Ely man BUSTED!

[Lee Borgersen]

    Ely man cited for walleye possession violation

 

Posted Wednesday,  October 30, 2019  5:48 pm 

 
Marshall Helmberger......

  .....
ELY— A St. Louis County judge has fined an elderly Ely man $1,850 and taken away his fishing privileges for a year for possessing too many walleyes. Babbitt-area DNR conservation office Anthony Bermel issued the citation against John Esse, age 83, after finding frozen filets from a total of 74 walleyes in his home freezer.

Both Esse and his wife have a valid fishing license, which meant they were allowed to have no more than 12 walleyes combined in possession under state fishing regulations.

Esse says he and his wife go south every winter and that the couple planned to give the fish away before leaving, as they have done before. Esse typically fishes several times a week during the warmer months on Shagawa Lake, and the stockpile of walleye filets was the accumulation of several months of fishing success.

Bermel acknowledges that Esse told him that he gives a lot of fish away. “But that kind of pressure on one fishery can really make a difference,” Bermel said. There is no evidence that Esse exceeded his limit on any given day, but only that he had not utilized or given away the filets quickly enough.

Bermel stumbled upon Esse’s possession violation after following up on a report of early bear baiting last summer. According to Bermel’s complaint, Esse had been dumping fish guts and other remains in plastic bags along a powerline not far from the Ely golf course. Bermel had installed video surveillance equipment at the site and soon recorded Esse visiting the site on his ATV, with plastic bags on the front. That surveillance footage led to a search warrant of Esse’s home, which revealed the possession limit violation.

Esse, in a written response to the Timberjay, challenged Bermel’s contention that he had dumped nearly a dozen plastic bags along with the fish entrails at the site. “I have reviewed the photos of the field camera… and I could find no evidence of ten plastic shopping bags full of fish remains,” said Esse.

“When Officer Bermel came to my home, after dark, I explained to him that I had picked up those temporarily dropped off bags. I also explained to him that I had previously used my pickup truck to pick up seven loads of discarded tires, bottles, cans, oil cans, used car parts, a commode that was sitting on a side rail and took all of that out to our landfill. Also removed were a discarded snowmobile, a washer, a dryer, and a shell of an old car, all of which I pulled down to the old city garage for disposal. So, why would I have left bags out off of the trail?”

In the end, the walleye filets were put to good use. Bermel said they went to a local assisted living facility. The staff there put on a walleye fry for the residents, which was very much appreciated, Bermel added.

Esse said he was pleased to hear it and said he would have otherwise given them to others in the community who can no longer fish for themselves. “Stockpiling for the winter?” he said. “Nope, we are generous people and will remain that way.”

[Rebel SS]

Well, he never sent ME any!!! 

[Boar]

what a crock of poop, so therd be no difference on the resource if he gifted away the fish thenday he caught them. poop poop poop!

[Rebel SS]

 

[Reinhard]

This is where the Barny Fife cop and the reasonable cop comes to make a judgement.  Yes he did have too many fish fillets in the freezer.  How many of us had over the limit in the freezer over time.  Not that many but maybe a limit over.  His story about giving the fish to friends make sense.  At 83 I don't think this guy is a career criminal and by looking at his garbage removal that he has made should have wiped out the citation in my opinion and be given a warning not to keep that many again.  In the end the fish did not go to waste and would not of gone to waste. 

The CO said actions like this could harm the fishery.  Yes it could but this guy and his wife didn't go fishing daily and keep this amount daily.  This was over the season until he went down south to share with friends.   He and his wife took no more fish than any other person would during the season and caught maybe less than most.  He is 83 and when you get that age you don't eat that much.  So if it was me I would give him credit for picking up garbage and disposing of it and I would of taken the fish but just gave him a warning.  This is not your typical case of taking massive amounts of game fish over a day's or weeks time like you see in a typical story.  good luck

[Rebel SS]

I agree totally. Too many of those guys have the John Wayne thing going as it used to be called. Ran into one once and it cost me a ticket for a something really idiotic....

[Boar]

exactly reiny. i ve preached this before. i dont thi k it should matter whats in yur freezer long as it dosent go to waist.with in reason.

[roony]

Well, without knowing him, I feel bad for the guy. I think they could have fined him a smaller amount and let him keep on fishing. He is of the age that he has time to fish and I think they are going overboard in their punishment.

