Anger Management

I didn’t realize that AIS inspectors (either DNR employees or volunteer) were conducting inspections PRIOR to launching now too. I’ve only ever encountered them when loading up.

In our area they are either lake association volunteers or employed by the county. Never run into a jerk, but there is one I run into on one particular lake that is a real “educator”. I just continue to do my thing and let them blab. When asked where the boat has been or where it’s going, I usually respond with “I don’t remember” and “not sure”. Sometimes I reference lake Superior or Minnetonka for the fun of it. To me, even though I think it’s a waste of taxpayer money, it’s a very minor inconvenience. If you could even call it that.

I have ran into more of the lake association inspectors in the last couple years. Im very curious on what they’ll do with the info. My guess is it wont be in public users interests.

At hoksila they were inspecting prior to launch and looking for zeebs. I couldn’t help but laugh when twenty yards away is the county dock on shore covered in zeebs. Whatcha trying to prevent guy lol!!!!!

They launched that dock later that same day without cleaning off the zeebs.

I’m surprised by how many lake associations have inspectors. Now I’m going to have to check to see if they have any rights at all. If not angler harrassment is definitely a thing. Seems like the real problem is lakeshore associations not inspectors.

The inspectors you see are not funded 100% by lake associations. Lake associations chip in to add hours sometimes, but they are mostly funded by a law passed in 2014 that provides 10 million dollars annually for AIS work at the county level. This money is allocated to counties based on the number of accesses and parking spaces within the county. To have inspectors, the counties enter a delegation of powers agreement w/DNR that gives the county inspectors the same authority as the DNR watercraft inspectors. To the point of inspecting boats on zebra mussel infested lakes, the biggest public cost borne by local governments and lake associations from AIS is from the plants, like milfoil and starry stonewort. Preventing these things is a priority for counties, as some want to manage that stuff which is difficult and expensive.

Youbetcha wrote:

I have ran into more of the lake association inspectors in the last couple years. Im very curious on what they’ll do with the info. My guess is it wont be in public users interests.

i specifically asked an inspector that exact question last year.

he said its put in a database to help track potential issues !!!!!!

glenn57 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Carter Johnson wrote:</div>
I have ran into more of the lake association inspectors in the last couple years. Im very curious on what they’ll do with the info. My guess is it wont be in public users interests.

i specifically asked an inspector that exact question last year.

he said its put in a database to help track potential issues !!!!!!

We all know that means things to complain about to try and privatize the lake.

On a serious note, the news article linked at the start of this thread states the incident stemmed from a disagreement about “minnow water.”

I happened to have a conversation about “minnow water” with an inspector this weekend (mine was respectful and constructive). The inspector informed me that any live bait residing in water (we had minnows and leeches) can not be transported (much less used) one it has been taken on to a lake. Moreover, bait can not be disposed of by dumping it into a lake.

Now, I have not yet been able to verify the accuracy of his statements; but he seemed to take his job seriously.

If his statements are accurate, then:
1) The use of water-born bait can only be used for one outing (even if the next outing occurs on the same lake).
2) If I can not dispose of water-born bait in the lake…and can not transport it after my outing…shouldn’t the DNR have bait disposal collectors at all public and private launches?

I usually get along well with them. Every once in awhile you get someone who tries to overstep and you have to politely let them know they can’t do that.

I had an old lady who was literally taking 10 mins per boat to click through her ipad. I wasn’t going to wait for her, so I pulled out of the water, and across the parking lot, got my crap tied down and plugs pulled and left before she got to me.

As far as the live bait, they’re overstepping quite a bit there. I’m not dumping out $40 worth of minnows because you don’t believe me. Whenever they ask if I have any live bait I simply say no. They can see and hear my Engel bubbling away. If they were serious about us draining the water from live bait, they should have spigots at every launch so we could get well water.

gim wrote:

I didn’t realize that AIS inspectors (either DNR employees or volunteer) were conducting inspections PRIOR to launching now too. I’ve only ever encountered them when loading up.

Between this and never getting checked by a CO, you must fish some odd hours!

We were checked at the landing launching the boat this weekend, and then almost immediately on the water by a CO for expired tabs (which were already updated online, sticker just hadn’t arrived yet).

90% of my interactions with the AIS inspectors have been fine to friendly, 10% (and always a lake association person) have been less than pleasant and overreaching their very limited powers. Seems to be a power trip for some of these association people who think they are saving the world. Still doesn’t, and never should, justify destroying their property. The OP was also a 3rd hand story, so who knows what really happened, but still should damage others property even if they are a jerk.

