Opp on fish patrol LOL the big sting

[Monster29/66]

Watched some young guy catch a fish last night that he measured and thought was on the line of the slot so he kept it in the boat beside me. We had just asked the guy How fishing was and he did he hadn't caught any walleye all weekend but he had heard they were biting in this area so thought he would try.

A minute later a big Boston whaler OPP boat comes flying in and nearly swamps a small boat in the process and to measure his fish, they were watching from a distance and they say while its not 20" it's 1/4 " of an inch over the 19.7" slot size ( which in theory is 19 6/8" on a measuring tape not just over 19 and a 1/2 and there is zero tolerance..

So depending on how you measure this fish it may or may not be over the line.. None the less the fish is seized and a 175$ fine given as the OPP says their is zero tolerance.

Interestingly enough I called OPP about the speed of weekend cottage traffic on the county road and the words from the Cop was we understand these cottage folks drive way to fast on rural roads but we just don't have the staff to police them all the time and have to focus much of our effort on major highways.

so let's get this straight people driving 110 kmh a hour in a 80 km routinely on the county road is lower priority than a having 2 officers out glossing fisherman trying to stake out some guy over 1/4 of an inch fish... Which was debatable or not.

If this is the practice then how does any Opp officer not charge everyone who is 1 or 2km over the posted speed limit.

[blasted_saber]

Their main priority is looking for booze and safety gear, which they get a ton of fines and charges with on a long weekens. Enforcing the F&W conservation act is an additoion they may or may not be concerned with at any given time.

And with anything, your attitude at the time of questioning goes a long way to dictating if there is any or zero tolerance on close calls.

[Monster29/66]

We watched the whole thing, The guy was nice as pie they checked him for everything else and he had it all. ( we were 50 yards away ). This was the only thing they could get him for and must of been how they attempt to justify their dragnet operation.

It was classic good cop bad cop... what a waste of my taxpaying dollars. There was 6 other boats and not one got even questioned for life jackets, boater cards etc etc as everyone carries that now with all the harassment we get on the water.

this morning I emailed our MPP, the Ombudsman, Minister of Natural Resources and Community Safety and Services asking why we can't get cops to patrol our roads but have time for fish patrol. Hire more MNR keep the cops patrolling roads and solving crime which isn't laying Bs charges over fish.

BTW the angler was pissed.. i a sure if he took it to the JP or MNR the fine would be tossed.

[stragglelake]

The OPP is big business now. Always looking to expand .... Need more money for fancy boats, wages, trips etc.
Enforcing laws in any way that makes sense or being polite or accountable is low on the list.


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[seabast]

I don't think we'll agree on that one.... A 1/4" over is no brainer to me and I think it will not be tossed in court, pretty cut and dry..... When I measure a fish, it's 1/8" over and I decide to keep it I know very well what I can get into. I don't like to speak or even see the authority at all but there is a line and if you decide to cross it you might get hurt, don't complain.....

[B Wilson]

He should contest it in court, i doubt the crown attorney will have much desire to proceed with the charge.

but if it does get to the JP and he is cranky, the fine might increase.

[jdr]

Pretty simple really , if it's close let it go
Rules are put there for a reason. If no one is patrolling our waters the greedy people will take it all.
So unless your one of those , be thankful someone is enforcing the law.

[trimmer21]

Pretty simple really , if it's close let it go
Rules are put there for a reason. If no one is patrolling our waters the greedy people will take it all.
So unless your one of those , be thankful someone is enforcing the law.

^^^^^This!^^^^^ For the people that still like to use the old imperial measuring system,learn to use metric. It's far more exact. If it's under 35 or over 50,even by one millimeter,back it goes. Playing "loosy-goosy" with 1/16 here or 1/8 there soon defeats the sole purpose of the slot size. One can't complain if they get written up.

[blasted_saber]

We watched the whole thing, The guy was nice as pie they checked him for everything else and he had it all. ( we were 50 yards away ). This was the only thing they could get him for and must of been how they attempt to justify their dragnet operation.

It was classic good cop bad cop... what a waste of my taxpaying dollars. There was 6 other boats and not one got even questioned for life jackets, boater cards etc etc as everyone carries that now with all the harassment we get on the water.

this morning I emailed our MPP, the Ombudsman, Minister of Natural Resources and Community Safety and Services asking why we can't get cops to patrol our roads but have time for fish patrol. Hire more MNR keep the cops patrolling roads and solving crime which isn't laying Bs charges over fish.

BTW the angler was pissed.. i a sure if he took it to the JP or MNR the fine would be tossed.

Why would it be tossed? He was over the measurement. Whats he going to contest? "I was only a little bit over, your Honour". That will fly like a lead balloon.

For too long our waters have gone unpatrolled and the POACHERS have gotten away with everything. Im damn happy to see any enforcement and will gladly talk to a cop or CO on the water.

Im also not entirely sure what you difference you think a CO would have made here. He/she would have just as easily have issued the fine too.

[JoePa]

That's why down here people are getting fed up with cops - they keep doing stupid things - 1/4'' of a inch - come on - get me a break - the fish can shrink that much when out of the water - and how accurate is the thing they are measuring it with - even in any engineering measurement it is always noted as - 20 inches + or - something because you have to have very expensive equipment to measure something very accurately - sounds like a way to take money from a guy who is doing nothing wrong - people better start making noise about such behavior on the part of the cops -