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!
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Tofte) checked pan fish anglers on area lakes. Wahlstrom handled calls regarding wolves, dead owls, cougars and regulations about the upcoming opener. A meeting with the Border Patrol to discuss upcoming details was held. Wahlstrom also prepared lesson plans for use at the upcoming in-service training.
CO Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais) checked anglers on the Rainy River with other COs. One fellow found out that it is important to be able to keep track of the two walleye limit. As the COs approached his boat, he was observed throwing something out the back of his boat. When asked what he tossed out, he stated that he threw fish out because he didn’t know how many he had. He and his fishing partner were still over the limit. Other over limits were encountered as other people had trouble counting to two or were simply making up their own rules on possession and daily possession. Hundreds of boats were checked and life jacket compliance was 100 percent, with only one warning being issued for a Type 4 throwable device. Excellent compliance for this early in the year.
CO Mitch Lawler (Alexandria) responded to a TIP call involving a snowmobiler water skipping near a flock of geese. Lawler followed the track back to the operator’s house where enforcement action was taken.
CO Matt Frericks (Virginia) followed up on a spruce top cutting case from last fall where an individual was found to have taken over 2,000 spruce tops from state lands.
CO Mark Fredin (Aurora) observed some fishing activity during the week and saw very little being caught. One individual who was cited for extra lines stated he was just testing out a rod/reel combo to see if it would work for catching smelt. A history check revealed this person has been charged twice for this same offense before.
CO Tim Collette (Pequot Lakes) noticed drug-related activity while out checking anglers. When confronted about the drugs, one of the individuals told the officer that it was okay, as the drugs were synthetic, not real. Evidently they had not heard that synthetic drugs were illegal also.
CO Mitch Boyum (Rushford) reports that one angler checked was frustrated as he had no trout despite repeated hits on his lure. After fishing for a couple of hours he noticed that the treble hook had broken off!
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