OK now i’m curious…….for those of you that get checked….just how big of lakes are you fishing…..specifically in the summer???
i typically dont fish big bodies of water in the summer, usually small lakes and generally off the beaten path but have decent accesses. mainly itasca county.
We get checked fairly regularly on my parents 1600 acre lake.
bigwerm i dont expect you to name the lake but gotta be a popular lake.walleyes in it maybe??? near a well known fishing area!!!
my wifes cousins have A place north of crosby, lake has a 5 fish sunfish limit. they invited us up and we fished. was about 6 couples……i like to think i’m pretty good sunfish guy. i found several spots and the group did well.
the following weekend her cousins calls us….said the CO stopped by to check the freezers…..apparently someone was watching!!!! 
bigwerm i dont expect you to name the lake but gotta be a popular lake.walleyes in it maybe??? near a well known fishing area!!!
No, it’s a terrible walleye lake. And largely known as a recreational lake more than a fishing lake. When I had my boat I kept it on the trailer because the area lakes were way better imo. I think the local CO’s and Hubbard County Sheriffs just are out a lot in the area since there are so many lakes, and you gotta make hay when the sunshines if you catch my drift. A lot of revenue gets generated, I mean, safety gets enforced in the summer.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>glenn57 wrote:</div>
bigwerm i dont expect you to name the lake but gotta be a popular lake.walleyes in it maybe??? near a well known fishing area!!!No, it’s a terrible walleye lake. And largely known as a recreational lake more than a fishing lake. When I had my boat I kept it on the trailer because the area lakes were way better imo. I think the local CO’s and Hubbard County Sheriffs just are out a lot in the area since there are so many lakes, and you gotta make hay when the sunshines if you catch my drift. A lot of
revenue gets generated, I mean, safety gets enforced in the summer.
I frequent a lake that sits on county lines and is consistently patrolled by sheriff and CO’s. I rarely see them doing safety checks or stopping individuals unless they are asking for it. The tend to do more patrolling and observing. I have only been stopped by them once in the last decade + and they slapped me with a written warning for not having nav lights on because the sun had dipped behind the tree line. I can count on one hand the amount of times I have been stopped ice fishing, and it’s always been on big water or small lake with a hot bite.
We had a work party up on LOTW a few years back and one guy brought his son along. 4 stroke sleds were a new thing and that afternoon we had a couple of CO’s run up on us and they must have been within 20 yards before we heard them. It happened to be this guys birthday and he was in the house and his son was outside talking with all of us. As soon as they started asking for licenses, he slowly started walking back to the house his dad was in. The CO’s didn’t have any of us pull out our license, just took a glance and went straight to the house those two were in. They open the door, dad’s hammered drunk with 8 lines down. They ask who’s extra lines are these and without any hesitation at all, he pointed at his son. They put the ticket on him and his dad refused to apologize because, as he put it, it was his birthday and you probably owe me somehow anyway. We all got a good laugh out of that one.
I been checked a bunch of times, probably over 20. Half of these have been on pool 2.
My neighbor is one of the DNR officers who covers Minnetonka. I told him that I never see you guys out there. He said that a lot of times they are on jetskis. I’ve never been checked on Minnetonka, but also never fish it this early. Obviously this time of year they are looking for the guys doing some early walleye fishing and also have an easier time focusing on stopping fishing boats. Later on in the summer, your odds of being checked go way down with all of the boats out there and on top of that, they are also probably assisting the Sheriff with other calls.
I’ve been checked three times on pool 2 of the Mississippi while on shore. Twice by sheriff boats and once by a conservation officer who snuck up on foot. All were quick, easy and cordial.
Was checked in the boat on the lower croix a couple seasons back. Think we had two legal walleyes in the live well but we had also just thrown a decent sized pike in there because it was gilled. I didn’t even think about the size restrictions on pike at the time(dumb), but we admitted being ignorant and told him the circumstance and he eyed it up and said it’s legal and we were good. Think it was around 30”? Checked for life jackets and extinguisher and we were all good. They took off. Was two officers and they were super cool and chill.
Other than that me and my grandpa were checked by a CO on a jet ski while fishing blackwater lake near Longview years ago.
Hunting-wise, have only been checked once while pheasant hunting by an Iowa CO. All smooth.
Obviously this time of year they are looking for the guys doing some early walleye fishing and also have an easier time focusing on stopping fishing boats.
This time of year on Tonka they like to enforce the many no-wake zones out there, without the buoys out it’s still your responsibility to know where they are (and there are a lot beyond the channels). I got stopped out there one spring and got a warning and a paper map for future reference, that was a sheriff I believe.
Back in the summer of 2005 I was in my old 1961 Crestliner given to me by my grandpa. I was stopped that day on the Saint Croix river by 3 different law enforcement outfits. Washington county, MN DNR, and Pierce county or WI DNR. Each one of them searched my boat and checked licenses, I was legal and they issued no tickets or warnings. After that day I decided bringing any beer on the river was a no go. Well I bought a new 18 ft lund in 2010 and have never been pulled over on the river in it, not once, and I used to go at least 2-3 days a week. I’d love to take that old boat out on a busy weekend again and see what happens.
Last time I got checked I think it was US Fish and Wildlife Smallmouth fishing on the OT.I have ran into several DNR officers since then but they never checked me for a license. It’s not unheard of up here to get stopped by three different levels of government on the same day. The county sheriffs are out looking for drunk or stupid boaters, and boater safety, the state DNR is looking for boater safety, and licenses and limits, and the US government is, well, I don’t know what they are doing but if they have nothing better to do they will check your license.
I was with a buddy by the Mickey Mouse bridge in Prescitt. Idling through the slow zone north to Hastings ramp, a sheriff flicked on his lights and pulled us over. He told my buddy the stop was for breaking the slow zone. My buddy was incredulous, he literally had the throttle backed as far down as possible. The old sheriffs started shooting the breeze with us and we had no violations as everything was above board. Then he told us he often pulls people over with that excuse to check for drunks. What a joke.
This time of year on Tonka they like to enforce the many no-wake zones out there, without the buoys out it’s still your responsibility to know where they are (and there are a lot beyond the channels). I got stopped out there one spring and got a warning and a paper map for future reference, that was a sheriff I believe.
The markers and buoys have been out there for over a week now.
But I do agree with your assessment. Still gotta slow down in the channels even if they weren’t there. Honestly I don’t think I’ve ever been out there when the buoys weren’t out there though.
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