First time at Cardiac.

[snagged in outlet 3]

1 hour ago, Smalliebigs said:

You would have to be an ignorant fool to think there isn’t straight poaching going on there. The one time we called the authorities we were fishing at dry Fork and a small jet went by, so we went upstream and when we peered around a bend we see the Two guys gigging at 3:30 pm??? Oh it was 03/17/2001 friggin losers They saw us walking back up a quickly shot back down stream but, they were gigging. Nothing happened as far as I know we even gave them their boat numbers. So yeah if they will poach in broad daylight out of season monkey dodo.... did you know right now you can gig gamefish all night and day long as long as you don’t possess them???

Somebody posted a picture on here a few years ago of a guy showing off his stringer of smallies during the offseason.  I remember them saying they reported him.  The picture was taken where Meramec spring dumps in. 

[Seth]

There are always people walking around with smallies on stringers right when trout season opens back up. All I've ever seen agents do is tell the people to put them back without issuing a ticket. Those fish are usually about on their last leg and surely died anyways.

[fishin_addict]

20 hours ago, Seth said:

There are always people walking around with smallies on stringers right when trout season opens back up. All I've ever seen agents do is tell the people to put them back without issuing a ticket. Those fish are usually about on their last leg and surely died anyways.

I have seen similar occurrences and heard of many others.  The leniency is ridiculous.  I can understand some leniency here and there for very special cases, but like you said, it's more than norm than the exception.  If you don't know the rules or just don't care, you have to pay the price for that.  It makes me want to be an agent.

[Mitch f]

19 hours ago, fishin_addict said:

I have seen similar occurrences and heard of many others.  The leniency is ridiculous.  I can understand some leniency here and there for very special cases, but like you said, it's more than norm than the exception.  If you don't know the rules or just don't care, you have to pay the price for that.  It makes me want to be an agent.

People are generally lazy and uncaring about the rules. When they get busted they just plead ignorance. 
I was fishing at Boiling Springs on the Gasconade once and saw a guy and his little girl fishing at the spring...they actually  had their boat tied to a log with 10 feet on the spring itself. I saw him put a 15” smallmouth on a stringer, and he already had several more on the stringer. Keep in mind this was during the one fish, 18” limit days. I tried to be very polite and tell him that I didn’t want him to get a ticket because of his undersized fish. He said to me “I’ve been fishing here 40 years and I’ve never heard that!” 

[Johnsfolly]

1 hour ago, Mitch f said:

People are generally lazy and uncaring about the rules.

I would agree with this statement. I pick up a regulations booklet or go on-line each year to see what rules have changed, etc. I have friends that contact me to find out changes since they don't read through the regulations routinely. Always seems easy to just plead ignorant when caught.

[snagged in outlet 3]

30 minutes ago, Johnsfolly said:

I would agree with this statement. I pick up a regulations booklet or go on-line each year to see what rules have changed, etc. I have friends that contact me to find out changes since they don't read through the regulations routinely. Always seems easy to just plead ignorant when caught.

I only check for accepted methods since I never keep any.

[ness]

12 minutes ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

I only check for accepted methods since I never keep any.

I never keep any either, and since I am almost always fly fishing, I figure I’m usually ok. That attitude may bite me some day though. 

[snagged in outlet 3]

37 minutes ago, ness said:

I never keep any either, and since I am almost always fly fishing, I figure I’m usually ok. That attitude may bite me some day though. 

Barbless maybe??