Josh, I apologise if I come across as somewhat harsh but I hope you can understand why I and Dan may well think this is a gee up. It is so naive as to be almost unbelievable. I cannot for the life of me understand how anyone can remain in business selling fishing gear and not be knowledgeable of fishing regs.............not just one store, but more, as you used the plural
I don't know much about the regs where you are but in Qld you need a licence to sell fish.
Your statement:
"As for me being ignorant of fisheries laws, i take strong offence to it as i dont take illegal fish, i always have a license and the bait and methods i use are totally above board."
I'm sorry you feel that way and I'm sorry that I didn't express myself in a more charitable manner but although you may feel that you have a right to be indignant, the truth of the matter is that you
are ignorant of at least some of the fishery regs as are the fishing stores buying off you, unless they are just plain dishonest. It should therefore follow that if you are ignorant in this area, you may well not be as conversant with the regs as you think you are and may also transgress in other areas. I say this not as an admonishment but simply to make a point so that you do not land yourself in serious trouble as you may well have done by selling the carp and publicising the fact on an open forum............I'm simply saying that we should all be careful and not be blase in thinking that we are fully conversant with the regs.
I've made mistakes before by fishing in excess of the rod limit. I posted that I had as many as 6 rods out at a time (trying different baits and rigs) and it was members of this site that pointed out my mistake when I was a newbie here. I am grateful to them for that because it could've cost me a hefty fine or even the loss of my boat and they were quite pleasant in their manner of drawing it to my attention. At that time I pledged that I would be as conversant as possible with the regs in order to safeguard my gear and my reputation in the eyes of my family. No doubt I will err again, as I am far from perfect. Several times I have forgotten to cut the fin off reefies and fisheries have brought this to my attention without legal recourse so I suppose I have been as lucky as you have
Sorry if I sound a bit pompous about this matter but on many other sites you would have come in for a heap of ridicule and hassle and I don't want you to get that kind of impression of this site.
If you think hard about it, you will see that it is quite understandable that anyone who believes in the "professionalism" of the tackle trade would think it suss if someone said that very same trade was selling a noxious species as bait and even more suss if those in that trade were to claim ignorance of the regs when they are in an industry that should depend on being conversant with those regs. How the hell can they pass on the correct knowledge to their customer base when they are ignorant themselves?
hope this clears things up
kev