[LPS]

I have always thought the possession limit should be twice what the daily limit is.  So big deal you have 2 days worth of fish to bring home. 

[Lee Borgersen]

Not ta ruffle any feathers here but here's a hypothetical question fur ya!

  .....
So let's say dat dis guys neighbor next door was 31 yrs. old and found guilty of da same ting. And came up wit da same story.
 
Butt....Would you feel da same way bout dat guy or would ya feel da same penalties' were more  justified?
 
A -nudder words some seamed ta feel bad fur da old chap. (not dat I don't)
 
"Stupid is as stupid does."  "Da law is da law"

  ....
 I would guess dat da penalties were allocated by a judge an not by da DNR dat was just doin it's job.

If ya don't ticket a person fur breakin da law, den it shouldn't happen ta anyone else dat breaks da same law!

Chances are someone else will read bout dis case as an example and decide not ta try da same stunt! (dat reason alone could save some fish and stop even one dumb from doin da same ting

[Rebel SS]

It's up to the discretion of the officers. Not all laws can be interpreted as black and white.
The main goal is to TEACH and LEARN the subject the "proper" thing. It's called situational awareness.....and takes into account the circumstances, the person, and the outcome...and what is yer ultimate final goal? A guy that's been on the street from some unforeseen REAL circumstances, has no money, has been trying, but hasn't had a meal in 2-3 days, and steals a loaf of bread...will nailing him with a fine, and a ticket accomplish anything? No. He knew it was wrong, but was desperate to eat. There was an article a few weeks ago about a lady that stole a few small food items from a  grocery store for her baby, but nothing for herself (And she had nothing) and they called the cops. Cop talked to her, gave her a warning, then bought her some food and got her into a place where she had shelter and food. That got her started; she found a job, got some money, and went back and paid the store......wouldn't you say that was a better outcome or the one that was the best choice?
Did I ever give a person a break like that? Yes. Did it pay off? yes. I saw a few of them years later, and was told how that made all the difference in their lives. True.
You make of it what you will.

[LPS]

That's right Lee.  I feel for the guy but the bottom line is he had 50 or 60 walleyes over the limit.  Not 2 or 3.  He is a game hog.  It is great that he cleaned up that other junk but that doesn't mean he can have 50 fish over the limit.  And he kind of admitted that he did it all of the time.  Not a good deal. 

[Lee Borgersen]

It's up to the discretion of the officers. Not all laws can be interpreted as black and white.
The main goal is to TEACH and LEARN the subject the "proper" thing. It's called situational awareness.....and takes into account the circumstances, the person, and the outcome...and what is yer ultimate final goal? A guy that's been on the street from some unforeseen REAL circumstances, has no money, has been trying, but hasn't had a meal in 2-3 days, and steals a loaf of bread...will nailing him with a fine, and a ticket accomplish anything? No. He knew it was wrong, but was desperate to eat. There was an article a few weeks ago about a lady that stole a few small food items from a  grocery store for her baby, but nothing for herself (And she had nothing) and they called the cops. Cop talked to her, gave her a warning, then bought her some food and got her into a place where she had shelter and food. That got her started; she found a job, got some money, and went back and paid the store......wouldn't you say that was a better outcome or the one that was the best choice?
Did I ever give a person a break like that? Yes. Did it pay off? yes. I saw a few of them years later, and was told how that made all the difference in their lives. True.
You make of it what you will.

Dat's a great story as many of dem type situations happen every day. But dis old timer was not in any such situation. Like he was goin ta Fla fur da winter every year.

[Rebel SS]

I never gave my opinion on what I think could/should have been done.....or what I would have done.
Already been decided, anyway, so I'm not gonna waste my time on that answer.

[Lee Borgersen]

I never gave my opinion on what I hink could/should have been done.....or what I would have done.
Already been decided, anyway, so I'm not gonna waste my time on that answer.

  ...
No problem on dis side of da topic. I was just not sure what direction ya were leaning towards if it was topic related. It's all good!

[delcecchi]

Guy had 74 walleyes in his freezer.   This just wasn't a few he forgot about. 

He was way way over.   And I don't believe the story that he was just storing them up to give away.  Old dudes can make up stories to try to get out of a ticket just like everyone else.   

