Canyon Lake Poachers Sentenced

[Highsierraslayer]

http://cdfgnews.wordpress.com/2013/08/21/poachers-sentenced-to-hard-labor-program-in-southern-california/

[sodapop]

Just a 410 dollar fine for fishing without a license

[DEVOREFLYER]

Hard labor I guess is the Cal Trans roadside trash pick up, too bad it's not makin' little rocks out of big rocks with a big hammer. Azzhats.

[gogreeenz4]

83 bass!!!! im still trying to decide whats more of a joke that slap on the wrist of a fine or that anglers would take 75 short fish an 83 bass..

[skunkmaster]

They like the taste of fish that much?!?!

[RTG]

Just a 410 dollar fine for fishing without a license
I think you missed this part..."They were each ordered to serve 30 days in Riverside County Sheriff’s Office alternative sentencing hard labor program and three years of probation. They were also ordered to pay fines totaling $410 and they cannot obtain a fishing license or fish.
Doesn't sound like a slap on the wrist. Good job DFW!

[RTG]

83 bass!!!! im still trying to decide whats more of a joke that slap on the wrist of a fine or that anglers would take 75 short fish an 83 bass..
Slap on the wrist? They have 3 years searchable probation, each have to pay $410 and must complete their 30 days labor. How would you like to work 30 days @ 8 hours a day for free? And they cannot fish or buy a fishing license. If they do fish or buy a fishing license they violate their probation and must serve the remainder of their term in jail. That means, for example, if they served 3 days of their labor terms and then fished and got caught that they would have to serve the remaining 27 days behind bars. Yep. Sounds like a slap on the wrist to me.

[Kojak5150]

I wonder if that means they can never buy a fishing License or is it just while they are on probation???

[flyhigh123]

and they used gill nets and throw nets... they didnt even really fish them... i guess just to eat? sounds like retards to me... and 20+ carp lol....

[TroutOnly]

poachers selling fish to markets and resturants thru the back door ,they should have given them jail time ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[ghost2uu]

I wonder if that means they can never buy a fishing License or is it just while they are on probation???

These guys don't care. They were caught without a license originally. Now they will move to a new lake and start raping it.

[GhettoBasster]

They should have been sentenced to eat all the fish they caught so they would get mercury poisoning.

[seal]

poachers selling fish to markets and resturants thru the back door ,they should have given them jail time ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Yes and therefore all food safety proto call is non existent. There is an underground network for sure and for that this is a slap on the wrist!

[GhettoBasster]

poachers selling fish to markets and resturants thru the back door ,they should have given them jail time ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

T/O, I never thought about the existence of a fish black market. It's the only explanation as to why these two idiots would want to catch that many fish. It's kind of like the would of illegal drugs. If someone has 200 ziplocs of meth on them, it ain't for personal use. I'm really glad to see these guys receive a punishment although I have a feeling they'll go right back to raping our waters the first chance they get. They'll just be more careful next time.

[Kingfish Addict]

Punishing them for having no licenses makes absolutely no sense at all because YOU CAN'T FISH WITH GILL NETS EVEN IF YOU HAVE A FISHING LICENSE!!!! This just confirms that the system is run by clueless idiots...

[seal]

Punishing them for having no licenses makes absolutely no sense at all because YOU CAN'T FISH WITH GILL NETS EVEN IF YOU HAVE A FISHING LICENSE!!!! This just confirms that the system is run by clueless idiots...

Kingfish your point escapes me. The punishment originally had several charges including fishing without a license but it sounds like it was plead down to a single charge of unlawful possession of fish, from the article "all pled guilty to one misdemeanor Fish and Game Code violation of unlawful possession". That's why some think this is a slap on the wrist, if all charges were prosecuted then I'm sure the accumulated punishment would be much greater. Like everything if they did not have a past record of illegal activity then they made a deal or because our prisons are overcrowded they didn't want to send them to jail they cut them a break. Whatever the deal is the punishment was not for fishing without a license per the article referenced.

You better bone up on your legal argument skills if you want to get out of the ticket you have hanging over your head!

[gogreeenz4]

poachers selling fish to markets and resturants thru the back door ,they should have given them jail time ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I couldnt agree more! this is a slap on the wrist considering.. probation,little hard labor, and 100 bucks each i mean really???! so they cant smoke dope,have to work a little bit in the sun and cant fish? doesnt seem like much punishment for these clowns who most likely fished for $$$ not fun so thats not near a loss as it would be to me or other anglers. no to mention they probly made more cash in a few nets then the damn fine costs. glad to see poachers punished never the less

[Stormcrow]

Honestly, I think its a fitting punishment. One thing that we are forgetting is that it is a first offense. Should any one of them be caught again, a second offense becomes much more severe from what I understand. I hope the thought of a significantly more severe punishment for a second offense will deter them.