Obsession wrote:

Now, I have not yet been able to verify the accuracy of his statements; but he seemed to take his job seriously.

These are accurate.
You can bring tap or spring water. Drain your bait and add that fresh water to the bait. This is how it is written. Not very practical in reality but can be done.

Wisconsin rules are quite simple. Don’t transfer lake water from one body to another. That’s it.

We all know that means things to complain about to try and privatize the lake.
[/quote] yea i can assure you it wasnt the lakes he was working. this was up in Itasca county, the lake i fished has one place on it and is surrounded by government land……… and he needs to get to his place by boat via the accessthe other lake was big turtle. the 2 landings ae like 500 feet apart. he was working both accesses…… and the little lake i went to i’ve never seen more t hen 2 boats on it besides me!!!!

In my case, my bait was contained in a portable bin (Engle cooler) filled with water from the bait shop. I did not pour my bait into the boat’s live well or supplement it with water from the lake.

As the law is written, does the bait from such a portable cooler need to be disposed of upon exiting the lake?

I’m nice to people until they give me a reason not to be.

The very few times I’ve run into one of these inspectors, they’ve been nothing but polite. Most have just watched me go through my process and asked how fishing was. They’ve never touched me, my boat, truck, etc. I have never felt they had bad intentions. I also don’t fish metro lakes or metro areas whatsoever though either.

The inspectors/survey people are more prevalent on the weekends at busier launches on the river, which is exactly when I access the river from either private accesses or small less-known ones that aren’t friendly to the larger recreational boaters.

BigWerm wrote:

Seems to be a power trip for some of these association people who think they are saving the world.

HOA president in training?

Obsession wrote:

In my case, my bait was contained in a portable bin (Engle cooler) filled with water from the bait shop. I did not pour my bait into the boat’s live well or supplement it with water from the lake.

As the law is written, does the bait from such a portable cooler need to be disposed of upon exiting the lake?

Here – Question 2
https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/eco/invasives/q_and_a_drain_plug_law_20110609.pdf

Obsession wrote:

In my case, my bait was contained in a portable bin (Engle cooler) filled with water from the bait shop. I did not pour my bait into the boat’s live well or supplement it with water from the lake.

As the law is written, does the bait from such a portable cooler need to be disposed of upon exiting the lake?

The way I’ve always heard the law interpreted is you need to dump out the water and replace it with fresh well or tap water before transporting them. Otherwise the bait has to be disposed of before leaving the launch. Once your cooler goes out in the boat with you the water is considered contaminated.

gizmoguy wrote:

HOA president in training?

Yeah, same energy.

As an after thought we would not be dealing with most of this had ocean going ships entering the Canada and US waters had not been dumping their ballast water . As far as i know they are still doing it ? Not addressing that will ensure continued infestation of invasives.

I’ve had good and bad interactions with these people. Mostly good though. Ive had inspectors offer clean water for bait that they provided for fishermen with their own money. Ive had them gift me cool hand towels with the county name and AIS stuff on them. Ive also had them overstep and had to tell them to back off. The best is when I’m told I’m good to go but then I find weeds hanging on my transducer that they failed to see.
As for the story in the OP, all I can say is that they’re two sides to every story and that story is all from one side. He shouldn’t have ran over their chair but without hearing the whole story I will not judge the guy as I’ve seen these people in action and some of them can be infuriating.
With the prices of bait these days I won’t be throwing any bait away, sorry, not sorry..

grubson wrote:

I’ve had good and bad interactions with these people. Mostly good though. Ive had inspectors offer clean water for bait that they provided for fishermen with their own money. Ive had them gift me cool hand towels with the county name and AIS stuff on them. Ive also had them overstep and had to tell them to back off. The best is when I’m told I’m good to go but then I find weeds hanging on my transducer that they failed to see.
As for the story in the OP, all I can say is that they’re two sides to every story and that story is all from one side. He shouldn’t have ran over their chair but without hearing the whole story I will not judge the guy as I’ve seen these people in action and some of them can be infuriating.
With the prices of bait these days I won’t be throwing any bait away, sorry, not sorry..

Come one man. Don’t think with reason. That doesn’t make any sense around here

Obsession wrote:

As the law is written, does the bait from such a portable cooler need to be disposed of upon exiting the lake?

Yes.
Minnesota is a state that makes opportunity illegal. I.e. if you had the opportunity to put lake water into your cooler then the cooler is considered lake water regardless of it containing zero lake water.

