I was teaching a couple of friends of mine some some basics of fly fishing on Friday at the Kings.  They did OK, but it was the first time for one of them.  Anyways, we were walking back to the parking lot when we came across a couple of guys with tackle boxes and spinning reels in the Special Reg section.  OK, a "yellow flag", I suppose.  But what we saw next made us come to a complete stop.  While one of the guys had a big finger up the gills of a rather large (maybe 18"-20") rainbow, the other guy was untangling his stringer to put the fish on.  I don't remember my exact words, but it was something like, "Guys, this is a special regs section, which means no catch and release.  You had better let that trout go.  Not trying to be an &%^, but game wardens do patrol this area and I'm trying to save you guys a ticket."  They put it back, and it swam away on its own (whew).  Then they commenced with the, "We didn't know."  Which I replied with, "You both walked past a sign to get to this spot.  
 
Anyways, I stepped into the river to start making some casts and LO AND BEHOLD!  A uniformed game warden steps down to the water's edge to confront the two "clueless" fishermen.  I didn't hear the conversation, but licenses were presented and the two very, very lucky spinning gear guys left the area for somewhere else to fill their stringer.  What do you think was the right thing to do?  Ignore it and let the law punish them, or talk to them and help to straighten them out on the regulations?  Either way, I think they owe me a case of beer.  Or at least a thank you.
 
Just a side note, my friends I was teaching are life long spinning gear and baitchucker guys who normally fish up by the dam.  By showing them how to fly fish, I hope they take a little bit away from the lessons about ethics.  We talked about the situation with the two guys who were trying to keep that big trout and they agreed that it was very wrong.  I hope it sinks in.

You did the right thing, Scott.  They owe you more then a case of beer.  You always wonder whether the ignorance is feigned or legit.  I am glad that we are seeing DFG presence on these special waters and up in the Owens Valley.  
 
When I was on the fire department and we responded to folks burning illegally, I had the attitude check rule.  If they flunk the attitude twice during that contact, I call in the big boys who write the $500 dollar tickets.  Seventy percent of the time we got compliance just with conversation and education.  I loved going to court to testify in the other thirty percent of the cases cuz they always tried to fight it and always lost.  In our case, non-compliance frequently meant property destroying wildland-urban interface fires.

you did good. i probily would have called the game warden and thats just becuase before got into the profision i'm in i was going to school to become a game warden. and to me those guys new the rules they will continue to push until they get caught and you caught them. I've seen people try this at hot creek and other resricked areas.

That would be a great place for the "Wild Justice" game wardens to show up.  If you don't know what I'm talking about...it's a "reality" show about California Game Wardens that airs Sunday nights on the National Geographic Channel.  Kinda cool, however, you can see how overworked and spread thin these guys are.  You did the right thing!

I would have done the same thing as you, Troutinator, although I wish the warden had caught them red-handed.  I am always nice when confronting these idiots as it is not worth getting into an altercation over, and mostly they say the same thing: " I didn't know this was catch and release only".  Too bad.  That's like saying, "Officer, I didn't know the speed limit was only xxx".  It would seem that game wardens could pay their salary and more by catching and prosecuting these morons.  Thanks for sharing your experience!

Quote from Charlie Webb on Mar 25^th, 2012, 6:30pm:

 
Where are you driving? I want to go there...
 
I've seen people breaking the law and a warden just about to come up on them, and didn't say anything. The warden is trained to handle these kinds of situations, and I am just a wimpy little flyfisherman in tights. I have said things to people before when no warden was around, however.
 
Chris

Scott, I probably would have done the same thing as you. Like some one else said t, I also do an attitude check to. That depends on my next move then. Call DFG or not. We can always do prison rules though, pull out a shank and shank them. Joking on that part.  
 
I think you did the right thing. They owe you big time.

I was out on the river yesterday and as I was gearing up, two yahoos walked by me with a bag full of worm containers, powerbait, treble hooks and spinning rods in hand.  They were walking toward the river and I politely said "hey bro.  This is a special regs area.  Check out the sign right here (one that had no graffiti on it) and one of the guys said "what sign" and walked right by it.  I called CALTIP, and thirty minutes later a warden shows up and writes them each a ticket for bait and barbs.  Since fishing was tough, luckily they didnt have any fish on the stringer.  Later that day, the warden called me back and told me he pinched 3 more guys further upriver for the same thing.  Here is the things folks.  We all need to CALL CALTIP EVERY TIME YOU SEE SOMEONE BREAKING THE LAW!! 1888DFGCALTIP.  They track the calls and bust rates and all of that is factored in when considering hiring more wardens (somthing we need).  Trust me.  A ticket will teach a much better lesson than a polite guy with a long rod in their hand.
 
Just my 2 pennies.