District 1 – Baudette area
Last updated: 2022-05-31
CO Ben Huener (Roseau) checked anglers on Lake of the Woods and the Warroad River. Fishing has been slow, and the cold weather over the Memorial Day holiday didn?t help. Enforcement action was taken on multiple anglers for possessing illegal-length fish.
CO Corey Sura (Baudette East) spent time working ATV enforcement and checking anglers on Lake of the Woods throughout the week. Sura and CO Huener assisted with a field trip for the Warroad elementary first-graders held at the historic Norris Camp. The officers talked to students about wildland survival and safety, and took the students on a forest scavenger hunt. Enforcement action was taken for numerous violations this week, including possessing illegal-length walleyes, walleye/sauger overlimit, fishing with an extra line, fishing without a valid license, burning of prohibited materials, and operating an ATV on a state highway.
CO Jeremy Woinarowicz (Thief River Falls West) responded to multiple nuisance-bear complaints this past week. Homeowners in bear country are reminded to remove all possible food sources to limit bear/human encounters. He also patrolled during the Memorial Day weekend, encountering violations for ATV registration, no helmet on juvenile ATV operators, allowing illegal operation of an ATV by a juvenile, expired watercraft registration, no PFD on a watercraft and state park permit violations.
CO Tony Elwell (Thief River Falls East) checked anglers, monitored boating activity and answered calls about newborn critters this week. Please leave baby animals where you find them as their mothers are usually nearby. Violations dealt with this week included angling without a license, angling with no license in possession, possessing smallmouth bass out of season, operating an unregistered motorized watercraft, juvenile ATV passenger with no helmet and failure to give notice of transfer of ATV within 15 days of purchase.
CO Demosthenes Regas (Blackduck South) reports working angling and boating activity on special regulation lakes this past week. Regas noted anglers? success varied and the very early morning and night bites were better. Time was spent patrolling area ATV trails and ATV trail complaint areas. He also worked an Upper Red Lake enforcement detail. Violations encountered and addressed included removal of aquatic vegetation by chemical application without a permit, angling license/watercraft registration violations and ATV riders failing to stop before crossing the road right-of-way.
CO Nicholas Prachar (Blackduck North) reports good fishing on Upper Red Lake. Time was spent working angling, AIS and boat/water safety. While working on Upper Red Lake, Prachar encountered three Wisconsin anglers who had limited out on walleyes for the day. Through interviews, it was learned the trio had additional walleyes at their camper in Squaw Lake. Prachar worked with CO Vincent Brown to investigate and subsequently seized 67 walleyes from the three anglers. Charges are pending.
District 2 – Bemidji area
Last updated: 2022-05-31
CO Tom Hutchins (Crookston) reports mainly working angling and watercraft enforcement work this week. Time was also spent checking ATV operators. A complaint regarding a vehicle stuck inside a WMA was received. Follow-up work on public waters and wetland violations continues.
CO Brice Vollbrecht (Bemidji #1) monitored angling activity on area lakes. He worked boat and water shifts on Upper Red Lake and Lake Mille Lacs.
CO Chris Vinton (Perham) reports assisting Wadena County, along with multiple jurisdictions and other COs, with a large commercial fire that was impacting traffic on Highway 10 through town. During that emergency, tornado warnings sounded and all emergency responders evacuated to the courthouse until the weather cleared. Enforcement action was taken for no PFDs, failure to have an angling license in possession, allowing youth operation of an ATV, failure to transfer registration of an ATV and riding on the bow or gunwale.
CO Al Peterson (Osage) worked ATV enforcement, boating and angling. Peterson also spent time handling calls of an abandoned boat, a fish overlimit, and wildlife-related calls.
CO Steve Chihak (Moorhead) spent the week working sport fishing, boat and water safety and ATV enforcement. He attended training at Camp Ripley and also spent time working a busy Memorial Day weekend.
CO Angie Warren (Mahnomen) spent time on angling and boating activity. Area trails were patrolled for off-road vehicle activity. Follow up on open cases was conducted. Information on nuisance-bear activity was provided. Warren assisted Becker County with a search related to a cold missing person case.
CO Bill Landmark (Pelican Rapids) spent the week patrolling for boat and water safety, checking anglers, and following up with shoreline and wetland violations. The bite started to pick up again for all species of fish and anglers have been happy with their success rates. Compliance was generally good over Memorial Day weekend, with the most common violations being expired registration and an insufficient number of PFDs. Boat owners are reminded it is their responsibility to make sure their boat is registered and equipped with proper safety equipment. Calls from the public included reports of nuisance bears and complaints of possible overlimits. Enforcement action was taken for insufficient PFDs, unregistered watercraft, failure to transfer watercraft title, illegal-length fish on special regulations lakes, possession of drugs and paraphernalia, and other miscellaneous watercraft and recreational vehicle violations.
