More Poachers.

[KJSnider]

I just read this from the Bismarck Tribune.
Not in Minnesota, but sounds familiar.

North Dakota wardens cite six St. Paul anglers
By The Associated Press
11:17 a.m. - DEVILS LAKE -- Six Minnesota anglers are accused of keeping 598 white bass in a single day -- 388 more than their daily limit allowed -- while fishing on Devils Lake.

The six, all of St. Paul, Minn., face misdemeanor charges in the July 1 incident, game wardens said.

The state Game and Fish Department said authorities got an anonymous tip on the state Report All Poachers hot line that the six were catching "a lot of fish" at a boat ramp south of Minnewaukan, and wardens went to investigate.

North Dakota's white bass limit is 35 daily, with 175 in possession.

Game warden Gene Masse said he checked the anglers' fishing licenses and found they had been purchased earlier in the day.

"I asked them if they knew how many fish they had in their coolers," Masse wrote in his report. "They did not know. I told them that they probably were in excess of their daily limit."

Masse said he and game warden Chris Knutson counted the fish, and the two wardens tallied 598 white bass in the coolers, along with four walleyes. Each of the anglers was more than 64 fish over his daily limit, Masse said.

Besides issuing citations, the wardens confiscated the anglers' fishing gear, along with several coolers and the fish, the report said.

The six are identified as Chane T. Moua, 19; Anthony Vang, 20; Kaven Kongchee Vang, 19; Peter Vang, 26; Xu Vang, 45; and William Yang, 21, all of St. Paul, Minn. They are to appear in court in Minnewaukan next Monday.

Paul Freeman, the game warden supervisor for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department in Devils Lake, said exceeding the daily limit of white bass is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by a maximum fine of $1,000 and 30 days in jail.

[sami0115]

thats really sad... when is it enough? throw them in jail, take their car and everything they own....

------------------
YIPPPPEEEEEEEE

[taxmancommeth]

Not surprised anymore!!! Hope these continued "TIPS" keep coming in.

Saw two older gentleman out on a lake on Monday pulling in SMALL sunfish after sunfish. I do not think they went one cast with out not pulling in a fish. They also kept a bass that might have been 12" (I know which is not illegal)...

I know they were small because we went there after a little bass fishing and see what size. Most were around 5" - 6"... The lake we were on needs some predator fish. To many 4-5 " fish. Sunnies were eating up our Senko worms...

------------------
------------------
GET-ER-DONE

[CRAPPIEBAIT]

This is absolute B.S. ! I mean come on guy's you can catch/keep 35 fish a day.White bass in D.L. are pretty good size,how many can you really eat ? They should never be allowed to fish in ND again AND no fishing rights in MN for ATLEAST 1yr.We have to start making people think about how bad they really need the extra fish or whatever illegal activity they are involved in.This does nothing more than make another bad mark in the books for honest MN outdoors people.I fish D.L. & waterfowl hunt as well,and to honest last year I felt a little embarassed about being from MN(we are not very liked in the state anymore).

alright I'm done venting.

------------------
Greg

[Moose-Hunter]

Oh boy.... Another poacher thread.

Congratulations to the N.D. Fish & Game department for a nice catch!! Good job people!! I hope the fine/time is per fish over the limit!!!

At this point I'll bite my tongue and leave it at that....

------------------
M-H (aka: Dan)

[Bushwacker]

I'm with CrappieBait. Its bad enough that these *****s who can't count kept that many, but it is 10X worse that it is in ND. Its bad enough with all the lawsuits and such, but now we have guys poaching over there. I can't wait until they check their home freezers. I would be willing to go 4:1 that they have a few fish in them.

[uffdapete]

This story begs a couple questions:

Isn't 35 a day and 175 in possession per person enough??

What does one person do with 175 white bass?

There must be some attraction in some mentalities, to which I just don't relate, to simply have a challenge when there is any type of limit.

If the limit was 1/2 the lake's population would there be somebody out there who would still want to try for 3/4?? You really have to wonder.

[Guest]

poachers like that make others look bad. . I hope they get the maximum sentence. Its just pointless to keep that many fish. Come on! Its not like they were feeding a village or something. What a bunch of losers. They should of taken their car too and make the guys take the bus home or something.. Losers...

