Conservation officers' tales for May (2005-05-03)

USING WHATEVER THEY CAN TO CATCH WHATEVER THEY CAN

Conservation officer (CO) Brad Schultz (Center City) encountered a boat with three anglers. One angler was using an extra line. All were throwing large spoons for bait. When the officer contacted them they said they were, "fishing for whatever they could catch." No one had a fishing license. ID's were checked which led to one angler going to jail on two outstanding warrants.

FISHERMAN FLOP

CO Joe Frear (Waseca) reported an angler kicked over his pail when he saw the officer coming. An overlimit of fish remained flopping in the grass.

TWO VIOLATIONS FOR ONE OFFICER

CO Joyce Kuske (Little Falls) encountered an angler fishing along a riverbank that had walked around a fence and was fishing right under a "No Trespassing" sign. While Kuske was explaining to the angler what penalties went along with Gross Misdemeanor Trespassing the angler pointed out that there were a lot of dead leaves floating down stream intermittently during the afternoon. Upon further investigation a resident upstream was found dumping yard waste and leaves in the stream. Enforcement action was taken for placing fill in public waters.

EIGHT-FEET OF EAGLE FOOD

CO Tom Campbell (Henning) received a call from a panic-stricken lakeshore owner who reported there was a dead 8-foot snake on his shoreline. After investigating the situation, Campbell found that an area taxidermist skinned a pet boa and was feeding the carcass to eagles.

QUITE A LINE

CO Kevin Prodzinski (Zumbrota) reported a fisherman was catching walleye and using monofilament line as a stringer to tie them to rocks under the water in attempt to conceal them when checked. Other walleyes were found concealed in the bottom of large tackle boxes.

LOST AND FOUND

CO Joyce Kuske (Little Falls) saw a vehicle parked at a Mississippi River bridge and looked around for shore fishermen. No anglers were found but a set of car keys matching the vehicle was found in the grass on the riverbank. Kuske tracked down the vehicle owners' cell phone number and contacted him assuming he had left the vehicle behind because he had lost the keys. The owner said he was out on the river in a boat fishing and did not lose any car keys. They he checked for the keys and found that, low and behold, he had lost his keys! The anglers were thankful the officer had found them.

CANADA GOOSE CLAIMS OWL NEST

CO Bruce Nelson (Ortonville) observed a first: a Canada goose nesting approximately 40-feet up in a tree, using an abandoned owl's nest.

GOOD TIME DOCUMENTS RESULT IN CITATION

CO Neil Freborg (Lake George) reported some young people had a large party at the county access to a small trout lake. The litter they left behind filled five garbage bags, which were picked up by Hubbard County Parks personnel. They also left behind a disposable camera, which had been used to document the "good time" they had. The officer had the pictures developed, spoke to local liquor store employees, and finally located the person responsible for the party. He received a $270 citation for litter.
 

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