardens.  They pulled up on my side of the boat as i was piloting the boat at the time. The first thing they asked for was my ID, not  fishing license but ID. My buddy pulled in the line he was fishing with, the pinhead had forgotten to mash down the barb on his bait holder.  I did not watch him set up his rig, It appears I should have. I would have noticed that the barb was not mashed down. I did not touch his rig anytime in the setup and deployment. As I see one of the wardens writing a ticket I look over to my friend and say hey pete you should be taking this ticket not me. At which time he finally pipes up saying I'll take the ticket. The warden who is written the ticket looks annoyed and asks me if I have some kind of problem with the court. I say not that I can think of and add a couple of years ago I was sited for an undersize fish. It may sound fishy but I was not guilty of that either. So he hands me the ticket and tells me it won't go on your record.  I'm just wondering what the hell to do about it at this point. My friend does seem to have a difficult taking responsibility when things go wrong. It this case he blames just having been woken from a dramamine dream.

My options are just paying the fine.
Asking for a trial by declaration and getting my neighbor to state in writing  he was responsible
Ask for a regular trial and drag him into court.

Any opinions.

Pay up & move on.  It sucks, I agree.  Maybe you're buddy will pay the fee on your behalf or pay you back.

Pay up & move on.  It sucks, I agree.  Maybe you're buddy will pay the fee on your behalf or pay you back.

+1 if he is a stand up guy he will pay it. Good luck

he should pay.....his rod, his barb, his tic

What everyone else said.  If he isn't willing to man up for that, you really need to reconsider the nature of your friendship/partnership

so you got the ticket because you were at the helm?

punch him.... and then break up

I can only assume I got the ticket because I was at the helm, or my friend looks like the typical clean cut american guy, and I bit like just off the set of Sons of Anarchy, Or it might of been that that violation was on the down rigger on the pilots side of the boat, or that I am a decade older than my buddy. But I really think it was just a matter of convince for the warden he already had my drivers license.  It was never asked who set up this rod, who was fishing it, who's rod it was or who should take this ticket. The moral of the story is any time you go fishing on a small boat make sure everyone aboard is following the law because you can be fined by guilt by proximity. 

punch him.... and then break up

Agreed. Sell the boat buy your OWN kayak.

I can only assume I got the ticket because I was at the helm, or my friend looks like the typical clean cut american guy, and I bit like just off the set of Sons of Anarchy, Or it might of been that that violation was on the down rigger on the pilots side of the boat, or that I am a decade older than my buddy. But I really think it was just a matter of convince for the warden he already had my drivers license.  It was never asked who set up this rod, who was fishing it, who's rod it was or who should take this ticket. The moral of the story is any time you go fishing on a small boat make sure everyone aboard is following the law because you can be fined by guilt by proximity.

That is just one more reason to fish from a yak.

I would rather fish from my yak but trashed my shoulder a year ago and can't do salmon distances.

Pilot is the responsible party on the water.... Skipper goes down with the ship... He will pay it I'm sure... Ask...

Shouldn't have to ASK.  Guy should have offered already!  If the guy has a license, he is responsible to know the laws (be they sometimes confusing).

I think by default they give the citation to the vessel operator, and assume he/she is the owner. Because the vessel owner is responsible for the actions of his/her occupants. BUT I have heard of many cases where an occupant was in violation and requested the citation be given to them instead of the owner...and it seems like the attending warden usually complies. If I were in that situation, I'd ask my buddy to take responsibility for the cite. Then find out what the court requires as proof that HE was in violation...maybe just a written letter from him, absolving you of the crime. Or maybe he will have to accompany you to court. But you should definitely consider fighting it! What if the same thing happens again...and the state tries to take away your right to fish, due to multiple violations etc?

I don't think the neighbor spoke up because he didn't want the ticket.