Lots of conjecture here from people that is overboard IMHO. First off, there was no injustice regarding what the OP stated happened and how it was handled by the GW. Second, there has been no fine issued to the OP, as the only thing that happened was confiscation of the boys license that wasn't good any more anyway. Finally, regarding the previous post by MZS I have this question. How in the world would the GW know that you had just figured out that your license was expired and that's why you were discontinuing fishing from the bridge. You violated the law and he had the discretion to issue a warning or a ticket and did the latter. Your stating that it was similar to a ticket for speeding for just a second or two and getting a ticket is also quite ridiculous, as how would the Officer know how long you were violating the law. IMHO the GW gave the OP a break if a ticket wasn't issued and whether he checked the OP because of a neighbor asking him to because of the distance to the private property really makes no difference. An Officer will do a number of things during a visit with a person, including checking for license violations, use of legal or illegal equipment, number of shells in the gun if there is a shell maximum, etc. Many violations are found during a stop when the actual reason for the stop or check didn't reveal a violation.