Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Made my first TIP call yesterday - very disappointing!!


Recommended Posts

On the way home yesterday I stopped by a local lake and checked a couple of shore fishermen to see how they were doing. They were doing quite well; they had half a cooler full of sunfish, definitely over the limit. Got home and tried to call the TIP line – busy signal. Tried again a couple of minutes later, it rang and rang and finally a guy answered but said “I’m busy right now, can you call back in 10 minutes?” I mentioned that time was critical, the violators could be leaving. He said I should call the sheriffs office. When I called the sheriff’s office, after a couple of false starts thru their phone tree answering service, I was talking to a real person. She put me on hold several times and finally gave me a phone number to call – the local conservation officer. When I called that number, I got connected to his voice mail and it said if it was an emergency to call the State Patrol and if we were reporting a hunting or fishing violation – call the TIP line!!! So I had been directed in a loop back to TIP!!!!

After leaving a message for the conservation officer about how disappointed I was in the process, I called the TIP line again. This time the guy would talk to me and took down the information and location. Here I thought I was doing my civic duty and it took me 20 minutes of calls and looking up numbers and wading thru phone trees to get it done. What a hassle!!! Next time I’ll just tell the people that they should check the regulations on the limits and be on my way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good of you to give it the old college try, though. Thanks.

I haven't called them, but have always been under the impression that the only value is if you can call and identify the perps and give a vehicle license plate or boat number. Conservation officers have much more authority than the police for entering and searching a house. They can then go to the person's house and search for, say, a freezer full of fillets.

Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong about the CO's not requiring a warrant. I was told they don't need one, but that sounds unconstitutional to me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Blackjack... The TIP deal can be pretty frustrating... tried it once too. What I did instead was to go to the DNR website and print off the COs phone numbers and write down the ones where I go. Most even had a cell # recorded on the page. I programmed in Tim Grey for Red Lake and Forsberg for Cass Lake. Now there is a new one for Cass that I have yet to get his #... I find this the best route for turning in violators!

Good Luck!

Ken

Link to comment
Share on other sites

COs need a warrant. They can ask to search your freezer... if you say no, then they have to get a warrant.

Good Luck!

Ken

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote:

Conservation officers have much more authority than the police for entering and searching a house. They can then go to the person's house and search for, say, a freezer full of fillets.

Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong about the CO's not requiring a warrant. I was told they don't need one, but that sounds unconstitutional to me.


Cops are Cops..no matter if they are a fish cop or street dweller...same legal rights and constraints apply to everyone...yes they need a search warrant.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did the exact same thing when duck hunters were hearding coot and within 60 yds of my house. They shot the coot and my house window,let the coot lay and left.I made all the exact phone calls you did! Finally got the local CO # he was on the other side of his territory! Needless to say I was peeved!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have not been impressed with the TIP line either, with the exact same experiences. I've found that calling the State Patrol regional headquarters dispatch will radio to a CO on duty, relay a message to them and the CO usually calls back. Since CO's are always in the field, their "office" lines more often go unanswered.

The sheriff's department will likely tell you to call State Patrol since the CO's use the SP dispatch/radio system.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing I did learn from this experience is to get more info, I should have written down the car license number so that the CO could at least follow up at a later date. Oh well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not surprised - I got a similar response a couple of weeks ago when I was trying to contact someone to get a disabled boat on the Mississippi River towed to a landing. I called 911 who shoved me off to Highway Patrol, who shoved me off to County Sheriff, who shoved me off to DNR Water Patrol. Called 911 again and they gave me local marina numbers. Tried local marina's also with no result. Very aggravating - we ended up towing this boat about 7-8 miles up river at a few mph and it took over 3 hours!

The grateful boaters "rewarded" us with an amount of cash that would not even cover the cost of the gas we burned towing them.

Geesh!

Daze Off

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Daze you should read the US Coastguard,rules and regs about,unprepared,unfit watercraft.911 is emergency,either was they could charge big bucks and fine that boat!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

TIP isn't the greatest resource but it is there to hopefully take care and assist in poaching violations.....I believe they are a volunteer group???? a lot of violations are going on right now if you observe them try and inform individuals yourself without confrontaion.....that is the quickest way to let the law breakers know they are being watched......Good Luck this weekend!!!!! cool.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

At least you tried and your conscience is clean. You would have kicked yourself all summer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sparce -

I know it would have cost them beaucoup bucks but it is their problem not mine. I don't ordinarily mind being a good samaritan but over 3 hrs got pretty tedious and towing an 18' runabout with a Nitro 750 amidst the cruiser and barge wakes was a joy....then to have them stiff my partner was almost too much to bear - was ready to tow them out to the main channel again and set them adrift... mad.gif I understand the barges but the cruisers who would not come off plane when they could see that you were towing another boat just ticked me off after a while.

