High water/difficult fishing

[Lee Borgersen]

   ... CO Report: High water makes fishing difficult
 
District 9 - Brainerd area
CO Jim Guida (Brainerd) worked boating and all-terrain vehicle enforcement. Officer Guida received a complaint in a neighboring station of an adult transporting four kids on an ATV without helmets. The suspect was contacted and enforcement action was taken. Officer Guida also worked with the DNR's Aviation Wing on a public waters violation. After tracking down the landowner, he stated that numerous ATVs were trespassing and operating in the lake bed and along his shoreline illegally. The owner had no idea who did it and didn't think to report it due to no known suspects so he took a large amount of vegetation out of the shoreline and covered up the damage with a nice beach sand blanket.



• CO Bob Mlynar (Aitkin) attended training, worked angling, boating, aquatic invasive species and ATV activity. Nuisance bear, beaver and squirrel out of season complaints were also handled.

• CO Patrick McGowan (Pine River) attended the second week of the NASBLA Tactical Boat Operators Course in Duluth along with a conservation officer candidate. The COC continues to work with and train a new officer from the last academy. Time was also spent patrolling a busy weekend on the Whitefish Chain. A wolf depredation complaint was also investigated.

Enforcement action included various ATV, boat and fishing violations, and one boater was arrested for boating while intoxicated.

• CO Randy Posner (Brainerd) reported that he spent most of his time on boat and water enforcement. Violations he observed were not enough life saving devices and expired registration. He checked anglers and the high water from all the recent rain made fishing conditions on the river difficult. He worked with a Cass County deputy checking boaters on Gull Lake. They worked on complaints of PWC wake violations and careless operations. Enforcement time was also spent on aquatic invasive species complaints generated by AIS inspectors. Reports of folks transporting aquatic vegetation and plugs in their boat were investigated.

District 10 - Mille Lacs area

• CO Chris Tetrault (Isle) attended annual in-service training at Camp Ripley. Questions were answered regarding the upcoming bear season. Additional case work was given to ongoing investigations and closure of old investigations.

• CO Scott Fitzgerald (Malmo) reports assisting at annual in-service at Camp Ripley with armoring division handguns during the week. A waters issue was investigated along with local

governing authority on a local lake and many outdoor law related questions were fielded throughout the week and weekend. The Officer also monitored bear baiting activity during the

weekend and ATV activity was monitored throughout the Malmo Station. Calls regarding ATV's in the Rice Lake Refuge and a vehicle blocking the Soo line Trail were investigated. Fishing and

boating activity was monitored throughout the week and weekend on area lakes and AIS activity was monitored also. A call of a bear doing damage to a local farmer's field was taken and the bear was dispatched and gifted to a party to utilize the bear. Several special beaver permits were also issued for beaver doing damage.