[alanw]

A DFG warden up in Northern Cali told me it could be up to $750 fine plus they can confiscate all of your fishing gear if caught without a license... they can even confiscate your boat. I haven't heard of anything that extreme down here but I think it's minimum $100 (plus any local fees) and reduced to $25 if you show proof of license in court.

I wish they had the ability to just run your DL since everything is electronic nowadays anyway. I'd pay an extra $0.05 so they could have funds for scanners.

Keep it in your fishing gear, keep it in your wallet, it's not worth forgetting it.