Ultimately it doesn’t come down to the discretion of the CO, it comes down to the discretion of a judge. It’s possible an overzealous CO would write a ticket for it, but I think it’d be pretty unlikely just going off the attitudes and demeanors of the CO’s I’ve known or encountered. Unless you’re in possession of walleyes do I think they’d have any grounds, or desire, to write you a ticket for it.
If I was cited I’d choose to get my day in court. Any judge with even a feigned respect for upholding the law is going to throw it out. There’s no legal definition of what an artificial lure is other than a hook or set of hooks combined to one “bait” used on the end of a single line. Since there isn’t a clear legal definition of what an artificial bait is, there certainly isn’t a legal definition for anything resembling how the measurement of an artificial lure is made and what constitutes their length.
I don’t see how they’d have any legal grounds to cite you. Without possession of any fish there’s no way they can declare what you were intending to catch. Intent is impossible to convict someone of when no other crimes are being committed, or they’re not in unlawful possession of any controlled wildlife, substance, or material of the state.
Quite frankly I think any judge would find not only the citation amusing but the fact that there’s nothing on the books whatsoever for a concrete legal definition of what constitutes an “artificial bait/lure” as downright comical if it becomes something the DNR is trying to use to create rules and then enforcing them. This wouldn’t be the first time I’d be unlawfully issued a citation. There have been laws changed in the past due to a CO thinking I was breaking the law, when all I was doing was breaking the comminly held perception of a law that existed that actually did not. I’m guessing they’d get some state legislator to pass something legally defining what an artificial bait is and how they’re legally measured after my citation got thrown out by an amused judge. It also wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened due to me.
That’s what’s great about the law and the DNR’s role in enforcing it. Note: “Enforcing” the law is vastly different than “Writing” the law. All the laws that we’re subject to are at our fingertips and the beauty of them is they apply to the CO just as much as they apply to us. If it doesn’t state in very black and white terms what you can and cannot do—that means you can do it. Unless/until someone writes a new law or expands upon an existing one that you no longer are legally allowed to do it.
In addition to the law the reality of a co-managed Mille Lacs is that the management outlined by the two parties is unilaterally enforced by only one party. There are a probably a lot of reasons for this but I’m guessing the biggest is cost. It’s a lot less expensive for the bands to get equal say in creating the rules but not shoulder any of the cost to enforce them. Being that the DNR is routinely miffed by the bands chopping them down at the knees when they try to increase the quota every year….well, if you don’t think that doesn’t create some resentment that results in less rigorous enforcement of restrictions put in place the DNR is very much opposed to then you’re not taking into account the human nature aspect to all of this.
Ever hear of anyone being cited for fishing walleyes during the night ban? I haven’t, and I read the “Cuffs ‘N’ Collars page of the Outdoors Weekly every week.
If you’re in charge of enforcement and there’s legal restrictions put in place that you not only dislike but were put in place against your will, how devoted do you think you’re going to be enforcing those restrictions? Are you going to be really tough or pretty soft making sure those restrictions are abided by?
If it was up to the DNR there wouldn’t be a night ban after the first two weeks of the season. Keep that in mind when trying to consider what their attitude is when it comes to having to enforce the night ban.
One last thing to mix in:
There is no hit to the quota for all the pounds of walleye that get poached. No pounds, not a one, has ever hit the quota for illegal harvest. For as much as people complain about hooking mortality there are numerous ways the amount of the state’s portion of the quota gets tallied that are advantageous. Illegal harvest accounting for zero pounds ever is by far the most beneficial in my opinion.
Don’t think that also doesn’t factor into enforcemeht.
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/search/doc_result.php?search=all&keyword_type=exact&keyword=artificial+bait&stat=1&stat_year1=2019&stat_year2=2019&stat_chapter=&laws=1&laws_session1=91&laws_session2=91&laws_chapter=&rule=1&rule_year1=2020&rule_year2=2020&rule_chapter=&rule_agency%5B%5D=&court_year1=2010&court_year2=2010&court_type%5B%5D=&sreg_vol1=45&sreg_vol2=45
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