Disillushinment/Anger...

[Mr. Pike1]

I was out tonight fishing a shallow channel for crappies. The good news is the fish were stacked in this area and the bite was outstanding. I was catching 8-10" crappie one after another. I did not keep any as I was just out to enjoy the evening and bend a stick. The bad news is that there was a group of individuals there that kept each an everone of these spawning fish and far exceded the legal limit. I would guess that each child in the party caught and kept 30 plus crappie and the adults broke the law as well. As I was leaving I saw one of the adults that easily had 50 8-10" crappie on a stringer. I would guess that 200 plus fish were taken illegally by this group. I was very disillushened and angered by this. I did not have my cell phone handy or I would have called the police to hold them until the DNR could arrive to check license and deal with this gross violation. It is this kind of blaten dis-respect for the law that sickens me and also leads to hurting the state of the fishery on a small body of water. All fish taken for the most part were full of spawn and many if returned to the water had a chance to continue to improve the fishing for everyone. I am going to stop down there on Sunday evening and if I see this happeing again I will call to report.

[Fisher Dave]

You may not carry a badge .. but that shouldnt stop you from at least making a statement of the limit to the people.. I have done it many times .. often about muskies that were under the legal size... in most cases the people let them go.

Its too bad you couldnt have got a license plate number or something.. they will likely be back(unless they are reading this) and do it again .. hopefully they can be caught .. BUT .. its that many more fish we have to lose to get these people caught .. if they do get caught.

I would notify the DNR now .. they will likely have a CO keep a close watch on the spot.

[Rick]

Always get license plate numbers, it makes it much easier for the DNR to follow up. Definitely report it to the DNR as soon as possible when you get to a phone.

[Mr. Pike1]

Fisher Dave, I did call the 24 hour tip line listed in the regs book for the DNR when I got home as I was so angered by this. They advised me that going forward if I see this I am to call the police. They will detain them until the local DNR representative for the area can come on scene and investigate. I did let them know that the limit was ten and they acted like they did not understand English. If I had not been alone I might have dumped the buckets to leave the legal limit of 10. Oh well I know the world has mcuh bigger problems but this really ticked me off. What in Gods name are they going to do with 200 plus crappie anyway. The other sad thing is this is a very small body of water and these 8-10" fish are for the most part the lifeblood of a stable population. With all these being taken it will certainly have effect on that year class and many year classes to come.....

[Guest]

Thank god for cell phones! I wouldn't do the job trying to apprehend anyone, just call 911 and tell them of the incident and have the warden call you back. Give them the sticker # of the boat description of those on board and then watch where they go to trailer up and let the warden/oficer know. Then let them take it from there. They say the wardens cant cover the lakes? Yes this may be true but they can call in the Co. Sheriff the State Patrol etc. They can also write tickets on shore.

[smartguy]

I would refrain from calling 911, as thats for true emergencies only. One thing I would recommend is for cell users to have the state patrol or county sheriff's nonemergency number logged in their phones.

[little buddy]

i beg to differ, do what you must 911 can deal with calls. i agree put those #s where you must but dont hesitate to call. but do refrain if they don't get it. what's the point. no comprende? that's what we need in local law enforcement. are we so busy we can't deal with major fish and game violations. how about a volunteer army of citizens that have had it with violations that go underpunished or not punished at all . speakin english or not.

[Northlander]

That was a emergency! Braking the law is braking the law. The police often work hand in hand with DNR.

[2dalake]

Taking too many fish is a crime in progress. Most dispatch centers won't mind, and even if they did I doubt they'd say anything to you. What gets their goat are the ones who call 911 to report a stolen bicycle that was taken sometine over the last two weeks or something similar.

Hopefully your local CO will get the sheriff's office to help him watch that spot through the spawn.

[Mark Christianson]

When I have called TIP in the past, the State Patrol dispatch actually answered the phone.
So using 911 probably would be just fine too if you don't have the TIP number.

Side note - These fish are not spawning yet. They are feeding, and that's it. Spawning does not occur until mid to late May depending where you are at.

[Guest]

A crime being committed is an emergency and 911 is the central dispatch for the law and emergency services.

------------------
http://www.geocities.com/frozenminnow/Northernoutdoorpromo.html

[Mykal]

Mr Pike 1, I understand your frustration. If this is the lake by your house I would be very angered. Keep an eye out for these folks to return as I'm sure they will.

[TJFISHER]

Definetly use 911. Thats what it is for, to get the police there when there is a crime. The non-emergency number may be no where near the dispatch center where they send cars from, so use it.

------------------
A BAD DAY OF FISHIN BEATS A GOOD DAY AT WORK!!!!

[G_man]

That sucks period.

I actually had the TIP # programmed into my old cell phone and need to reprogram it into my new phone. I'd have called 911 though. If you call 911 from a cell phone, you actually get the state patrol. Its how the 911 system is set up for some reason.

I wouldn't have approached those people, especially if there was quite a few in the group. How many of that group do you think really even purchased a fishing license?

[Mr. Pike1]

Gentleman, I went down to said lake and the breaking of the law was in full force. I was amazed to see that this was run like an organized drug ring. In this case an illiegal "fish ring". What they were doing is filling stringers and buckets with crappie and then when they exceeded their limit they had someone come buy with a bucket who filled it up and brought to put in the trunk of the car. In some cases the car actully left with the fish so it would appear that they were not in gross violation of the law. I called 911 and the police were dispatched. The discouraging thing is the police had to ask me what the actual limit was for crappie. Anyway I told the police what I had witnessed and I went on my way and I assumed they did the best they could to resolve. The other thing that leaves me dis-illusioned is that I did call the state patrol this morning to get in touch with my local Conservataion officer so that he/she could be proactive and be out there tonight to police this area stop the violations. This did not happen and the CO never returned my phone calls. Anyway, I have done what I beleive to be in order to right a wrong. If anyone on this site works for the DNR, has connections with the DNR, or has any further advise on how to best resolve I would greatly appreciate it.

