fishing without license in north carolina, what kind of violation

[Soundguy]

friend was cited for fishing without a license in north carolina this weekend ( floridian had to run up there on a red eye trip.. ) the game warden or whoever issued the citation told them it was a criminal offense and would be on their record.

so.. what kind of infraction is this? civil / penal code violation?

misdemeanor?

felony?

my friend, she's in tears about the whole thing..

any ideas?

 

[aczlan]

A quick google search turns up Arrested on fishing without a license charge, is it unusual or not? which says that it is a misdemeanor.
Another story (Fishing while brown | North Carolina | Independent Weekly) said that:

According to Brown, the basic fine for fishing without a license is $35. For those unable to produce a valid North Carolina identification card the fine jumps to $75; additional fees increase the total cost of the ticket to $196.

Note: Other sites have lower fees listed, so her mileage (feeage?) may vary.

Aaron Z

 

[coveredbridge]

I'm not a lawyer, but I would think it would be similar to a traffic ticket. I believe in PA they refer to that as a summary offense. I don't think there's any reason to be any more concerned about it than a speeding ticket.

 

[B E Lewis Farms]

Fishing without license in North Carolina is a class 3 misdemeanor. Fines are 35 dollars for residents and 75 dollars for non residents plus court costs of 161 dollars. Yes it is a criminal offense in north carolina but it will have no bearing on her in florida.

 

[Soundguy]

yes, the ticket, when totaled is like 180 or 190$

I'm obviously not a lawyer type.. but i was unde rthe impression a misdemeanor was still a serious charge? I know not a felony.. but it sounds like something that may limit you on an application.

a traffic ticket would be more of a civil infraction / penal code violation.. right/.. but a misd' that's something that will come back on a record check.. or a dl check by law enforcement no?

whole deal was bad judgement and bad timing and bad decision.

her 17yr old sun has nbeen staying a few weeks up north with a friend. my friends drove up to retrieve their son, and took one of his friends with them for the trip. the got there sunday afternoon, and were going to leave monday afternoon. they were goin gto buy the 1 day fishing licenses and all go fly fishing.

the son up there ALREADY had his license. the friend took a reel from the truck, with no fly or hook on it, and just practiced casting it a few times.... just a leader and sinker on it. the son with the license actually put a fly with hook on his pole and cast in. the father stayed at the truck playing with his digital camera, as did the mom... son with the license wanted to get something out of his bag and asked the mom to hold the pole ( bad idea.. no license.. holding pole in water ).. anyway at that moment the game officer literally walks out from behind the bushes and checks eveybodies license status. the mom got the ticket for the pole in the water.. the son with license was ok. the leo argued for 30m trying to give the dad in the truck a ticket even though he was no where near the water or a pole. and the friend with the hookless line in the water got a ticket.

the leo was a young guy and as i hear it.. a pretty hard .. um.. 'but' . the ticket infraction box checked for the friend states fishing with line and hook with no license. I personally don't see how that fits.. as his line had no hook. sounds like a technicality to me. the mom.. well.. bad timing...and bad decision to hold the pole. IMHO, the leo could have been a lil more understanding since he was obviously watching them from a few yards away, hidden, and heard the mom and dad telling the boys they would be back inthe morning to fish when they all had a license and to quit waisting time / daylight.

i don't mind law enforcement.. but I think a lil discretion was needed here...

I know my friends and I believe 1010% of the story as it was told to me. so far, 'mom' made a bad decision to hold the line and was technically breaking the law. 'frien'd, however, as it looks on paper, should not have been cited IMHO...

and dad? why was the leo drumming up a charge when it was clear he was watching them and knew the facts. why lie?

seems unscrupulous.

 

[MossRoad]

Well, the bottom line is don't hold fishing equipment in, on or near a body of water if you don't have a valid fishing license. Lessoned learned. Wildlife LEOs hear every story possible, especially from out of state tourists, so they take no mercy on anyone. Plus, they are more likely to be attacked in the field than city cops and more likely to encounter armed offenders. But I believe you know your friend to be honest and she is most likely telling the truth.

There is probably no way to get out of it and would most likely cost way more than its worth to fight it. Best chance is to probably have the woman write down exactly what happened and have the husband and kids write down their stories too and have them notarized. Then send it in and beg forgiveness from the court. Maybe a kind soul in the court system will take pitty. Its worth a shot.

 

[Soundguy]

i figure 'mom' is hung. she was literally holding a pole with hook and line in the water. that meets the definition.. .. the other kid.. no hook.. to me.. that doesn't meet the definition.

the kicker is is it's in NC.. and no way they are driving back for court.. even though it is like an 180$ ticket.

I told her to call in... ask questions. you never know.. might help.. otherwise she needs to get a checkbook out... and learn not to hold a pole in the water with no license.

now.. as for 'dad' he clearly did nothing wrong.

I can't imagine why the leo was trying to construe that he was fishing.. no pole.. no line in water.. camera in hand. shouldn't be illegal to drive to another state to take a picture of water.. that's wrong IMHO..

 

[MossRoad]

i figure 'mom' is hung. she was literally holding a pole with hook and line in the water. that meets the definition.. .. the other kid.. no hook.. to me.. that doesn't meet the definition.

the kicker is is it's in NC.. and no way they are driving back for court.. even though it is like an 180$ ticket.

I told her to call in... ask questions. you never know.. might help.. otherwise she needs to get a checkbook out... and learn not to hold a pole in the water with no license.

now.. as for 'dad' he clearly did nothing wrong.

I can't imagine why the leo was trying to construe that he was fishing.. no pole.. no line in water.. camera in hand. shouldn't be illegal to drive to another state to take a picture of water.. that's wrong IMHO..

Guilty by association.... obviously a gang of hard core trout poachers. Dad was the lookout! :licking:

 

[Soundguy]

ggod point.

oh yeah.. that's the other half of the ticket. 35$ or something fishing with no licens, then some court cost, then another ticket for no trout stamp....

 

[KTurner]

heard the mom and dad telling the boys they would be back inthe morning to fish when they all had a license and to quit waisting time / daylight.

A bit of devil's advocate. What the LEO heard was an admission of guilt. They admitted that they knew what they were doing was illegal, yet they did it anyway and were "discussing their getaway" as he walked up.

another ticket for no trout stamp.

This seems to imply that they had possession of a trout. so, they weren't just "getting a line wet", they were in possession of illegal fish.

Question about the father - was there any fishing equipment in that vehicle with him? If so, I can see how the LEO would pursue that. If not, that does seem to be stretching.

Here in VA, they just nabbed two people with a cooler (or two) that had 49 striper/rockfish. The legal limit is 2 per person per day. Oh yea, 47 were smaller than the legally allowed minimum size. I also heard they didn't have a fishing license. They caught these guys after they stopped fishing, boarded the ferry and crossed the river. This happened last weekend and I've not heard any more about it. I'm sort of curious how this is going to go. How do they know who caught what? Maybe each of them says "I caught the two that were of legal size, the other guy caught the 47 small ones". That's somewhat of a parallel to your story. Do they figure out who did what, or treat the group as one and charge everyone?

I've heard rumors that they can confiscate your equipment, up to and including boats/vehicles, involved in illegal fishing.

Keith