District 3 – Fergus Falls area
Last updated: 2022-05-31
CO Andrew Goodman (Fergus Falls) worked angling enforcement, boat and water safety and AIS compliance over the long holiday weekend. Prime summer weather boosted activity early in the weekend when Goodman and CO Plautz teamed up to work Otter Tail Lake. Compliance was high amongst boaters for safety equipment and licenses but AIS violations remained an issue. Goodman and area officers then concentrated efforts on AIS enforcement. During that time, a boat arrived at a public access. The person attempted to launch while the boat?s livewell was full of water and the plug was still installed after spending the previous day on an infested lake.
CO Tricia Plautz (Henning) spent time on the water for a busy holiday weekend focusing enforcement efforts on boating, fishing, and AIS. Plautz also checked on a deer farm and checked ATV riders and PWC operators. She also attended training at Camp Ripley.
CO Shane Osborne (Evansville) checked anglers, boaters, ATV riders, and OHM riders, as well as for AIS. Several ATV violations were encountered over the Memorial Day weekend. Anyone under 18 is required to wear a helmet while a driver or passenger on an ATV or OHM.
CO Mitch Lawler (Alexandria) worked lots of boating and angling activity this past week with warm weather and lots of people out. Several instances of people fishing without licenses were handled with citations. A few cases of insufficient PFDs onboard watercraft were handled, as were a few incidents of late PWC operation. Rough fish continue to be left on shorelines and dumped in ditches. If anybody sees this activity and gets a license plate, please call the TIP line (you may remain anonymous).
CO Hanna Wood (Wheaton) spent the week focused on angling and boating enforcement. Assistance was given to local law enforcement agencies and minnow permits were issued. Wood encountered a stubborn camper who was harassing small children at the campground. She made contact and attempted to use her baton to remove the subject. When that didn?t work, she went hands-on. The individual was not happy and fought the entire time, but the snapping turtle was eventually removed from the area and the young campers were very appreciative. ATV enforcement contacts were also made.
CO Emily Douvier (Morris) reports working fishing and recreational vehicle enforcement throughout the holiday weekend. Enforcement action taken included fishing without a license, fish overlimits, and expired registration violations. An AIS detail was worked with district partners in the surrounding area. Assistance was given to a surrounding county on a call for service.
CO Daniel Baumbarger (Glenwood) reports enforcement efforts for the week were concentrated on checking anglers and boaters, and monitoring AIS law compliance. Additional time was spent checking ATV operators and handling nuisance-animal complaints. An AIS detail was worked over the weekend with CO Wood on Lake Minnewaska.
District 4 – Walker area
Last updated: 2022-05-31
CO Adam Seifermann (Staples) reports a busy Memorial Day week with a lot of ATV, boating and angling activity. Anglers had mixed luck but many had some fish onboard. Enforcement action consisted of several ATV, watercraft and angling violations. Seifermann would like to emphasize the importance of not intervening with young wildlife unless the animal is visibly in distress. He also encourages ATV owners to review laws and regulations regarding the different classifications of ATVs and the respective licensing requirements.
CO Mark Mathy (Cass Lake) worked a busy holiday weekend with many anglers readily catching fish. Two TIP reports were investigated, one of which resulted in three anglers found to be over 30 walleyes over the limit. Mathy also investigated an angler-harassment complaint and a public waters alteration complaint. Training was attended at Camp Ripley. Enforcement action was taken for several angling and boating violations.
CO Patrick McGowan (Walker) patrolled Cass County lakes for boating and angling activity. McGowan also worked details on Upper Red and Mille Lacs lakes. Enforcement action was taken for numerous boating and angling violations.
CO Jordan Anderson (Wadena) spent time over the weekend working boating, fishing and recreational vehicle enforcement. Enforcement action was taken for numerous violations, including no OHM trail pass, no OHM registration, careless/reckless operation of an OHM, youth helmet violations, and operating an ORV on the road and road right-of-way. One rider was contacted for violations and said he was ?new to the game.? Unfortunately, they hadn?t taken the time to read the rules of ?the game? beforehand. Read the rules first, and call a local CO if you have questions.
CO Nick Baum (Park Rapids) patrolled the area for ATV, angling, and boating activity. He found several individuals enjoying the long holiday weekend. Baum took enforcement action on multiple recreational vehicle and angling/boating violations. Baum reminds people to ensure they have all required equipment before taking the boat or ATV out.
CO Jacque Hughes (Longville) continued to check anglers. Enforcement action was taken on multiple people fishing without licenses, and an overlimit of fish.
ATV rec officer vacant.
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