[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 07-12-2004).]

[sawtooth2]

And this story begs another question...

Why would they go to the trouble and expense of buying licenses earlier in the day? They must have gone to D.L with the intention of taking as many fish as they could fit in their car?? Maybe not. Maybe they just "got into 'em" when they got there.

Kudos to the anonymous tipster that reported them!!!

[sami0115]

taking away the right to fish for a year won't do anything (not that i don't think that should be part of the penalty) because the kind of people (i am refering to people of all races and backgrounds) that break the law are still going to break the law weather they have a license or not. they need to enforce stiff penalties for people that are taking this many fish over the limit. i think taking the boat or all tackle or if a vehicle is involved in transporting fish they need to take the vehicle. this is they only way to send the message that our natural resources are valuable to us! NO EXCEPTIONS! the law is the law. there are no grey areas. people who break the law to this extent are absolutly aware of what they are doing!

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!

we as a group of fisherpeople and hunters need to unite and stand up for our natural resources..

[Guest]

Oh I'm sure they went there with the intention of taking as many as they can. Why else would they bring that many coolers in the first place..

[ChuckN]

I caught a poacher recently. I've never seen someone be so sneaky and run so fast over fish. The warden was very pleased to hear about it.

It has been a real bad season for this activity this year!! I've heard/seen lots of this stuff in the last couple months.

These poachers just do not get it...

[wyldewal]

I am sick of this activity and the poeple who do it. They give us honest hunters and fishermen a bad wrap. Something defenitly needs to be done about this problem, like more severe punishments. I do believe that everyone that reports poaching helps, the wardens can only be in so many places at once. So keep your eyes open and maybe someday it will get better.
Great fishing everyone

[walleyehawk]

Few things. First, based on the names we should not assume they are Hmung as we have other Asian populations in the Twin Cities.

Second, had these guys bought their license ahead of time, with the 175 in possession, they could have gotten away. May have been harder to prove when the fish were caught.

Also, if they drove that far, I bet they had bringing all those fish home in mind.

I just hope the Minnesota DNR went to pay a visit to all of their houses. And from what I understand, if they are convicted, they will lose privilages in Minnesota and about a dozen other states due to a reciprocity agreement between the states.

We are seeing more in the media on poachers as they DNR finally decided to release this information.

[taxmancommeth]

Another idea for the items that the DNR should take!! Auction the items off (Tackle, ROds, Reels, Boxes, Boats, Trucks, Coolers, everything that they own that is with them) and take that money and help fund some more DNR items...

More people to patrol, more fish planted in lakes... ETC..

------------------
------------------
GET-ER-DONE

[so haaad]

Put DNR's TIP number in your cell phones. 1.800.652.9093

I think the following saying applies here: We do not inherit our lakes and forests from our ancestors, we borrow them from our children.

[Dan Thiem]

so haaad,thank you for the number.I will get that programed a.s.a.p.Also,very good point about the borrowing from our children.

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

Just think how many people get away with poaching every day. Those that actually get caught must be a very tiny fraction of those poaching. That's why we have to rely on education to affect the greatest number of people. There will always be bad eggs though.
I love it when they get busted for hoarding wild game. They definitely should take away every posession on them at the time including auto. That would be an excellent deterent.

[Guest]

jlm,
Yeah, post their pictures like they do of johns on the SPPD's HSOforum.. haha. That'll teach them!

[vikingtom]

JlM, They can't check fish houses without you're promission. But their always welcome in mine for a quick peek and cup of coffee.

[jlm]

Oh yes they can check fish houses, they just have to knock first. Ok though, thats a bad example because of the big lawsuit thing. How about this example, they can check you in your boat and while afield at anytime!

[Guest]

jlm,
Thats more like it

[jlm]

I just had another idea. How about putting thier pictures on the little sleeve things we get to keep our licenses in? that way all hunters will get to see their faces. It could be like the milk carton and missing children thing!

[Guest]

jlm,
uh, I wouldn't want to look at other peoples pictures while I'm hunting.. hahaha.. They should just get a "P" on their vehicle licenses.. That way, officers can identify them just like how they identify the drunk drivers with the "W".

[sami0115]

webwarrior:

i just visited your HSOforum... very cool

happy fishing

andy