My bet is he is one of those guys like my dad who just couldn't hardly stand to throw a nice walleye back.    Grew up in a time when "catch and release" was just not a concept that anyone considered.    If you get a limit or a few over it just made up for the times you didn't do so well.   And everything went on the stringer...

[Steve-o]

Does this resonate with any of you guys?

My pa never caught a fish he didn't want to clean and eat.  Small sunnies and hammer handle nords would go back, but dang near everything else got fried or froze.

My guess is the old timer in Ely probably grew up the same way as my dad.  There was no catch and release.  There was only catch and eat.

Times are changing and the fisheries are changing, and us old duffers have to figure out how to change too.

[glenn57]

I agree with Del, this wasn't a few over, it was like 5 times over both his and his wife's limit.

Yea I grew up like Steve said, but I changed with the times

[roony]

I have to agree too but I still feel kind of bad for the guy. Sometimes I wish the dnr would devote the same resources to prosecuting the guys that alter the lakeshore and destroy the weedbeds, The damage they are doing is forever, far worse than the guy who keeps an extra fish or two.

[Lee Borgersen]

I have to agree too but I still feel kind of bad for the guy. Sometimes I wish the dnr would devote the same resources to prosecuting the guys that alter the lakeshore and destroy the weedbeds, The damage they are doing is forever, far worse than the guy who keeps an extra fish or two.

  .......

[Steve-o]

...I wish the dnr would devote the same resources to prosecuting the guys that alter the lakeshore and destroy the weedbeds,

Read how the guy got caught! 

"[DNR conservation officer] Bermel stumbled upon Esse’s possession violation after following up on a report of early bear baiting last summer. According to Bermel’s complaint, Esse had been dumping fish guts and other remains in plastic bags along a powerline not far from the Ely golf course. Bermel had installed video surveillance equipment at the site and soon recorded Esse visiting the site on his ATV, with plastic bags on the front. That surveillance footage led to a search warrant of Esse’s home, which revealed the possession limit violation."

I'm sure that if the violation tip would have been "altering lakeshore and destroying weedbeds" the officer would have issued appropriate citations.

The fact of the matter is conservation officers are spread so thin that they can never devote enough time to enforce all the laws that need enforcing.  They have to take the cases as they come.

[snow1]

most states don't have freezer limits,but I don't by this old timers story,he clearly know's the law and tried to justify the take allegedly by hauling trash with no proof/witness or pics...who know's maybe the junk was his he hauled away?

[delcecchi]

"and took all of that out to our landfill."

Uh, the dude has a landfill?  No landfills run by the government around there, there is a transfer station for Ely run by St Louis County.    I don't think a pile of trash in the woods counts as a landfill.....

And strictly speaking the possession limit includes the ones in your livewell, so if you have 3 in the freezer you supposedly can only have 3 in the box, as I understand it (not counting the wife license)

[roony]

ok have it your way

[Rebel SS]

Now, THAT's "The Look" !!! 

[Rebel SS]

It's up to the discretion of the officers. Not all laws can be interpreted as black and white.
The main goal is to TEACH and LEARN the subject the "proper" thing. It's called situational awareness.....and takes into account the circumstances, the person, and the outcome...and what is yer ultimate final goal? A guy that's been on the street from some unforeseen REAL circumstances, has no money, has been trying, but hasn't had a meal in 2-3 days, and steals a loaf of bread...will nailing him with a fine, and a ticket accomplish anything? No. He knew it was wrong, but was desperate to eat. There was an article a few weeks ago about a lady that stole a few small food items from a  grocery store for her baby, but nothing for herself (And she had nothing) and they called the cops. Cop talked to her, gave her a warning, then bought her some food and got her into a place where she had shelter and food. That got her started; she found a job, got some money, and went back and paid the store......wouldn't you say that was a better outcome or the one that was the best choice?
Did I ever give a person a break like that? Yes. Did it pay off? yes. I saw a few of them years later, and was told how that made all the difference in their lives. True.
You make of it what you will.

Dat's a great story as many of dem type situations happen every day. But dis old timer was not in any such situation. Like he was goin ta Fla fur da winter every year.

I may be going permanently!  So what does that mean?

[mike89]

going where????      Dotch's??? 

[glenn57]

going where????      Dotch's??? 

Oh, me thinks he's got fantasy's about an old female friend. But then he wakes up.

[mike89]

oh down in the keys!!!!