Did My Part Today

Little back story here, Lake Demontreville in Lake Elmo used to be a lake where you had a great shot to catch a 5 lb bass every time you went out there. Over the past 5 years it has quickly gone down hill to the point where catching a 3 lber is now impressive. This lake is a catch and release only lake for largemouth however recently I have seen numerous people keeping bass and have called the TIPS line many times out there.

Today I was getting my boat ready to go at the landing and a guy was pulling out and said the guy shorefishing at the launch was keeping bass and that he told him he couldn’t do that. I said I’d keep an eye on him as I launched. As I’m launching the boat I see him land another bass and I never saw him release it. I said to him “You threw that back right?” and he gives me the “of course I did.” head shake. At the same time he gets a second rod out and throws out a live crawler. Now he’s fishing with two lines also.

So I call the TIPS line and they tell me they will contact the local CO. I said thanks and hung up knowing that most likely nothing will happen. Well sure enough, 5 minutes later I get a call from Matt the CO asking me for more info on what the guy looked like, what I saw, etc. He said it wasn’t his coverage area but he was going to come anyway. About an hour later I get a call from CO Matt saying that he indeed contacted the man, and found 8 bass in his bucket, using two lines, and no fishing license. He let me know that he was cited for each fish, the two lines infraction, and confiscated all of his fishing gear. Also said that he made sure everyone knew he was there watching.

For the amount of times I have called that hotline (especially about this particular lake) I was thrilled someone actually came out and took some action. I know it’s just one person and there will be plenty more but for once I feel like I got a win.

Big thanks to CO Matt who was a helluva guy and genuinely appreciated being notified about this.

Nice job. Good to hear that there’s still some enforcement out there.

I’ve called the tip a few times and nothing has ever come of it. So honestly I quit. Good job Pete

Nice job that dude obviously didn’t give an F.

Good job Mahto!

Bearcat89 wrote:

I’ve called the tip a few times and nothing has ever come of it. So honestly I quit. Good job Pete

I had too, but this guy really pissed me off after TWO of us has talked with him about it, very politely, and he basically just said F U by still keeping more. That’s when I go full send to ruin that guy’s day.

Don’t want to hi-jack Maht but I thought this has some relavence.

This was yesterday –
CLEVELAND — Two men who admitted stuffing fish with lead weights and fish fillets in an attempt to win thousands of dollars in an Ohio fishing tournament last fall were sentenced Thursday to ten-day jail terms and other penalties, including the forfeiture of a boat valued at $100,000.

Really glad to hear a positive outcome here. Great work on getting that guy busted. Not sure it will stop him from doing it again somewhere else, but hopefully he thinks twice.

Thank You!

Good to hear. I had a stare down with a poacher out there a few years ago who told me to mind my own ********* business. Pulled out the cell phone, took a picture and called the tip line. He left in an hurry.

And also interested to hear your opinion of that lake, I thought it was just me. It has dropped off dramatically. I see the idiots have dumped weed killer in the lake already this spring, so the water looks bad and stinks and there basically is no shallow cover anywhere. Guess I’m looking for a new home Lake

SR

Great job mahto.
Hats off to CO Matt!!
Love seeing guys like that AH get pinched. They think laws are for other people.

Glad to see this as we know a lot of reports come to nothing but that’s due process for you, blessing and a curse. I bet he knows other people that do the same thing and let’s them know what happened. I bet your one good deed is multiplied.

Steve Root wrote:

And also interested to hear your opinion of that lake, I thought it was just me. It has dropped off dramatically.

SR

I have been fishing it since around 2008 I think and it used to be my home lake because of the size and it’s relative quietness. Over the past three years I’ve gone less and less because it’s much busier and the quality of bass has dropped off. Like I said, a good fish out there now is 3 lbs when it used to be 5. I think there will still be plenty of weeds but I was surprised that there were virtually none out there this morning. That being said, water levels that left most of the shoreline cover out of the water, is back to normal levels which has me interested to fish it again because last year I think the low levels really hurt the fishing.

It will take awhile to get back to where it was, if it ever will, but I’ll still check it every now and then. I live 5 minutes away so I might as well.

FinickyFish wrote:

Glad to see this as we know a lot of reports come to nothing but that’s due process for you, blessing and a curse. I bet he knows other people that do the same thing and let’s them know what happened. I bet your one good deed is multiplied.

That’s the hope.

Nice job- thanks to you and the CO!

Way to go sir.
FU poacher.

I am close to that lake as well. I am curious, was that person’s native language possibly not English? I can’t believe a person who understands English would be so blatant as to ignore warnings from two different people. Then again, I can’t make sense of what much of society chooses to do these days, so perhaps it was just a big fat F U to the rest of us.
Thanks for doing the right thing mahtofire. I know this isn’t the first time you’ve stepped up to protect our resources, and I appreciate it.

I didn’t want to make the post about a certain race because I know plenty of guys of the same demographic that are having huge positive impacts on the sport. That being said, he did fully comprehend English. He was also literally fishing in front of the sign that has “Catch and Release only for Largemouth Bass” right at the top. So while I initially approached the situation as trying to educate the guy, it quickly became obvious he didn’t need the education, he needed to get hit in the wallet. And he did.

Good work. Glad to hear the tip line panned out. I’ve called it a few times for blatant intentional violations and have never got a response. I have found it is much better to call the local C.O. directly. That’s all the tip line does. When I get checked I ask for the C.O.’s phone number. I have a handful saved in my phone for the areas I hunt and fish often. Their numbers are online as well or they used to be at least.

