CO Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais) keeps running into people who remember fishing poles, bait, tackle, food, beverage, auger, ice scoopers, snow shoes, skis, ice tent, heater, helmet, face mask, gloves and good boots, but they forget to bring the fishing license along. He did some foot patrols in the BWCAW and found that the slush is starting to get deeper. A recent snowfall may have been positive for the snowmobilers, but adds a little more challenge for the angler. Good waterproof boots are in order in some areas. The CO took a phone call from someone 90 miles away from his station, asking who plowed a parking lot because someone got their Cadillac Escalade stuck. He couldn’t answer the question. Enforcement action was taken for a lynx zone trap violation.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) checked area anglers and ice houses still on the lakes; slush was the word for the weekend. One family of anglers reported they had 10 beautiful fish sitting in front of their lake cabin earlier in the day, but when they returned from trying to fill their limit they discovered all the fish missing and a very satisfied looking eagle nearby. The officer also worked a BWCAW detail and patrolled snowmobile trails.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) monitored anglers and snowmobilers this past week. The fresh snow brought a lot of snowmobilers to the trails. The officer reminds snowmobilers that the trails are not race tracks and to slow down around the corners. Wahlstrom also worked a detail with two Superior National Forest LEOs.
CO Dan Thomasen (Two Harbors) reports that winter has finally come to the North Shore area. Two winter storms and two days of lake effect snow over the past week dumped snow totaling up to 30 inches in some areas. Snowmobilers from near and far flocked to the North Shore Trail to ride. The trails did not hold up to the large numbers of machines on Saturday or Sunday and became brutally rough. Many riders had either unregistered snowmobiles or had neglected to affix the current registration stickers to their machines.
CO Bret Grundmeier (Hinckley) observed that quite a few sleds were operating without current registration and without trail permits. Speeding violations were also found and included a handful of sleds clocked in the 70s and 80s.
CO Dan Starr (Tower) reports that the recent snow has brought out some last minute snowmobiling, which has brought out some last minute lack of registration renewals. A warrant issue was addressed on one snowmobiler, while registration, lack of trail sticker, no snowmobile endorsement, and illegal youth operation were also found
CO Bob Geving (Mankato) arranged for an injured eagle, found and captured by kayakers, to be transported to the Raptor Center.
CO Gary Sommers (Walker) received a TIP call regarding taking walleye out of season. The caller indicated that on multiple occasions during the week the same vehicle was fishing an area where there are no panfish and believed that they must have been fishing for walleye. Sommers contacted the perch anglers and determined that there was no violation.
Although the Cook County News-Herald knows that the majority of sportsmen and women are law-abiding folks, there are a few that run afoul of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Conservation Officers. Periodically, the DNR provides a report of some of the miscreants the Conservation Officers (CO) have encountered. The News-Herald shares these stories as a reminder to all to be safe and to follow the rules!
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