[Mark Christianson]

I have a message into a friend within the MN DNR to see if he can assist in getting some CO attention to this.

He knows several CO's, and I hope he can get this message to them ASAP.

I am headed out of town tomorrow morning for turkeys. I hope to see some positive results in regards to this when I get back online next week.

Good Luck getting these crooks!!!!

[irvingdog]

I know for sure that 2 years ago the DNR hired 2 Hmong field agents to assist in dealing with ignorance to the law (clearly, no excuse). Make clear to the DNR what your problems are, and I'm sure they'll throw an inordinant amount of our money at it, and still not solve the problem. I'm tired of seeing hammer handle muskies, and bass out of season in their buckets. I've even seen them use goldfish for bait. I've called, and seen no results. I hope you do better.

[smallie_hawgin]

Mr. Pike,
Email me, I will get you in touch with the right people. We'll see if we can get the guys caught.
[email protected]

[Mr. Pike1]

smallie_hawgin, I will send you an e-mail and hopefully you can assit. For what it is worth I give extra money each year to the DNR to help support the cause. I spend extra on the plates for additional money to go to the DNR because I feel the environment and the enforcement of laws are a key to a better tomorrow. I know ultimately we each own are personal integrity and our society stays in balance because 95% of the populations obeys the laws and passes this on to our children in the hope that the world will and can be a better place for everyone. My disappoint now lies in the very agency that is in place and "paid" to enforce the laws. The situation has not changed and the laws are still being broke. I have left messages with the DNR with the expectation that the matter would be handled. To my dismay it has not. The tip line that is in place is a total joke and nothing more then lip service to give the impression that they care. The same group is back in the same place tonight breaking the same laws with no one there to stop it. For those of you that are out there and have a desire to break the fishing laws please feel free to do so with little fear of any ramifications. The reality is that there really is no punitive damages of any kind associated with commiting these crimes. I can't wait until the day I retire and buy place on a private little lake in the North Woods where it is just me and nature....Thank you for all that have listened to my ramblings. At least I am able to get off my chest and vent...

[jparrucci]

I'd go down there and at least start kicking and throwing buckets of fish back into the water if these people were in the same place. What lake and where on that lake were you fishing. What is the physical description of the people exceeding their limits? Liscence plate number? GET THE INFO. I know it helps to vent on here, but it isnt really accomplishing much. I'm sure there is more than a few of us on here who would go as far as videotaping these people doing this stuff if we knew when and where it was happening. If they were at the same spot 2 days in a row, its likely they will be there again tommorrow. I know if it was in an area by me or a lake I fish, I would gladly give some time to put an end to this problem. If the police or DNR wouldnt stop it (which they probably wont, I have never had any faith in either), sometimes you need to take matters into your own hands. They might think twice about it if somebody tells them to stop, or if you empty out a few buckets of illegally kept crappies. Good Luck

[deadminnowcatcher]

Mr. Pike ---- sounds to me like there must have been a misunderstanding somewhere in your call- the Dnr would be really happy to have your info on this violation I am sure- why did you not get a lic. plate number- thats all it would have taken- call the DNR and get the name of the CO in your area and call him- If no response post his name on this site and we will get him to respond-that is rediculas take matter into your own hands? I think not unless you want to wind up in jail

[This message has been edited by deadminnowcatcher (edited 05-03-2004).]

[DTro]

Isn't that exactly what the tip line is there for though? I mean come on why even have it. If someone is blatenly breaking the law they should be stopped, but I don't know if I would recommend "taking matters into your own hands". That's how people get shot.

But, then again no one wants to help so whaddya do?

I think the videotaping might be a good idea.

[mpester]

Before taking matters in your own hands, maybe we should get a group of people at the lake to tell the people they are keeping too many fish. Maybe if we were all to be at the lake and call the TIPS line at the same time, a DNR officer would come out and give some tickets. If the people were given tickets, the DNR could get a warrant to search some freezers. No one person should attempt to stop these a**holes. Anyone want to set a time to meet at the lake when you think these people maybe fishing so we can all call the DNR? I will come with my phone and be ready to make the call. Some photos and/or video would help.

[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 05-05-2004).]

[big drift]

Well folks,
1st off do not make contact with someone breaking the law. You don't have the training equiment training or logistical if something goes sideways. Further more your actions could and would get charges filed on you. the god samaritan does not apply in matters pertaining to criminal acts. WHat you can do is photograph or videotape the poachers. Include their vehicles, boat, physical description, film their activity with date and time in the presence of reliable witnesses, make a formal written statement, do all this discreetly so as not to make them aware. Then you have a case to present to Law Enforcement. And yes all officers in Minnesota are empowered to act on game and fish laws at least to take your initial complaint. Give the CO's a break these folks don't have the time or personnel to be out 24-7 they also have other cases and training to attend. if you don't get them right away contact local law enforcement.
Again I say do not approach these folks you do not what they are capable of. A CO I know died just checking licenses by a federal felon who was hiding out and strung out. Do not put yourself in this position. As for 911 try not to use this unless life, limb are in jeopardy. This system is for accidents, violence, etc. I know your intentions are for the best but don't let them win because your actions are wrong.
big drift

[Guest]

This sounds like a fish tale to get a topic of disscussion going. Honestly I hope that is all it is. I'd hate to think that anyone who is breaking the law such as stated would be ignored.