District 1 – Baudette area
Last updated: 2023-05-01
CO Ben Huener (Roseau) checked turkey hunters and further investigated a complaint of several animals that were found dead in the Wapiti Wildlife Management Area north of Grygla. Assistance was given to the Greenbush firearms safety training class.
CO Tony Hams (Warroad North) spent the week checking area anglers and following up with various complaints. Violations encountered were no license in possession, operating an ATV without headlights, allowing illegal operation, no helmet, and failure to display registration.
CO Coby Fontes (Warroad South) spent the week conducting regulatory checks on anglers enjoying the spring northern pike fishing on Lake of the Woods. Fontes reports that nice folks from across the state enjoyed the spectacular bite! Unfortunately, Fontes also reports the injured bald eagle from a previous week is no longer with us due to the severity of injuries.
CO Jeremy Woinarowicz (Thief River Falls West) taught the law and ethics portion of the firearms safety class in Argyle, assisted the State Patrol in locating an intoxicated driver, and assisted the Marshall County Sheriff?s Office with a domestic incident involving a firearm. He also checked anglers and turkey hunters. Enforcement action for the week included angling without a license, angling with extra line, no PFD on watercraft, no watercraft registration, and recreational trespass while turkey hunting.
CO Demosthenes Regas (Blackduck South) reports working spring beaver-trapping activity, monitoring the spring fish spawn run, and working turkey hunting activities throughout the past week. Regas reports the walleye spawning run started this week in area lakes and rivers. Regas assisted instructors with the Blackduck /Kelliher firearms safety classes and field day. Time was spent handling reports of incidental catches by spring beaver trappers, reports of trap tampering and trap theft and monitoring seasonal trail closures due to spring thaw.
CO Nicholas Prachar (Blackduck North) reports a slow spring melt has left a lot of ice on the local lakes. Time was spent working ATV activity and animal-related complaints.
District 2 – Bemidji area
Last updated: 2023-05-01
CO Tom Hutchins (Crookston) reports attending a firearms safety class in Plummer. Time was also spent working on various wildlife- and hunting related complaints. A suspected public waters violation site was checked. Anglers were checked on some of the few open-water locations in the area.
CO Brice Vollbrecht (Bemidji #1) monitored ATV activity on area trails and roads. Time was spent checking spring beaver-trapping sets and looking for spring fish run activity.
CO Jake Swedberg (Detroit Lakes) spent the week patrolling for fire activity, working recreational vehicles, checking commercial leeching activity and assisting the county. Swedberg also spoke to the Lake Park fishing team at their weekly meeting. Ice is getting close to coming off area lakes and with warm weather next week, Swedberg does not anticipate it will take much longer for open-water fishing to start.
CO Angie Warren (Mahnomen) took call of a possible injured deer and leeching violations. Time was spent at camp Ripley assisting with CO Academy preparations.
CO Brett Fox (Bemidji #2) spent the week patrolling for ATV-related activity. He also responded to a call concerning an injured goose. Violations this week included fishing without a license in possession and ATV-registration issues.
CO Al Peterson (Osage) worked trout anglers, turkey hunters, bow fishers and sucker spearing activity. Peterson also investigated calls about a dead deer and grouse and assisted with a search warrant.
District 3 – Fergus Falls area
Last updated: 2023-05-01
CO Andrew Goodman (Fergus Falls) reports seeing progress towards ice-off and predicts lakes will be accessible by fishing opener. Time was spent speaking at a firearms safety class and assisting with an all-day field day for another class. Gobbling turkeys have been elusive again this week but stable weather and sprouting food sources should move them around more for the second-half seasons.
CO Tricia Plautz (Henning) monitored fish run activity with observations of some species spawning. Plautz monitored ice conditions and worked area turkey hunting activity. Plautz assisted the Otter Tail County Sheriff?s Office with a medical and followed up on a TIP411 call.
CO Shane Osborne (Evansville) checked area streams and lakes for fish run activity. Several lakes are free of ice in the area and boats have been observed on the water. Carp and walleyes were observed in area streams.
CO Mitch Lawler (Alexandria) monitored the spring thaw this week around Alexandria. Many lakes still have ice remaining with some very small lakes beginning to open up. A citation was issued to someone who was observed shooting beaver out his driver?s side window. He had strong opinions about the nuisance activity they cause but understood he shouldn?t have done that. A bow fisher was cited for shooting at rough fish from shore a few days before the season opened, while another angler was cited for fishing with extra lines within sight of Lawler at a public access.
CO Ryan Brown (Elbow Lake) reports checking angling and trapping activity in the area. Turkey hunting was also monitored, with only a few hunters reporting success.
CO Felicia Znajda (Osakis) received a complaint of more than 75 carp illegally dumped, deer-feeding complaints, and reports of trespassing. People are reminded of the deer-feeding restrictions in Todd and Douglas counties. Trout anglers are having moderate luck with decent-sized fish. Various violations were observed, with enforcement action taken.
CO Hanna Wood (Wheaton) spent the week focused on angling enforcement. Boats are starting to get out and fish the Mustinka River and north end of Lake Traverse. Wood would like to remind boaters/anglers to check over their boat before using it, and make sure their registration is up to date and all required equipment is on board/brought with. With water temperatures still extremely cold, they should also wear a life jacket.
CO Daniel Baumbarger (Glenwood) reports enforcement efforts for the week were concentrated on checking turkey hunters and monitoring spring fish run activity. Additional time was spent working spring beaver-trapping activity and handling calls about fish die-offs around the area.
District 4 – Walker area
Last updated: 2023-05-01
CO Michael Cross (Lake George) conducted equipment maintenance, put winter equipment into storage, and fielded multiple questions and calls for service. Additionally, Cross checked spring turkey hunters and multiple beaver trappers. Cross has seen increased beaver-trapping activity throughout the spring.
CO Jordan Anderson (Wadena) spent the week working on Academy training, equipment maintenance, and patrolling closed state forest roads and trails. Activity was slow for the bow fishing opener.
CO Patrick McGowan (Walker) patrolled Cass and Crow Wing county lakes for angling activity. Angling pressure is very low due to poor ice conditions. McGowan started prepping training materials for training at the CO Academy. Enforcement action was taken for an overlimit of crappies.
CO Mark Mathy (Cass Lake) checked anglers and recreational vehicle riders. The ice has retreated from small lakes and on large lakes the shoreline areas have melted. Some time was spent working on lesson plans for the CO Academy. Enforcement action was taken for an ATV violation.
CO Corey Sura (Remer) worked on the Rainy River for the start of the sturgeon ?keep? season. Angler numbers seemed to be down compared to recent years, despite the generally mild weather. While checking for late-night sturgeon anglers, an individual was arrested for providing a false name and date of birth to a peace officer. Sura also monitored spring beaver-trapping activity in the Remer area, and assisted the Over the Hills Gang ATV club with a youth ATV safety training course in Fifty Lakes.
CO Jacque Hughes (Longville) checked trapping activity. She received multiple accidentally caught otters and received multiple calls regarding nuisance bears.
CO Adam Seifermann (Staples) reports attending training, assisting with a rollover crash, checking turkey hunters, and patrolling public lands. Several TIP calls are being investigated. He also attended the Arbor Day event at Pillager School and did an AIS K9 demo at the Sauk Rapids DNR office.
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