The post titled "Poachers Caught & Fined in the Island Nation" got me to thinking. During the off season I take my dog for a walk by the Bear River just about every week. He loves the area and he loves to swim in the river.

On 3 or 4 of those trips I've seen people fishing the river or at least hanging out and talking with fishing poles leaning up against the trees. It's off season and most of them don't even have a fishing license visible.

Now that the season is on I've been fishing that area and even though on Saturday I saw the biggest mayfly hatch I've ever witnessed, not a single fish was rising in a pool where I usually see half a dozen risers. Could it be that the river was fished out over the winter?

The thing is, they're partying and have (usually) been drinking and I'm not in a rush to start a confrontation and get my butt kicked in the woods.

So, do you think that a phone call to the game warden is in order even if they're not catching anything? Part of me feels like I'm the one being a jerk by turning them in. I sort of feel like "When did I become such a grumpy old guy who calls the cops on kids partying down by the river". Then again, there doesn't seem to be many fish in my favorite river this year. Maybe that off season fishing really did hurt the fishery.

I should say that I've been confronted by people in the past who didn't realize that the North Fork of the American river now has winter rules allowing fishing (catch and release only, no barbed hooks, artificial lures only). Even though I was legal, it kind of ruins the day to have somebody harass you on it. Then I have to explain that "Yes, it's ok to fish here now. The new rules are in the regulations book, they're posted on the sign by the trail head and I even confirmed it with the Park Rangers." I try to be nice about it because we're already in a confrontation mode and I need to defuse the tension. But it's not a pleasant conversation even though I'm right.

What do you think? Should I be turning in the kids fishing off season without a license? Or am I becoming a grumpy old man? (I'm not even 50 yet)