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!!!