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) worked the trout opener with area officers. The weather was one of the warmest the officer remembers. A few anglers were happy catching their limit of trout. Time was also spent on the U.S.-Canada border lakes and other remote back country lakes. Enforcement action was taken for extra lines, live minnows on trout lakes, ATV registration and snowmobile registration.
CO Mary Manning (Hovland) worked a busy holiday weekend. Weather for the trout fishing opener was some of the nicest for the event and that brought out the anglers. One angler should have stayed out longer, or had lunch on the ice. While he was out of sight inside his cabin, Manning was checking his tip-ups and waiting for him to come tend his lines. Eventually the officer tracked him up to the cabin, explained the reason for the visit, and provided him with some paperwork.
CO Darin Fagerman (Grand Marais) worked with other officers for the winter trout opener. The nice weekend and great traveling conditions did not improve activity as it was down from previous years; however, violations were up. The officers encountered over limits, extra line, unattended lines, no fishing license/trout stamps in possession and snowmobile registration violations. The COs also encountered BWCA violations.
CO Hannah Cowden (Warroad) reports that one angler seemed to think that two lines down one hole, plus another line, would increase his odds of catching some fish. When asked why he had two lines in one hole, the angler replied that it was really just to keep his minnow warmed up. Enforcement action taken included no angling license in possession, angling with extra lines, angling with unattended lines, possession of unmeasurable fish, possession of dressed fillets, illegal length walleye, and failure to display registration and identification for ice shelter.
CO Mike Lee (Crosslake) received a call in regard to the strange activity of a gray wolf. The reporting party stated that the wolf entered a shed and pulled from it a deer carcass and tore it apart in the yard. The reporting party has had deprivation issues with wolves and cattle in the past with the most recent occurring in mid-December of this past year. The information was confirmed by Officer Lee and passed on to the USDA Wildlife Services.
CO Paul Kuske (Pierz) states that the early bird catches the worm, and so does the CO checking fishermen at sunrise who finds a father and juvenile son using eight lines to take fish. They attempted to hide the extra lines under the floor of the house but that trick has been tried too many times to fool the average CO. Besides a ticket, the father was scolded for involving his kid in illegal activity.
Contact local DNR Conservation fficers to report violations or ask questions:
Thomas Wahlstrom
218-370-0244
Darin Fagerman
218-387-9751
Mary Manning
218-475-0121
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