BTW, ask em sometime to show you their lake water tester… they’ll likely say they don’t have to test anything, you need to show proof of receipt of a recent bait shop purchase. I.e. guilty without ability to prove innocent.

buckybadger wrote:

I’m nice to people until they give me a reason not to be.

The very few times I’ve run into one of these inspectors, they’ve been nothing but polite. Most have just watched me go through my process and asked how fishing was. They’ve never touched me, my boat, truck, etc. I have never felt they had bad intentions. I also don’t fish metro lakes or metro areas whatsoever though either.

The inspectors/survey people are more prevalent on the weekends at busier launches on the river, which is exactly when I access the river from either private accesses or small less-known ones that aren’t friendly to the larger recreational boaters.

Exactly how I operate when I’m out there too, and I’ve literally never ran into a jerky one. But I’m sure there are some out there, no doubt about it.

I tried to be as diplomatic as I could when I was doing surveys years ago. A very minimal amount of people just didn’t want any part of me no matter what. That’s their personal business. I was just trying to do my job properly. We all know there is a lack of enforcement when it comes to CO’s because there 1) isn’t enough, and 2) they cover massive areas. Voluntary compliance plays the biggest role.

he said its put in a database to help track potential issues

it’s your government, so that data is made available to the public.
it’s just easier or harder to find depending on the county.

for example, in Hubbard County for 2022 their spreadsheet lists AIS inspection activity for every lake:
– number of inspections
– hours scheduled, hours worked
– inspections per hour
– whether they were entry or exit inspections
– number of drain plugs that were found plugged in
– plants, animals, water, or mud found
– boats entering from infested waters (raw number and percent of boats)
– entering from Zebra Mussel waters
– entering from Starry Stonewort waters
– entering from out of state (raw number and percent)

very notable was that certain fields were highlighted on the spreadsheet…the lakes with a high percentage of boats entering from infested waters. that’s understandable as it can inform where they need to focus their monitoring and decontamination efforts. a skeptical view is that it’d be used as evidence for excluding boats from those waters. but data is just data, how it’s used is a different thing entirely.

Although I think they are a total waste of time and energy, I almost always try and be nice to the people working them. Like others have said. Most are High School kids or elderly people just trying to make a few $ for the summer. Why yell at or give them a hard time. Most don’t seem to take it real serious. Most of the times they walk around my boat and never end up bending down to check under it. They then say ” Ya, Everthing looks good – Have a nice day ”
When ever I get asked what lake did I fish last – The answer is always this one. When ask what lake I plan to fish next – Its always the same – This one. Most of the time they are done with me in the time it takes for me to remove the real tiedowns, put the plug in, and remove the motor support.

We took a road trip out west in 2018, most states had mandatory boat checking stations just after you crossed state line. Lots of billboards warning of bringing invasives in also. Coming back we came up 35 thru Iowa, notta nothing at the MN border on checking stations, that’s alotta boats not being checked. Maybe things have changed since then.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

You’ve never met the old guy on Chisago or south center.

Oh man, that guy……He’s a treat.

fishthumper wrote:

Although I think they are a total waste of time and energy, I almost always try and be nice to the people working them. Like others have said. Most are High School kids or elderly people just trying to make a few $ for the summer. Why yell at or give them a hard time. Most don’t seem to take it real serious. Most of the times they walk around my boat and never end up bending down to check under it. They then say ” Ya, Everthing looks good – Have a nice day ”
When ever I get asked what lake did I fish last – The answer is always this one. When ask what lake I plan to fish next – Its always the same – This one. Most of the time they are done with me in the time it takes for me to remove the real tiedowns, put the plug in, and remove the motor support.

Exactly. They are just trying to do a job and they have to deal with clowns all day long giving them hell over a couple questions. There’s a lot more important things to get worked up about in this world than something as meaningless as that.

Swimjiggin wrote:

We took a road trip out west in 2018, most states had mandatory boat checking stations just after you crossed state line. Lots of billboards warning of bringing invasives in also. Coming back we came up 35 thru Iowa, notta nothing at the MN border on checking stations, that’s alotta boats not being checked. Maybe things have changed since then.

We usually have several road check points in Canada each year as well. Last year my buddies boat had a few drops of water in the livewell. They made us pull off to the side and power washed the boat and livewells with hot water. Other than the time delay, not a big deal. probably the only boat washing my buddies boat has since he purchased it