Poaching

[bigugly]

How hard is it to read regulations or do people just deliberately fish in out of season areas just because they believe the lack of enforcement will mean they have no chance of getting caught? My one son and I went a local trib above the HWY2 boundary just to get some photos of fish in the water. While there a truck pulled in and had a rod sticking out the back and he was also wearing waders and looked to be getting ready to fish but didn't exit the vehicle. My son and I left but decided we would come back later as maybe the guy was just like us and wanted to see some fish. We came back an hour later after some Xmas shopping and the rod was no longer in the truck and we did a little recon and we saw the guy fishing a hole but didn't make a confrontation as I will no longer confront anyone after my son received some actual threats of violence on social media after such an incident. We took pictures of guys truck and plate, called the ministry and hope that something is done. I use to be concerned if reporting this type of thing was right or wrong and kinda still feel like a tattletale but as stated before the confrontational part is not worth the trying to educate and tell them about regulations. My only concern is will there ever be anything done, does making a call really make a difference? Do they follow up on these calls? I often wonder should there just be a public shaming and post pictures of poachers or license plates or am I just making to much out of this. Problem is our fish need all the help they can get to maintain levels they are at and with lack of field enforcement how is this ever going to happen? I wish we could have a system where you have to wear a highly visible license that must worn at all times while in the act of fishing, This would make it so much easier for everyone involved, I remember this system use to be in place for hunting in Ontario and it sure couldn't hurt for fishing to at least help, I sure wouldn't want to be that one guy with no license hanging around my neck or pinned to my back.

 

[rich_ace_G]

Always been like that everywhere now Big...I remember telling a guy he's not suppose to have 2 lines on the water...this was in my trib and he's dropping big plastic baits. one rod is in a rod holder and one is secured on his bike, he pretends to not hear what I'm trying to say...and not really paying attention. Until one guy drifting snagged his line...guy was pissed and told him if he doesn't take one of his lines out, his bike is swimming...lol...it was a weird situation after that. He actually understand english...when you mix in some foul language...

 

[Paul1913]

I’ve only pulled out my place of employment ID a couple times for the blatant violations. But only after they don’t listen to the initial comments.

I’ve never had any issues but I know there’s always a potential for conflict.

 

[TI Redux]

Can't force morality.
Best to just call it in.
Even if the response is one of fifty.
Karma can be a bitch at times also.

 

[fisherman2280]

"place of employment ID " let me guess off duty popo who carries it with you as a get out of trouble free card? And they wonder why they have the reputation they have now?

 

[TI Redux]

"place of employment ID " let me guess off duty popo who carries it with you as a get out of trouble free card? And they wonder why they have the reputation they have now?

Lol Give me a break.
If it was me, I'd carry the hand gun.
No poachers on my river.

 

[bigugly]

No personal attacks please.

 

[rich_ace_G]

"place of employment ID " let me guess off duty popo who carries it with you as a get out of trouble free card? And they wonder why they have the reputation they have now?

Is that the case though? Or you're painting all "popos" with one brush?

 

[ChromeAddict]

MNR doesn't respond to every call, but from what I understand, they respond based on how many calls they get for a particular area. More calls supposedly = more MNR visits.

 

[rich_ace_G]

MNR doesn't respond to every call, but from what I understand, they respond based on how many calls they get for a particular area. More calls supposedly = more MNR visits.

Also random visits. They won't be there all day. They can be there everyday but it would be on peak hours or how many tribs they can cover. The problem is some douches can fish in numbers. There were countless of occasions that could've went wrong if I'm one hothead.

 

[Matt Rickles]

I've seen plenty of poaching over the years. Ive come to the conclusion that they simply don't care, like any other criminal, its just part of their life. Ince a thief always a thief,once a poacher always a poacher kind of thing. Even after getting fines they'll find a way to poach. I know guys who have fished for years without liscences, they feel its their right to do so. Same with hunting, it goes on all the time, sometimes so severe its hard to wrap your head around. Ive heard from the MNR about guys getting caught with freezers full of fish and once saw an article about a guy who would sell deer meat, he had over 100 deer hanging in a big refrigerator, apple farmer I think he was.
Rat them out when you can, call them out when you can.

