Yesterday I was out crappie fishing on a lake near alexandria and witnessed a gentleman keeping bass out of season. I called up TIP to report the violation and within 45 minutes a CO was onsite checking people. The person that i had reported was already gone by the time the CO had gotten their but it was still a victory in my mind to see someone get their in a reasonable amount of time. Don't be afraid to use the resource!!

Curious, what lake.

GOod for you to give a call. In order to protect our resources, COs need help from each of us. Just too bad he didnt get there in time.

I usually have a small (cheap) set of binoculars in my boat for various reasons but also handy to ready a boat license number.

Crooked Lake

Glad to hear there are more people out there besides me that will turn you in if your a poacher GOOD JOB and fair warning i see you poach you will be reported no matter where it may be.

Can normal police officers hand out violations? I would imagine they can since its breaking the law and it would also ensure more people getting caught. Also depends on if they are in a boat to i guess...

They can as far as I know. I've seen Ramsey County Sheriff's office handing out violations on BE this last summer.

The Ramsey Co Sheriff's have checked by license and also checked my cooler several times, so yes they can. Some people on the FM even have the country sheriff's number in the cell phone so they can report something...who ever shows up works I guess. I guess being in LEO they even talk to each other.

Did they atleast say they were going to continue monitoring the lake over the weekend?

Good try KT. Nice to see you got a response. I like the idea of binocs to get Boat reg. #'s. The "poachers" are gonna have to think twice if we can make it well known that illegal, or even suspicious activity will be reported. Kinda like the Neighborhood Watch signs alerting potential lawbreakers that the inhabitants of this neighborhood are watching, and will report suspicious activity.

Every fisherman that appreciates and respects our resourses and has a cell phone should have TIP in their speed-dial, IMO.

MN TIP 1-800-652-9093 OR #TIP 24 hrs/day if you are a Cingular Wireless, Midwest Wireless, Unicel, or Verizon Wireless subscriber.

I hope we can help some people think twice about abusing our resources.

Any law enforcement agency like local cops or sheriff even the airport police at MSP airport can give out fish and game violations, but it is rare because they dont have the training in that area and they dont seem to want to bother. but if you push the issue when you see a violation and a CO is not available most will take action,
My best advice is to get to know the CO in the area you fish or hunt and ask them for their cell phone number most will give it to you that way there is no delay in getting hold of them,
Also if you see a violation get as much info as possible for the CO time- location- car plate number - or boat numbers and make

Thats good to here that someone showed up!!!

I called TIP yesterday on someone too. Not sure if anyone showed up as I had to head to work, but as I watched a guy put his 2nd over the limit 6" crappie in his bucket, I had seen enough, I called.

Any licensed peace officer in Minnesota can write,or issue, a citation for fish and game violations.Police officers,sheriffs and deputy sheriffs,state troopers,park police officers,and conservation officers are all licensed peace officers.

Here's a question... my cell phone has a Michigan area code... can I still use #TIP in my phone to call them in Minnesota? I programmed the number in my contacts but I'm just curios how that works