Crabbing near wilson point 7/17/12

[Hokis 614]

Well I couldn't take it much longer and had to go out. Decided to try out my new 500 ft trot line and prop stik and had 20 traps. We were in about 5-8 feet of water and right by a shelf. The trot line baits got torn up by all the small crabs and only gave us about 5 keeps but we were dipping 15 crabs a run. The traps were where we got our crab catching the remaining 10 crabs. We started picking up around 1 pm when a DNR officer pulled up and proceded to give me 3 citations 2 for wrong markers on my trot line and 1 for not having my boaters safety card(dumb mistake on my part) Hope to get out down the eastern shore soon and catch the big ones. Anyone know of a good place to launch from?

[headbanger]

Thank you for the report, better luck next time.  Sucks about the citations, hope things get fixed up quick for ya.

[Crabbygene]

Well I couldn't take it much longer and had to go out. Decided to try out my new 500 ft trot line and prop stik and had 20 traps. We were in about 5-8 feet of water and right by a shelf. The trot line baits got torn up by all the small crabs and only gave us about 5 keeps but we were dipping 15 crabs a run. The traps were where we got our crab catching the remaining 10 crabs. We started picking up around 1 pm when a DNR officer pulled up and proceded to give me 3 citations 2 for wrong markers on my trot line and 1 for not having my boaters safety card(dumb mistake on my part) Hope to get out down the eastern shore soon and catch the big ones. Anyone know of a good place to launch from?

boaters safety card WHAT IS THAT 

[tattoo]

Thanks for the report.

[Dirichlet]

boaters safety card WHAT IS THAT  

Seriously, wtf is that?  I've been on the water all my life, growing up in Maine and fishing in the open Atlantic from the time I could walk.  I don't need some F'n card to prove that I'm "safe".

Also, what markers was he looking for on your line - what would have been "proper"?

Edit:  I looked it up.  It's an online course!?!?!?  Gimme a f'n break.  Yeah, taking an online course will make you a good/responsible/safe boater the same way reading a book about baseball will make you Joe DiMaggio 

[flounderpounder]

Seriously, wtf is that?  I've been on the water all my life, growing up in Maine and fishing in the open Atlantic from the time I could walk.  I don't need some F'n card to prove that I'm "safe".

Also, what markers was he looking for on your line - what would have been "proper"?

you do if you are under a certain age    or pay up !!!! lmao

[flounderpounder]

boaters safety card WHAT IS THAT 

no need for you to worry about it....you're tooooo old to have to worry about it

[vtx1300rider]

Boater Safety Card is a Maryland DNR card that is required to operate a motorized vessel, for all operators that were born after July 1st, 1972.  This law has been in place for many years.  If you have the Coast Guard Boater Certification, I believe that is reciprocal with Maryland law. 

[gotta fish]

Boater Safety Card is a Maryland DNR card that is required to operate a motorized vessel, for all operators that were born after July 1st, 1972.  This law has been in place for many years.  If you have the Coast Guard Boater Certification, I believe that is reciprocal with Maryland law. 

boaters safety card WHAT IS THAT 

I believe all states require them now.You can take the the course at 14 yrs. old and operate a vessel by yourself. The kids said it was easy to pass

[vtx1300rider]

I believe all states require them now.You can take the the course at 14 yrs. old and operate a vessel by yourself. The kids said it was easy to pass

It is easy to pass.  I took mine when I was 15, didn't have a boat, and didn't have any issues with the tests.  If I recall correctly, the course was a couple of evenings and costs something like $5. 

[latrota1]

Didn't see what the problem was with your markers? What did he say?

[hoosyourdaddy]

What was wrong with your trotline markers?

[flounderpounder]

What was wrong with your trotline markers?

prob too small... no names or different colors. they should fine more people stuff i see on the water is rediculous

[rapp414]

names have to be on trotline floats in Md ?

[flounderpounder]

names have to be on trotline floats in Md ?

as far as I know.....mine are anyway. 3 lines had floats like mine today....Only 1 line was mine.  so it helps if they are decorated to

[MDbowman]

Here is what I found on trotline floats.

F. Float Requirements.

(1) A trotline shall have a float of the same color, size, and shape attached to each end.

(2) Floats that have a round or spherical shape shall be at least 12 inches in diameter.

(3) Floats that do not have a round or spherical shape shall be at least 12 inches long and 10 inches wide.

[Jumbobuster]

They could have given you a warning on the markers. It seems like the DNR invents new ways take your money.

[suzyq52]

The OP doesn't say what the officer's issue with his trotline bouys was, but this brings to mind an incident last year that we had.

We went to our usual crabbing haunt, scouted the area for trotlines, and then began to lay out our traps in what appeared to be an open area. About the time we're starting to go down the line the first time, two guys roar up and start chewing us out for laying our traps over their trotline. I asked them where they were so we could move well out of their way and they pointed at two floats, one up, one down the creek. I couldn't figure out where they were pointing to for the far end, as I couldn't see another bouy that matched the one they pointed to closest to us, but thought maybe it was just beyond my limited vision. Based on what we could see from their gestures was the path of their line, we moved the traps over to another area, out of their way.

Lo and behold - we watch them run their line. Watched them run it three times, just to be sure our eyes weren't deceiving us. One end had an orange detergent bottle type float....the other had a white detergent bottle type float. WELL---- ain't no darn wonder we didn't see their line. As far as I'm concerned these morons made their own problem. I guess they figure that since they are the center of their own universe, they just must be the center of everyone else's.

I guess the moral of this story is - the rules are there for a reason - in this case if the trotliners mentioned above had followed the regulations regarding matching trotline bouys, no problems would have arisen as it would have been clear to other crabbers where you were layed. Expecting the rest of the world to just know what you are doing is pretty much a futile exercise.

[Dreampixels]

Gee Sue. I missed something. Would you repeat that please?

[vtx1300rider]

Gee Sue. I missed something. Would you repeat that please?

I didn't miss it...Orange bottle on one end and a white bottle at the other.  Suzy is just stating that what seems like ridiculous laws to us, have a legitimate reason for why they were created.  Maybe the OP didn't have buoys that were at least 12 inches in diameter or maybe one was a different color than the other.

Did this help DP?  Or did I just confuse you more?   

[Dreampixels]

I'm on it now thanks - yep there is a reason for those lwas.   I like Unsub better the OP