Also, thanks for using Caltip. It sounds like this guy actually knew what he was doing. I run into stuff like that ocassionally, and it ticks me off.
Just this weekend about 4 guys were more than happy to tell a guy not to keep a foul hooked 22 1/2" Halibut, but he didn't pay any attention and proceeded to stomp on it's head. Well, we didn't have to call Caltip because about then the Sheriff came down to give him a ticket after having watched the whole thing from the day parking area.
Did I mention this was at New Brighton Beach and the guy didn't have a license? Sometime along then the sheriff was told that the fish had been foul hooked, which the sheriff said thanks for the input and that he had seen that from the parking lot. When the Sheriff found out that he didn't have a license he asked what other fishing gear he had other than the rod, and the guy started to say something and stopped. Well, the officer told him he was confiscating all gear that he claimed so the guy clammed up.
The Sheriff took his rod (G. Loomis with a Calcutta 400te on it I think) which was still attached to the fish and the rest of his gear was left behind as he was escorted up to his car. The guys who warned him divided up his left behind gear between them. I was in my tube, well off the beach when he caught the fish, but I got to see the rest pretty good. The four guys divided up 20-30 swimbaits, some Krocodiles, Bomber long-A's and 3 Pencil Poppers, all in 2 Plano boxes in a backpack, with some other standard stuff like pliers etc. I'd say that was an expensive lesson to learn especially if you consider the whopper of a fine he probably got. Let's see, 1 count of keeping a foul-hooked gamefish, 1 count of keeping an undersized gamefish, 1 count of mutillating a gamefish for the purpose of stretching it to legal length, and 1 count of fishing without a license. I'm no expert but I'd say $2K+ sounds like the right neighborhood so far, and he didn't get to keep the fish either. Lastly, is cussing out an officer of the law illegal?

Tight lines,
Wade

Tight lines,
Wade