FWC

[travis.ouzts]

We got a late start out of Mashes Sands Friday afternoon and went out to the play with the Spanish and trout.
We caught three keepers, one gator and started trolling for Spanish.
After catching 8 or 10 we headed out to 24 to do a little bottom fishing. We had been there about 20 minutes before we were checked by the FWC out of St. Marks.
Nothing much was going on around 24 so we headed back in to do a little trolling. We were checked again around the Rotary reef. We caught a few more Spanish and headed back to the landing.
When we pulled up to the dock we were checked again.
All this happened in about 6 hours.

Gotta love the FWC for watching out for our safety so diligently.

[roadtrip]

wow, thats crazy! you must have a guilty looking boat

[Steve Stinson]

I got checked 4 times in two days over in St. Joe Bay by the same officer. Finally, upon completion the 4th stop I asked him "Sir, would you like me to pack you a sandwich tomorrow?" He didn't check me for the remainder of the week.

[Tide-Dancer]

Next time your checked, write down the officers name and the time of the stop. Take a photo of the FWC boat leaving. Always be nice to the officer but Keep a log and if you feel you are being harassed take this information to the FWC office on Timber Island and talk to the commander to file a complaint.
I received this information from a Tallahassee judge I was fishing with one day.

[BeachRum1962]

The FWC 'officer' patrolling lately out of Timber Island stopped me recently for a safety check, and it was quite a pleasurable experience. In fact, 'she' is quite attractive and I wouldn't mind being harassed by her again.

[red_yakker]

Next time your checked, write down the officers name and the time of the stop. Take a photo of the FWC boat leaving. Always be nice to the officer but Keep a log and if you feel you are being harassed take this information to the FWC office on Timber Island and talk to the commander to file a complaint.
I received this information from a Tallahassee judge I was fishing with one day.

I agree.
I was having an issue with a particular officer refusing to sign off on a depredation permit (every time he refused, he came up with a different excuse as to why). After a 5 minute conversation with his boss's boss in Lake City, the permit was approved, and he was reprimanded.
That being said, 90% of the time I have an encounter with an FWC officer, it goes pleasantly. As long as you're following the rules and don't act like a jerk to them for just doing their job, they'll treat you with the same respect you show them (usually).

[zload]

The FWC 'officer' patrolling lately out of Timber Island stopped me recently for a safety check, and it was quite a pleasurable experience. In fact, 'she' is quite attractive and I wouldn't mind being harassed by her again.

[EddieJoe]

I'm astounded. I haven't seen an FWC officer on the water for a bunch of years. With a very few exceptions, they have always been very professional. Only once, on the wakulla, did an officer give me grief over counting an inflatable pfd because it wasn't being worn. He thought that all of them were type 5 and I had to school him by showing him the tag. He was semi hostile and this was silly because there were only two of us onboard with 7 Pfds

Anyhow, it's fine with me if they are out there.

[BeachRum1962]

The FWC 'officer' patrolling lately out of Timber Island stopped me recently for a safety check, and it was quite a pleasurable experience. In fact, 'she' is quite attractive and I wouldn't mind being harassed by her again.

I wish I had a pic to share. She was a looker. Real nice too.

[2true]

I was fishing with my buddy a couple years back, and a bass boat pulled up with a couple guys while we were fishing Aucilla flats. It was two FWC officers, and they checked our boat out. The guys had full uniforms on and the best part was their push poll was a big branch from a tree.


Being former Coast Guard, I usually get off with a good bit of warnings, including not too long ago I was looking at $270 bucks worth of tickets for violations.

[Dubble Trubble]

The only time I was checked on the water was coming in the river at Econfina. The officer was on an airboat, and was very nice. He checked the cooler, and we were on our way. I have had a few checks at the landing at Econfina though. All encounters were very easy. One was even comical when I had my twin 16 year old daughters in the boat with bikinis on, and he came up to check us. He did not even check anything, just chatted. He was a young guy and was just doing what young guys do!

Now as for Georgia, my only two run-ins with them were in the Lake Seminole area. One was a Jon Boat with two officers in it, one being a rather large female. We were on Jetskis, and they ran their johnboat up ON my buddies brand new jetski. He came unglued on them and they left with no problems.

The other time was an arsehole on the Flint. I was on my ski, and had one of those vests with three large buckles, and two tiny ones at the top. It was a scorcher day, and I had the two top buckles undone. He turned around, and chased me all the way back to the landing (I had no idea he was after me till I got to the landing). He proceeded to get nasty, and I told him to write the ticket and we would let the judge decide if it was buckled up enough. He got even more pissed, and put on his hat. He told me to buckle them or go to jail. I did so, and after he pulled away, unbuckled them again. No ticket was written. What a jerk he was!


Dubble

[onefishtwofish]

I got checked off St Marks and normally, I do not keep any trout, but my brother was with me and he wanted to have a fish fry. We had a mess, most in the 17-18" range and one little 15 1/4" one. I made him check it twice cause it looked so small with the fish we were checking. The GW pulled up and we chatted (had a lot of mutual friends with me and brother) and then he checked our licenses. All legal and he asked about fish. I opened the well and he just glanced and then did a double take. I said "It is 15". He said, umm, okay. I said you want us to show ya and he said yeah if you dont mind. I caught him up and stretched him out on the board. We laughed because of how close he was and how he looked so little in the well with the other bigger fish. I pointed at brother and said "he wants to have a fry" and he just laughed and said "Enjoy".

I was also checked by the purty GW. She's no kid and as pretty as can be. Very nice lady and very professional.

[GaryDroze]

At the St Marks Refuge levees, I get checked occasionally at my car when the officers see me biking towards it with my backpack (fish bag) on. They have always been very professional. It's typically a pretty strict, full check the first time or two. Then, once they get to know me, the "stops" are really more like chats, comparing fish stories. The last time was almost 3pm on a tournament day, when I was in a hurry to make weigh-in. The officer could have made me late just by doing his job & checking my license & measuring all my fish (I had one trout over 20" and a few at 19-19.5, so it looked iffy). Instead, he said "I just checked a group at the ramp that was worried about being late, so you probably need to get going. Good luck at the weigh-in."

Made my day.

[lonesouth]

We got pulled in my dad's 13' whaler on the st marks north of shields. We had 6 family members in the boat, not small people, with about 3-4" of freeboard. Newer 13s have a capacity of 5, but this on is from '81 and the capacity is 6. No ticket, but the officers were in disbelief.

[DEMON]

Got check on the east flats a couple of weeks ago. Very nice & professional officer. He check my safety gear & live well and was off in a few mins. I saw him coming so I had all my gear out & didn't even wait for him to ask. "Here's my vests, whistle, flares, blah, blah, blah". Move along, nothing to see here!