[gogreeenz4]

This isnt about just them its much bigger then that .. They could of been used as an example and been given the max sentence on all charges.. instead dfg showed a little weakness and let them off kinda easy!! i mean you violate at least 5 or 6 laws and all you get is probation and some hard labor? not to mention isnt canyon lake private? is it tresspassing if a non member of the area is fishing?
I am a very bigger hater of poachers, specially ones that use gill nets to pull in 200+ fish so i have a bias opinion on this matter but i think they could of gotten the hammer a little harder.. but like i said before glad to see some poacher caught at least.. I think a fitting sentence would of been 6 months of cleaning local ponds,lakes,etc, 3 year probation,Never be able to fish LEGALLY again ( sure they care becuase they were so by the book before the charges) and lastly fine them all $500 bucks and put it toward youth fishing programs or even stockings..Jails are way to overpopulated to house these clowns even though i think they deserve to share a cell with bubba for a week or two..

[Highsierraslayer]

Hey GogreenZ4, DFW does not prosecute, the District Attorney's office does. DFW files the requested charges and it is up to the DA to decide from there on, They plead to a lesser charge rather than go to trial. Canyon Lake is private but if you read up you would know this occurred outside the community. I think that is a pretty stiff penalty, 30 days labor @ 8 hours a day does not leave much time to go poach. Plus I am sure the department has spread these guys info all over Socal to their coworkers. They would have gone to jail if the jails were not overcrowded.

[Highsierraslayer]

Oh and the fines were 400 plus per person so not a small fine. did ya look at the pic and see the size of the majority of the fish, there is no money in fish that small give me a break!

[gogreeenz4]

Oh and the fines were 400 plus per person so not a small fine. did ya look at the pic and see the size of the majority of the fish, there is no money in fish that small give me a break!

Glad to hear it was 400 a peice that seems fitting! and as for the small fish that just makes things worst in my mind becuase like you said there is no money in those fish so all they are doing is taking away future genrations of fish.. i think they did handle it well but i just have such a hate for poachers i would never be satisfied with there punishment til they were cleaning lake toilets with tooth brushes so if you ask me they did get a break..

[DEVOREFLYER]

When you look at the size of traffic violation fines vs what these guys were fined they got off very easy in my opinion. They should have been hammered harder, very much harder.

[seal]

When you look at the size of traffic violation fines vs what these guys were fined they got off very easy in my opinion. They should have been hammered harder, very much harder.

I assume they claimed poverty hence the large amount of orange vest work time required. At least that will keep them from daytime poaching for a while but think most of these guys do their damage afterhours.

[Highsierraslayer]

GoGreenz4 I agree with ya there. I would like to see em doing just that. We gotta just keep calling in when we see violations no matter the type and make it harder for these scumbags to poach.

[gogreeenz4]

GoGreenz4 I agree with ya there. I would like to see em doing just that. We gotta just keep calling in when we see violations no matter the type and make it harder for these scumbags to poach.

that calling in is a double edge sword HSS becuase if they are getting calls about silly stuff ( less damaging then 200+ fish being kept)like a guy using live gills as bait or a guy keeping two too many cats from a city park they wont have the time and resources to capture fellows like these Canyon Lake kooks.. So yeah your right we have to keep calling in the major violations and make it known that poaching is being enforced hard!!! what irratates me is i fish a local res ( not gonna name it for obvious reasons but i know a good hand full of us fish here) and if you get cuaght fishing even with a license your facing serious charges..now explain to me why these clowns break every law in the book and get off with a fine less then a speeding ticket and some labor? I get cuaght at the res my gear is gone im probly gonna get charged with tresspassing and poaching wildlife.. there was a thread about two guys that got rolled at this res and it wasnt pretty i guess.. Ninja fishing and Poaching are two different ball games and ninja's ( typically) are the guys taking trash from lakes, Release every fish, teach others how to fish, Buy licenses, and mostly respect the sport! so tell me why ninja's are paying the price more then some scum bag poachers? **** if there wasnt poachers there wouldnt be the need to ninja spot becuase all the local spots wouldnt be fished out

[Kingfish Addict]

Kingfish your point escapes me. The punishment originally had several charges including fishing without a license but it sounds like it was plead down to a single charge of unlawful possession of fish, from the article "all pled guilty to one misdemeanor Fish and Game Code violation of unlawful possession". That's why some think this is a slap on the wrist, if all charges were prosecuted then I'm sure the accumulated punishment would be much greater. Like everything if they did not have a past record of illegal activity then they made a deal or because our prisons are overcrowded they didn't want to send them to jail they cut them a break. Whatever the deal is the punishment was not for fishing without a license per the article referenced.

You better bone up on your legal argument skills if you want to get out of the ticket you have hanging over your head!

Lol Seal, after reading my post again, I can see where my comment can be easily misconstrued. What I was commenting on was the original charge and not the plea/final charge. My point was, why were they originally charged with "fishing without a license" when they were, in fact, not fishing at all? They were poaching...with gill nets. It didn't make sense to me and just made the officials look like rookies who didn't know what they were doing, as if they had never come across this scenario before.

Also, I will beat this ticket hanging over my head. I got this.......hopefully! :Big Grin: