BEWARE ! Sherwood Island Ct.

[asrothman]

Watch out! Today I had a harrowing experience at Sherwood Island Beach. I am a Ct. resident and had just purchased a seasonal beach pass for $35. I asked for a night fishing permit. I was told to pull to the side of the road and a pleasant girl started filling out the paper work which included registration of my vehicle. An officer in a green uniform, driving a green jeep, pulled up and asked me to produce my fishing gear. As he knows, it was 2:30 in the afternoon and one does not require a night fishing permit at this time. I too was in a jeep, however, had a rod stowed. He asked me to open the trunk and when I produced a rod tube, he asked me to open it. When he saw the new sage rod that I had just pruchased, he asked me where are my flies and what I was going fishing for. I told him that the sand eels were in and that the fishing was reported to be good. For some reason he left unhappily. What is unlawful search? One feels somewhat threatened to know that a gun toting officer is wandering around in the middle of the night, when all we are trying to do is catch a fish.

[fish247]

if the guy in the green uniform and jeep was a game warden, he can just about search anyone/anything anytime he wants under the pretext of uncovering fish/game violations, in my understanding. this often extends to park police, too. in reality, the ol' 'squirrel patrol' guys have powers the guys in blue can only dream about. one can only hope these powers are exercised judiciously [they usually are, i think]. i'd hate to have to bring a cameraman [to record officer encounters] along on my fishing trips, i already bring my lawyer to advise me on current bag/size limits and open/closed seasons. my jeep's getting too crowded to hold all my fishin' gear.

[thawk]

Guys......

I had a similar experience but after talking with the officer, I understood why things are the way they are. He said that they have had numerous problems at the park in the past few years. Vandalism, nite parties, and some other unmentionable stuff, he said. I am not sure I agree with the search, but I definitly see their point. I know I would not want to be approaching a car at 2am in the morning to figure out why it is in the park.......

John

[Bob Parsons]

That's useally the case, some incident or other problem has occured. The officer gets extra vigilent. Also it's safer for him to do the checking at 2:30 in the afternoon then later in the dark.