Thread: Conservation Officers

Only a handful of times in Indiana. Get checked all the time in Kentucky. Few times in Ohio. I understand their job, and the need for it. But I think it's a hassle while I'm on the water fishing. I think they should only check if you're breaking a law, kind of like getting pulled over I'm your car. I see people flying through idle zones, sinking beer cans, and overall unsafe boating practices that never get checked. That's the ones who need it. If my stickers are good on my boat, then that should be sufficient.

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Twice in Kansas and once in Missouri in close to 60 years of fishing. I was also issued a ticket for an unregistered trolling motor in Kansas but they didn't check my fishing licence. My guess is they develop a kind of profile for people they check but there also are just not that many of them for the thousands of acres of lakes.

Originally Posted by wolfhnd

Twice in Kansas and once in Missouri in close to 60 years of fishing. I was also issued a ticket for an unregistered trolling motor in Kansas but they didn't check my fishing licence. My guess is they develop a kind of profile for people they check but there also are just not that many of them for the thousands of acres of lakes.

Unregistered trolling motor? Why do you have to register a trolling motor???

Also, I just remembered that I got checked at a city lake in Evansville. It was me, my daughter and 5 young kids. So, that could be a profile to look for. I had a CO tell me they already know if you have a license or not or if you are breaking any laws just by the way you present yourself.

When I fished Hardy, I once got checked twice in three days by the same CO! I had an old blue boat that my FIL had given me and that thing attracted those CO. Go to Hardy, they'll check you out real quick.

I've lived down here at Barkley for close to two years and have never been checked.

Originally Posted by Chance

Unregistered trolling motor? Why do you have to register a trolling motor???

Also, I just remembered that I got checked at a city lake in Evansville. It was me, my daughter and 5 young kids. So, that could be a profile to look for. I had a CO tell me they already know if you have a license or not or if you are breaking any laws just by the way you present yourself.

Well I worded that poorly. In Missouri you have to register any boat that has a motor and the boat motor itself accept for trolling motors. In Missouri Sailboats under 12ft do not have to be registered. In Kansas sailboats regardless of size and all boats not powered by oars or paddles have to be registered but not the motor separately.

I had an 11ft sailboat I fished out of that I usually rowed but a friend gave me a trolling motor and I was trying it out on a Kansas lake. I was pretty young at the time and although I knew the boat needed to be registered I didn't feel like bothering with it, especially since I had never seen a conservation agent. I found that ellusive and mythical conservation agent on that day and rewarded him with $120.

I suppose the point of this story is that I still think it is a waste of tax dollars to register a tiny boat powered by a trolling motor only. Bureaucracies being as efficient as they are by time they pay the employees and the computer bill etc. it probably cost the state more to register a tiny boat than the fee. The lessen is that it doesn't matter what I think.

I have been checked at Patoka couple of times, on Monroe couple of times, on the river once, deer hunting a couple of times, riding my atv down the county road once for its registration, over the past few years. As busy as they are and as many hours and country they have to cover, they do the best they can. We need more COs and it takes money. That is the problem. Now all the law enforcement departments, call on a CO to be present in most drug busts, so they are being called on to cover that crap and is taking a lot of their time so they are spread very thin. When the State Police are flying choppers and planes looking for pot plants, when they find it while in the air, they gps the coordinates, give them to DNR, and 99% of the time, they are the ones that have to dig and pull them up. They are too spread thin.

Patoka Twice, river once. Glendale/ Dogwood maybe seven times which makes sense due to the higher number of users of state resources. Have been checked in southern states twice. All those CO's were very nice and professional. Not so in Illinois, been checked at Newton three times on the ramp and once on the water. Those CO's were out for blood and ###holes to everyone. I appreciate what they do and strive to obey the rules but there is no reason to be rude in the course of doing your job.

once or twice a year fishing. never hunting, but i only hunt private grounds.