[Fishin' Magician]

I got stopped a few months back in Newport Harbor. I was fishing by myself and another kayaker paddled over and asked how I was doing and if I'd caught anything. We were just sitting talking and the DFG boat came over and asked to see both of our licenses. He had to dig around for his, fortunately I had mine handy. They checked his, asked to see his drivers license to verify that the fishing license was his and then...., they popped the lid off of his front hatch and checked the inside his kayak! Hadn't expected that one. I sat and waited until they were done with him and then I held up my license for them to see. They just waved at me and said, "Thought that you two were together. Have a nice day." and drove off without checking my license or looking inside my hatch. Not sure what was up with that, but I wasn't asking any questions. I just shrugged and just kept on fishing. Personally, I'm glad that they check as I know that there are a lot of people out there who don't buy a license but take advantage of our fishery. You have to 'pay to play'.