Watch your butts out there

[TheCream]

A buddy and I went to the Racine Dam today. We did pretty well, caught a lot of fish, and a few pretty nice ones. We were pretty pleased given the conditions (water was murky and up a little). Then when we left, walking back to the truck, we see Mr. Game Warden. No worries for us, we were legal, but I was a little surprised at what we found out. We had been watching a small aluminum boat out in the fast water near the locks side, far above the restriction buoys, and wondering what the idiots were thinking by taking their boat into the faster stuff. I asked the game warden right off the bat, "Is that boat allowed to be in there that far, that close to the dam?" He smiled and said "We are." It was a DNR boat, and I think they were keeping close tabs on the fishing action on the bank where we were. I had a minnow bucket that I keep a throw net in, and my buddy had a bucket he took in case we caught a skipjack for bait. The warden never looked in his bucket, and never asked me to open mine. In other words, my guess is they were watching us pack up.

Just like the highway patrol is out heavily for the holiday weekend, I'd say the ODNR is watching pretty closely, too. Mind the rules and watch the bag limits, you never know when you will get checked!

[coonskinner]

A buddy and I went to the Racine Dam today. We did pretty well, caught a lot of fish, and a few pretty nice ones. We were pretty pleased given the conditions (water was murky and up a little). Then when we left, walking back to the truck, we see Mr. Game Warden. No worries for us, we were legal, but I was a little surprised at what we found out. We had been watching a small aluminum boat out in the fast water near the locks side, far above the restriction buoys, and wondering what the idiots were thinking by taking their boat into the faster stuff. I asked the game warden right off the bat, "Is that boat allowed to be in there that far, that close to the dam?" He smiled and said "We are." It was a DNR boat, and I think they were keeping close tabs on the fishing action on the bank where we were. I had a minnow bucket that I keep a throw net in, and my buddy had a bucket he took in case we caught a skipjack for bait. The warden never looked in his bucket, and never asked me to open mine. In other words, my guess is they were watching us pack up.


Just like the highway patrol is out heavily for the holiday weekend, I'd say the ODNR is watching pretty closely, too. Mind the rules and watch the bag limits, you never know when you will get checked!

well i for one am glad they are doing their job...hats off to our cops an firemen:D

[TheCream]

Hey, I am, too. I'm just saying make sure you're doing everything correctly. It would be a bad way to end a good fishing trip if you miscounted how many sauger you tossed in a bucket and got fined for it.

[jackalope]

I was sitting on the bank of CJ Brown Res, this weekend with a line in the water. I noticed a Small green aluminum boat running about.. They were moving channel markers and I just thought it was the local lake workers... Nope is was our county Game warden... Once they got closer I noticed it was him, not hard as he is a black guy. They putted by and he was keeping an eye on me the whole time.... I knew he would come back later to check me out, but he never did. I was hoping he would so i could ask why he never returned my 2 messages I left on his desk and cell about tagging a rack that I found.


BTW Yes you can usually gat as close as you want to the dam, sometimes they have signs posted for restricted areas, and usually it’s in your best interest to heed those signs. Also, something most people don’t know is if you want to go up past the dam, they have to open the locks and float you up. No matter the size of the craft. It something to do with waterway laws and stipulations for building a dam is you can’t hinder river traffic. Here is a great read from the US Army Core Engineers with instructions for locking through. Do it right or the engineer will yell at you over the loud speaker letting everyone on the river know you’re an idiot.

http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/pubs/celrpp_1130_1_10.pdf

[northsouthohiofisher]

Jackalope howd you do at CJ???
We tore up the crappies

[Winter Hawk]

and..........on the West Virginia side of the Ohio River, law enforcement was out as well. We got checked fishing the tail-waters around 9:30 am this morning as well. He was on foot, and checked everyone there. Usually around the major holidays they are checking all the easy access places. This makes the second time in the last month we've got checked and another time the biologists were placing "fishing survey's" on windshields. They are just doing their jobs and if things are legal, there isn't any problems.

Winter Hawk

[jackalope]

Jackalope howd you do at CJ???
We tore up the crappies


I was only out for about an hour and a half. With worms and minnows. Caught some monster gills and about a pound catfish. No Crappie.. Where did you get into them at?

[sycamoreredneck]

Ya know it always makes me feel good when I get checked by the GW. I am a stickler for the rules and it makes you feel like its all worth it when you get checked!!! :)

[OHBOW76]

I have been out at CJ with a buddy of mine about three times the last two weeks. First time, we killed the white bass, crappie, and I managed to catch two nice channel cats on a small Rattle Trap.

Second time we fished from dusk until 2:30 AM and caught two Channel cats and one keeper walleye.

Were out today from 4 AM until 10:30 A.M and caught two crappie, a largemouth, and yet more stinking Channel cats.

I am starting to think there aren't any walleye in that damm lake. We fished hard all three times, fished every biy of structure we coulkd find with everyhtign you could throw at them alive and artificial. You cant buy a damm walleye in that lake. I thought it was supposed to be loaded with them.

[TheCream]

Ya know it always makes me feel good when I get checked by the GW. I am a stickler for the rules and it makes you feel like its all worth it when you get checked!!! :)

You know I tend to agree, but that was the first time I have been checked while fishing in probably 4 or 5 years...and I fish a lot, mainly on the Ohio. And I can only remember being checked during hunting season once.

[jackalope]

Between hunting and fishing I get checked 4-6 times a year.