Ask the Conservation Officer (CO)

Gary Hompland Regional Conservation Officer Question: "My son received a citation this spring for fishing during closed season below Magic Dam. He said there were no signs indicating the fishing season was closed. Aren't "no fishing signs" required to be posted during the closed season?" Answer: No, special signs are not required by law to notify anglers of areas closed to fishing. However, conservation officers frequently post signs during the closed season, special regulations, or special boundaries as a courtesy to help sportsmen avoid violations. I know for a fact the officer that patrols Magic Reservoir and the lower Big Wood River replaces those signs weekly during the closed season. If the Department was required by law to post all the areas closed to fishing or hunting or to denote special regulations, we would have very few trees left in Idaho. The Department conservatively spends several hundred thousand dollars annually printing regulations brochures for hunters and anglers to help them understand the rules. I sympathize with your son if he didn't realize he was fishing in closed waters, however he violated one of the cardinal rules taught to all hunter education graduates. It's the sportsman's responsibility to understand the hunting or fishing rules for the area they wish to hunt or fish. Hunting and fishing brochures are available at all license vendors. A regional office is only a phone call away to answer questions or sportsmen can go online to the Department's website listed below. If you have any further questions you may call the Magic Valley Regional Office of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game at (208)324-4350 or e-mail us at the Fish and Game web site at http://fishandgame.idaho.gov.