Awesome to hear. It’s really disgusting to think how often this is happening every day in our waters and woods.

Just an observation;

In regards to the comment(s) “nothing ever came from calling in”, there are plenty of times when no one is available to respond immediately. This does NOT mean the the report has been ignored. Those reports of illegal activity, are used to schedule an officers “time and whereabouts” going forward. Many times a follow-up visit to the area days later is still productive in catching violators and reducing infractions.

Thanks to everyone for calling in,,,,,,, keep calling.

FinnyDinDin wrote:

I have a handful saved in my phone for the areas I hunt and fish often.

^^^^^ ditto

Tip of the cap to you Mahto, way to go. Sadly that is just one individual out of thousands that do the same.

Earlier this year, some yahoo tried to pick off a turkey with a sling shot in my neighbors front yard, and I just happened to be out with the dog. Without thinking I yelled WTF do you think you’re doing? I think he soiled his undergarments, he shoved the sling shot in a pocket and took off running. It was all caught on my security system.

Contacted TIP line, and a CO did contact me within 10 mins and said he would drive around and see if he could locate the miscreant. Sent the CO security footage, never heard back.

Obviously I think we all know how tough it is for COs to be everywhere and get to all the calls. But it’s really the only chance we have so that’s why I still call even if it’s only every once in awhile they get caught. If everyone called instead of saying “nothing will happen even if I call” it might start to make a little dent.

Gregg Gunter wrote:

Good job Mahto!

x10 Great work! Glad they actually responded and cited the guy. We all know this wasnt the first time and wont be the last this prick has done this.

Good job.
But the real question. Who the h*ll fishes bass? More less eats em?
If you’re going to poach fish it may as well be a walleye or two. Make the ticket a little more worth it anyway.
Just imagine the ribbin he is gonna get from his buddies for fishing bass much less poaching them.

Just kidding of course. Kinda

Red Eye wrote:

Good job.
But the real question. Who the h*ll fishes bass? More less eats em?
If you’re going to poach fish it may as well be a walleye or two. Make the ticket a little more worth it anyway.
Just imagine the ribbin he is gonna get from his buddies for fishing bass much less poaching them.

Just kidding of course. Kinda

If your gonna eat fish why eat walleye when sun fish are 10 times better. This could go on forever and ever. Small bass taste better then any walleye. Especially out of cool water. Fishing walleye locally is even more boring. I’d rather catch fish all day and evening instead of slowly boringly trolling in hopes to catch 1 maybe 2 15 inch walleye. Might as well snag a wet pair of sock. Now if I’m on the river this is much different or up north. But on the near metro lakes it’s not

Bearcat89 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Red Eye wrote:</div>
Good job.
But the real question. Who the h*ll fishes bass? More less eats em?
If you’re going to poach fish it may as well be a walleye or two. Make the ticket a little more worth it anyway.
Just imagine the ribbin he is gonna get from his buddies for fishing bass much less poaching them.

Just kidding of course. Kinda

If your gonna eat fish why eat <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleye when sun fish are 10 times better. This could go on forever and ever. Small bass taste better then any walleye. Especially out of cool water. Fishing <em class=”ido-tag-em”>walleye locally is even more boring. I’d rather catch fish all day and evening instead of slowly boringly trolling in hopes to catch 1 maybe 2 15 inch walleye. Might as well snag a wet pair of sock. Now if I’m on the river this is much different or up north. But on the near metro lakes it’s not

Eating any bass from a metro lake sounds terrible.

…as does fishing a metro lake, or any lake in general

This is pretty easy to keep going

Red Eye wrote:

Good job.
But the real question. Who the h*ll fishes bass? More less eats em?
If you’re going to poach fish it may as well be a walleye or two. Make the ticket a little more worth it anyway.
Just imagine the ribbin he is gonna get from his buddies for fishing bass much less poaching them.

Just kidding of course. Kinda

The entire rest of the country. Bass fishing brings in more money and conservation to all fishing than any other species. I’m so tired of the walleye only mentality in the state. It’s literally the WORST fish to catch. Branch out a little. I know it’s hard for Minnesotans to do but it’s well worth it. There is a world outside of this state.

Other than the politics it’s about the worst thing to deal with in this state.

Congratulations, you got me going. But seriously, it’s real old.

Bearcat89 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Red Eye wrote:</div>
Good job.
But the real question. Who the h*ll fishes bass? More less eats em?
If you’re going to poach fish it may as well be a walleye or two. Make the ticket a little more worth it anyway.
Just imagine the ribbin he is gonna get from his buddies for fishing bass much less poaching them.

Just kidding of course. Kinda

If your gonna eat fish why eat <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleye when sun fish are 10 times better. This could go on forever and ever. Small bass taste better then any walleye. Especially out of cool water. Fishing <em class=”ido-tag-em”>walleye locally is even more boring. I’d rather catch fish all day and evening instead of slowly boringly trolling in hopes to catch 1 maybe 2 15 inch walleye. Might as well snag a wet pair of sock. Now if I’m on the river this is much different or up north. But on the near metro lakes it’s not

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Yeah walleye are damn cool fish, but my god they are boring to fish for.

The only good thing about walleyes is they taste good. Bass are way more fun to catch and smallies pound for pound probably the hardest fighting fish other than a big bluegill. I dont fish bass often, but I dont complain when I catch them. Keeping them is another story however.