 

[TheTallFisherman]

I have spoken to enough MNR officers first hand that I have made it a habit to ask them for a business card - Yes, you can do that.

That gives me an advantage because some people genuinely care about improving the fisheries and sustaining it long term, vs the selfish angler who thinks he knows best.

Speaking with the MInistry officer, calling in an incident is just a "report". They may document it for future purposes (places to check in the future) but very unlikely anything will be done about it at the time of the call. This is mostly because there are so few officers covering such a large area, if they are not in the surrounding area it may be hours before they can actually go to the spot of this "incident", in which case most time the person would have already finished fishing.

I completely agree with how you handled the situation Bigugly, (picture of the culprit, his lisence plate and vehicle). I dont have an email for the MNR but I am sure if you called and asked, you can find out what it is, they may ask for the address of where the incident was (specifically) and if they happen to be in the area, they will see the same vehicle and search for the culprit. (Obviously this is an ideal extreme, but it has happened in previous incidents)

Moral of the story, speak with the MNR officers, they are your friends and if you get along well enough, it wouldn't be a bad idea to get their mobile numbers! Also makes it easier if you are sending them pictures/reporting incidents because you know it will be taken care of accordingly.

 

[Ibstacle]

The MNR officers don't do s.h.i.t. They came to my trib and checked for licenses when the salmon weren't even running yet and there were only a few anglers out on the water. Later in the season when there were a hundred of more fisherman at the spot I was at, the MNR officers didn't bother showing up. As I walked up river I caught a guy suspiciously fishing in a back channel where it was only a few inches deep. I quietly followed him there to see he was hiding 9 female chinook salmon in the shallow water on a stringer tied to tree. When he went to fish a different spot, I went and released all the fish. If I hadn't done that, he would have gotten away with it. It was also funny seeing his reaction when he couldn't find his fish.

 

[Ibstacle]

sorry for my language

 

[instapump416]

Call the MNR tip line to report a violation 1.877.847.7667

Some times they call you back to follow up on the report and if they caught the person.

 

[jeffheartofsteel]

I wonder if it would help if there was some sort of awareness with non-fisherman, especially in the public access areas, most fisherman would call these parks "snag park". I don't think the general public(non-fisherman) really knows the regulations, but if they did, social media is a pretty powerful thing (especially for millennials). I am sure the poachers wouldn't like it. I have a friend awhile back who was in photography and I remember he told me that by law, you lose your right to privacy in a public area, as long the photo is not used for financial gain...but not sure if that is true. I know before i got into fishing, i walked along the paths during the salmon run, and i saw some guy using a gill net just down stream of the ice blocks, but i thought it was just okay. I didn't know that it was illegal. If Enforcers can't resolve the issue, take it to social media, and hashtag it.

 

[TI Redux]

You have respect or you don't.
Don't cry to me in 10 yrs when there's no fish running at all anymore.
Humans ARE the most destructive force on nature.
As far as the fisheries go.
Sooner we make fishing with roe illegal ,the greater the chances are your grandchildren can even experience our fisheries.
But too many feel if they're not hooking up 5 times or better an outing they need real roe.
Pathetic.
And obvious weakness on your own abilities .

 

[NADO]

"place of employment ID " let me guess off duty popo who carries it with you as a get out of trouble free card? And they wonder why they have the reputation they have now?

Go home fisherman, you're drunk!

He was talking about witnessing other anglers blatant violations, not getting out of his own violations.

 

[TI Redux]

Go home fisherman, you're drunk!

He was talking about witnessing other anglers blatant violations, not getting out of his own violations.

Ha ha
Yea
Sad how people think their interpretation of a text is the right one.

 

[fisgfreek]

He must have been drunk or just plain stupid.