DFG took my lobster away

[kwest10]

well...he LET me release them.
So paddled out today and got many shorts, an octopus with a head the size of a softball and what I THOUGHT were 2 legals.
Got back to the beach and DFG pulls in and asks one guy if he has anything. Nope. There were only us 2 on the water. Not a soul in sight.
NE way. He asks if I have any luck and said I had 2 as I was sure they were legal.
He asks to see them and I oblige along with my lic and report card. He measures one then the other, then back again to the first and the second. And he's measuring them multiple times each go around. Asks to see my gauge...I oblige. Again he measures both several times each then says "they're probably just short". I say "probably?". He says "yea...probably, #2 lobster more so than the first". He proceeds to give me a lesson in measuring and trys to show me why they're "probably" short. Basically says since the corner of the gauge is hiting the edge of the carapace it's short. There is NO gap mind you but the gauge isn't "fully over" the carapace.
So I say, "soooo....should I throw them back?" and he says "yeaaaa.....you might want to throw them back" Might? Do I have an option? But rather than argue and get a hefty fine I go back and throw them in.
He says he can "technically" site me but lets me off with a warning. I'm not mad, just a little irked that he didn't seem too sure of his answers but I'll take that over the boku fines. Thats my report. I'm off to file my gauge 1/16th of an inch.

[Bowlfrogg]

HHmmmmmm, My brother works for DFG i shall have to ask, where were you? my brother might now him. I was under the impression that those should have been legal. I will call my brother an post back..

[HESBROS]

I too had the same issue come up in Dana Point a few years ago when we first started hooping. We had one lobster that we thought was legal and when the DFG officer measured it, he said it was short. Though when he measured it, he really wrenched the guage on there, his hand was shaking while he applied pressure pulling the guage backwards towards the end of the caraprace. Not exactly the way I thought to measure. He did not cite us and we released the lobster. A while later, we got checked by two other F&G officers down at Dana Point and we asked them to show us how to measure, and they did just as we did, they put the guage between the horns and gentley set it against the caraprace. We described the way the other officer did it, and they said that was a bad idea as you could break the caraprace. To be safe, use a file as you said. though it would be nice to get a ruling on the proper way to measure. The officers mentioned in the second check actually said that even if the guage slips over, and you hold the lobster upside down and the guage to snug and stays on, then that is a legal lobster, now we have not ever done that nor do I think anyone should.

[one_leg]

Way to go on not getting a ticket.

Catch bigger bugs next time.

The guage cannot slip over the carapace.

[HESBROS]

Way to go on not getting a ticket.

Catch bigger bugs next time.

The guage cannot slip over the carapace.

Slip is the key word! What about force?

[viking172]

The dfg took my lobster away,
they took them away, away from me.
They took lobster
thy took my lobster from me.


Lol i have always thought it was legal if there was no gap. It needs to be explained better on the lobster card exactly how to measure them.

[BIGRED KILLA]

The bugs were clickers.



Bigred

[one_leg]

Slip is the key word! What about force?


Nope, you cannot force it either.

When the guage is between the horns it cannot pass over the end of the carapace near the tail.

There are a ton of legals out there and you will find the bigger ones if you keep on looking.

[mullet]

The law states they have to be 3.25 inches
not over 3.25 inches.
If your gauge goes over but is tight against
its legal.
But you still can't argue with a gunho warden,
not worth a day off work to argue in court.
JMHO,Mike

[olfishergal]

3.25 inches!!!! whoa IMHO thats mighty small.......Oh, u mean Lobsters!!!
:ROFL:

[kwest10]

yup...it was at DP. I've always been told and understood the law to be that if the gauge fits over but there is NO GAP and no wiggle room front to rear it's the most MINIMAL legal you can have. But the first one I'm 100% sure it should've been legal. He said I might not be so lucky next time if I get another warden but I"m sure there are other wardens that WOULD have passed me. Oh well, that just mean they'll grow at the end of the season or next year. On a side note...I think he poached my gauge. I don't remember him handing it back and I cleaned all me gear today and it's nowheres to be found. I'm going back and am going to cite him for illegal possession and over limit of lobster gauges. :ROFL:
By no means was he an Ahole or anything. Just doing his job and he EVENTUALLY kinda vaguely determined they weren't totally legal.

[Reelbacklash]

The first thing I want to say about this whole thread is your positive attitude about the whole incident from beginning to end. There are not many people who would have had the smarts not to argue with the man and walk away from the situation with a lesson learned (to a certain degree)and several hundred more dollars still in your wallet, not to mention the fact that if he wanted to he could have possibly seized all of your equipment.
As you stated the man is out there doing his job, a job we pay him to do and even though he sounded vauge in his answers I would bet money on it that if you had a bad attitude about it he would have cited you.

Can I ask who made the qauge you were using? I ask only because it was not long ago that a certain well known company that only sells lobster and crab equipment was selling us all gauges that were anywhere from 1/16th to 1/8th off.
I know this because I was cited for possesing a short lobster using their gauges. I went to court and beat the rap only because I went to several tackle stores and bought several gauges from each store. Low and behold each one was short. When i provided the judge with this evidence she threw the case out.
No longer do I buy anything from that company

[kwest10]

I used the BIG gauge that has the abalone measurement on the other side.
To my discredit I didn't have my card filled out. I only read the part about having the TOTALS to be filled out AFTER and took it for the entire card. Ignorance isn't and excuse though. What is the fine for that? But he didn't check the card until all was said and done and it wasn't an issue with him, "just fill it out BEFORE you go out as it says on the back".
NE way. They are just lobster. He was polite and professional so I have no reason to be upset.

[chris]

The law states they have to be 3.25 inches
not over 3.25 inches.
If your gauge goes over but is tight against
its legal.
But you still can't argue with a gunho warden,
not worth a day off work to argue in court.
JMHO,Mike

i have bought gauges that were off in measurement to the bad side
and the warden's have had bad gauges themselves

[mullet]

i have bought gauges that were off in measurement to the bad side
and the warden's have had bad gauges themselves

I own a precision sheet metal shop.
I fab my own gauges .010 to the plus side,
if its tight it goes in the tank.
Mike

[Bowlfrogg]

i talked to my brother and he said you have the right to ask for another warden to come and check if you feel you are being treated unfairly. he also said its in your rights to take a picture of the measure and yes the law is 3.25 if it fits perfectly with no wiggle its legal. just do what we do shave a little of your gauge just top be safe.

[lucky catch]

all the gauges on my boat have been shaved but I also carry a cheap $9 digital caliper from Harbor Freight. With the digital caliper reading out in thousands I don't think I would have a problem with DFG on my close ones.

[kwest10]

Got my new gauge and measured it. Looks like its on the smaller or debatable side of 3.25. Filed it down about 1/16th so I should be good to go.
Thanks for the clarification from your fro bowlfrogg. But like the agent said, I might not be so lucky with another guy. I'll get em back this week.

[sleeperek]

I got busted with 2 3.25" bugs. There were 2 DFG's out there and they were debating whether to cite me. I guess one of them was an A-hole and didn't let me off with a warning.

[Possman]

I asked the warden at DP one night and he told me that it can fit over, but with no gap.....it has to fit snug. He did say that not all wardens see it the same way though, I personally throw back anything that the gage slips over, not matter how tight. There was a post on here awhile back where a guy ended up in court over his, apparently the judge told him if you put the gage on and can turn the bug upside down without the gage falling off, it's legal.....I like the idea of filing the gage, it's not worth the risk, let alone the lobster population......

[Kareem Korn]

Take a file and shave 1/16th of an inch from the inside of your gauge. You shouldn't have a problem with measuring short again.