I’ve posted these two Minnesota cases before to a similar question.
Quote:
The fish house:
Court of Appeals of Minnesota.
STATE of Minnesota, Appellant,
v.
Marvin Russell LARSEN, Respondent.
No. C5-01-980.
Dec. 26, 2001.
Defendant, who was charged with petty misdemeanor possession of marijuana and fishing with an extra line, moved to suppress evidence obtained as a result of a warrantless search of a fish house. The District Court, Rice County, Gerald Wolf, J., granted defendant’s motion and dismissed charges. State appealed . The Court of Appeals, Randall, J., held that: (1) fish house was dwelling in which defendant had a legitimate expectation of privacy; (2) fact that fish house was located on public waters controlled by state did not alter occupant’s expectation of privacy; and (3) conservation officers are subject to same constitutional constraints as other law enforcement officers in performance of their duties.
Affirmed.
Refusing CO to check live well or transported fish:
Supreme Court of Minnesota.
STATE of Minnesota, Petitioner, Appellant,
v.
John Mark COLOSIMO, Respondent.
No. C7-01-2181.
Sept. 25, 2003.
Defendant was convicted in the District Court, St. Louis County, Jeffry S. Rantala, J., of refusal to allow inspection of a boat. Defendant appealed. The Court of Appeals, 648 N.W.2d 271, Hanson, J., reversed. State appealed. The Supreme Court, Gilbert, J., held that: (1) defendant was not “seized” for purposes of the Fourth Amendment when conservation officer approached his open boat while it rested on the trailer of a parked portage truck and asked defendant if he and his group had caught any fish; (2) nonconsensual warrantless search of areas of defendant’s open boat where fish were typically transported was not prohibited by Fourth Amendment; and (3) conservation officer was not required to have probable cause to conduct a limited warrantless inspection of defendant’s boat.
Reversed.
As you can see in the second case, the defendant was convicted, then the court of appeals reversed it, then the supreme court reversed it again. I’m no lawyer but it seems according to this, the CO can check your livewell without a warrant or probable cause.
, but I’ve gone on patrols with a couple. Idiot has an entire new meaning after that. In one particular event, of the 500 stocked trout in a State Park, over 100 were in his freezer as evidence. There were signs every couple hundred feet that said no fishing until sunrise Saturday, but 20% of the fish were in his freezer by friday night. That is why they do their job. Just use some common sense and they’ll be on their way.
Stuart was ok.
…since my live well is my garbage can. 
Then they wanted to look into my bait cooler! 
