well...he LET me release them.
So paddled out today and got many shorts, an octopus with a head the size of a softball and what I THOUGHT were 2 legals.
Got back to the beach and DFG pulls in and asks one guy if he has anything. Nope. There were only us 2 on the water. Not a soul in sight.
NE way. He asks if I have any luck and said I had 2 as I was sure they were legal.
He asks to see them and I oblige along with my lic and report card. He measures one then the other, then back again to the first and the second. And he's measuring them multiple times each go around. Asks to see my gauge...I oblige. Again he measures both several times each then says "they're probably just short". I say "probably?". He says "yea...probably, #2 lobster more so than the first". He proceeds to give me a lesson in measuring and trys to show me why they're "probably" short. Basically says since the corner of the gauge is hiting the edge of the carapace it's short. There is NO gap mind you but the gauge isn't "fully over" the carapace.
So I say, "soooo....should I throw them back?" and he says "yeaaaa.....you might want to throw them back" Might? Do I have an option? But rather than argue and get a hefty fine I go back and throw them in.
He says he can "technically" site me but lets me off with a warning. I'm not mad, just a little irked that he didn't seem too sure of his answers but I'll take that over the boku fines. Thats my report. I'm off to file my gauge 1/16th of an inch.