TOPIC: My only encounter with a Game Warden

TWO OL FISHING FARTS LOST IN THE FOG EXPERIENCE A HAPPENING WITH A GAME WARDEN.

My only experience with a game warden was on Lake Livingston, Texs with a former friend of mine about 1992 or so. It was a very foggy early morning, but we decided to go ahead and put in at White Rock Creek because we had driven all the way from Baytown, Texas and wanted to fish badly.
We had been there a thousand times and knew it well, RIGHT, BUT NOT IN THE FOG. Anyway we made it to the river and down the pipeline in the “JUNGLE” and started fishing, but quit because the fog was so thick you could not see 20’ away and we were getting hung up on everything around us. We heard another boater, and decided to catch up with him by listening to his motor. We thought maybe he could lead us out. The problem was he keep starting and stopping!! We never caught up with him. The more we called to him, the further he moved away, SO VERY STRANGE, HMMM. So finally we found the river and low and behold in front of us not 30’ away was a figure of a BIG man in a BIG boat. Great, we found someone who could lead us back! HOLT CRAP, It was game warden standing with one foot on the side of his boat with his hand on his gun. Now you talking about almost losing it, to pop out of the fog, and the first thing you see is a BIG man with a BIG gun looking at you! He pulls up to our boat and looks in and he sees nothing but rods and reels and two scared ol farts. He looks at my friends boat, and says the sticker had expired two years ago! He asked for our license, and we both had left our billfolds in the truck! He says, where are your life jackets, and my friend says that he had taken them and cleaned them and forgot to put them back in the boat!!.
He said in a nice calm demeanor, boys I cant give yall a ticket for fishing because I did not see yall fishing so your off there. He did say he could give us a ticket for expired boat sticker and no life vest, but he said he would not. Boy, we were thinking maybe that are we going to the ol jailhouse or something else we might not like! He asked why we kept starting and stopping our boat, and we told him, because we were lost in the fog, and there was another boater doing the same and we were just trying to catch him so maybe he could tell us how we COULD GET THE HECK OUT OF DODGE and back to our truck. The more we called to him, the further he moved away. He said the other boat was a poacher and he was trying to catch them and we messed him up. Now I know we are really in trouble. By now the other boat was long gone and I wish we were also. He finally took his hand off his gun in his holster, and said very nice and very polite but in a very stern voice to us, GET THE HELL OFF “MY LAKE NOW”! He did lead us back to White Rock Creek boat ramp so we could load up and go home.
WOW, what a nice guy and we were very thankful for it. It could have been very bad, a day in the ol jailhouse for sure!
We had not caught any fish, so we decided to go on down the lake around Rocky Creek to my uncles house, rest relax and drink some coffee and gather our thoughts and change our underwear! There was a private boat ramp in my uncles subdivision. We figured what can happen now to us?? We will just stay in this little area and not bother anyone! RIGHT. We put the boat in and cruised down the canal out to an area that used to be an old farm house and very big fields where we could fish out of the wind, and hopefully not see another game warden! By then, the fog had cleared up. We were working the brush line and an old tree line when the boat got hung up on a old submerged stump. It was in the summer so the water was warm. My friend said its only about 2 feet deep here, so he grabbed the rope up and slid over the side of the boat to pull us off the stump, he had not gone approx 5’ when all of a sudden he disappeared with nothing but his hat floating on top of the water and a floating rope! In a few seconds, it looked like Moby Dick coming out of the water hollering like crazy, I fell into the damn creek, DUH! Needless to say we loaded up and came home before something else happened, and it was only 10:00 that morning!!! MAN WHAT A TRIP FROM HELL!!
This is a true story, and my only encounter with a game warden, and thank God, it was a good one, otherwise we still might be in the ol jailhouse. I just thought of something else not very pleasant to think about, that damn poacher could have shot us!!! thanx.

Being a hunter, land owner, and having a place on both lake Somevill and in Madagorda I have a lot of dealings with Game Wardens. I never have had a bad one. I have had a few dealing with the US Coast Guard and have had the same Very nice professional people. Never have had a ticket given out , but been told to get something taken care of before I come back.

Now the Houston Lake Patrol is a whole diff story. Talk about a bunch of clowns.

I was running my 1948 12' Lone Star with a 1948 4.7 Hp champion motor in the upper part of the lake. There were jet skiers playing around so I was hugging the shore (legal here). One of the Lake Patrol pull up to me and mad me shut things down. He told me that I was running too close to the shore. I told him it was not illegal. He pull a booklet out, made a few calls on his radio, and then asked me for the papers on my motor. well I did not have any for it was a 1948 model and the TX Parks and Wildlife over looks the old motors. His answer was "Well we are not the Parks and Wildlife", and wrote me a ticket

An old guy once told me that the Fish Commission like to check you on Keystone lake here. He told me if they are coming toward you just hold up your life jacket and they will most likely pass you by. They were coming toward me one day and I held it up. They did move on to the next boat.

robert that fish comission guy has checked me out almost everytime i went to keystone lake,wheather or not im in a boat or not,he sits in the parking lot with binoculars there,little fella with a big moustach,john

I talked to him once, but I was eating lunch at the Attwood launch. If I had time I'd drop a few cast in also. Funny I've not fished Keystone now in 3 years.

Well it was 4th of July weekend 1984, The York River, Yorktown, VA. Myself and 2 buddies (we were all active military), were out in my '62, 16 1/2 ft' fiberglass runabout with 40hp Johnson. We each had a valid fishing license, we had 2 life jackets, one flotation cushion and a throw ring, and a fire extinguisher. One of the guys even brought the battery from his motor cycle so we had a horn and lights. (the 40hp was pull start only so it didn't require a battery). Well I think it was VA Fish & Game pulled up to check us out. I was confident that we were all in compliance. Seeming to be somewhat perturbed not finding any violations, the officer wrote me a ticket for "short one wearable PFD" (personal flotation device). I couldn't believe it. 3 active duty Army combat veterans, (we had all been deployed to Grenada) on the 4th of July, in Yorktown, VA, (the actual place where The Continental Army defeated the British Army for our freedom) this guy writes us a ticket! He stated that because my boat was over 16', I had to have a 'wearable PFD' for each person on board, that meant that the flotation cushion and the throw ring didn't count...