fish are round not flat

I was fined $248 for a walleye I had caught. This is my first time in the 7 plus years or fishing that I have ever been in this situation. I was honest with the officer, and showed cooperation with him. I measured it from the tip of the snout to the tip of the compressed tail and got l5 inches. so I kept the fish. when the DNR arrived he asked to measure the fish, I was so confident I said sure. he measured it with my tape measure first and got l4 inches, but he didn't start from the zero, so he measured it again from the zero and got 14.75 inches. Then he measured it on he's fish board and got 14.5 inches. the regulation book says, "fish must be measured in a straight line from the tip of the snout with the mouth closed to the end of the compressed tail." But the regulation book does not state how the ruler should be placed. I measured it from tip to tip from the top of the fish and the DNR measured it from the bottom with the fish laying parallel to the ruler. a fish is round so if my measurement is wrong his would be too. mine would be to long because the fish is round and his would be short. what are the chances of the judge or me winning my fight? I don't care if I have to pay the fine because I'm not saying I was right or wrong, but the DNR is not always right, he makes mistakes too. I just want to know if it will be on my record for the rest of my life, and what are the chances of me winning my case. i thought since it was a first time offence I might get off with a warning or with a smaller fine.

Disputing it in good faith will indeed often result in a smaller fine or just a warning.

Much as in a traffic ticket situation.

yeah, i think it will go fine. if me telling the truth doesn't work then i don't know what else to say. well got court on tuesday, i will let you know how it goes.

went to court today and pleaded not guilty. the pretrial date is set for January to speak with the DA.

HELP!!

does any one know what they do at a pretrial? or what the DA is going to try to do? or if i should be getting a lawyer?

you can this is really my first time and man i was sick to my stomach!!