I would've taken name and address if I did not have enough cash and sent them a check to cover.

They said they had been tied to that channel marker for 2 hours trying to flag someone down. I think I know why...

Daze Off

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It sucks Daze but you did a good deed. Also what goes around comes around and maybe one day you'll need a lift.

I've towed Ron Schara back to his place on the Rum a few years ago. He was sweating so hard trying to get that old motor to fire. He gave me the OK to go as fast as we could grin.gif but he didn't hook me up wit his daughter confused.gif he has a new boat now - I did get an autographed calendar!

I've also towed back a run about on the 694 stretch. I guess the guy didn't understand rapids crazy.gif and ruined his prop. Didn't offer any $ - just a thanks.

I've towed back jet skiiers mad.gif on Medicine to. They'd be the last to fork out cash.

But with my luck one day I'll need a tow - but I will pay the person who helps me out. That's only fair for wasting that person's time and 3.29 a gallon gas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[Note from admin: Please read forum policy before posting again. Thank you.]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its not about the reward. If you're the type to help someone out you're gonna do it anyway. Its nice to be rewarded, but its more about self-satisfaction and helping out another person.

I have used the TIP line once with great results although the best result came from actually speaking with the CO. Now I have the numbers of the CO's in the areas I visit. Get to know them a bit. All of them have cell phones and I have the cell numbers of the ones I might need to contact. All the CO's I know say the office number is for leaving a message and nothing more.

911 is always your best bet if the issue is time sensitive, say needs to be solved within 0-3hrs. If its something that can be dealt with in the near future, but not imperative for NOW, then leave a message or call TIP. I had a hard time getting through on my call at 10pm.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

DM - you took the thought out of my head - now we need to link a map of the various regions to the directory...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

only an Iowegian would let ya look in an over-limit cooler. wink.gif

BTW, how many fish were in there?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote:

On the way home yesterday I stopped by a local lake and checked a couple of shore fishermen to see how they were doing. They were doing quite well; they had half a cooler full of sunfish, definitely over the limit. Got home and tried to call the TIP line – busy signal. Tried again a couple of minutes later, it rang and rang and finally a guy answered but said “I’m busy right now, can you call back in 10 minutes?” I mentioned that time was critical, the violators could be leaving. He said I should call the sheriffs office. When I called the sheriff’s office, after a couple of false starts thru their phone tree answering service, I was talking to a real person. She put me on hold several times and finally gave me a phone number to call – the local conservation officer. When I called that number, I got connected to his voice mail and it said if it was an emergency to call the State Patrol and if we were reporting a hunting or fishing violation – call the TIP line!!! So I had been directed in a loop back to TIP!!!!

After leaving a message for the conservation officer about how disappointed I was in the process, I called the TIP line again. This time the guy would talk to me and took down the information and location. Here I thought I was doing my civic duty and it took me 20 minutes of calls and looking up numbers and wading thru phone trees to get it done. What a hassle!!! Next time I’ll just tell the people that they should check the regulations on the limits and be on my way.


Well, the people that complain about TIP should donate money to the DNR.... DNR funding has always been declining since the late 1990's... I know of soo many DNR people that got laid off since then. So many DNR, for example, fish hatchery in Mn as been closed since the late 1990's. So what happens when they are short in fundings, they can't hire enough people.... Perhaps if people donated money annually, then maybe the DNR ccould employ more workers and next time when you call TIP, you would see some prompt action.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote:

Well, the people that complain about TIP should donate money to the DNR.... DNR funding has always been declining since the late 1990's... I know of soo many DNR people that got laid off since then. So many DNR, for example, fish hatchery in Mn as been closed since the late 1990's. So what happens when they are short in fundings, they can't hire enough people.... Perhaps if people donated money annually, then maybe the DNR ccould employ more workers and next time when you call TIP, you would see some prompt action.


Maybe if they didn't spend millions on stocking walleyes in lakes with no natural reproduction to satisfy every Tom Dick and Harry who want to be able to go catch there limit of eyes in the local sloughs and ponds they would have the money to hire people and catch the offenders..... I don't know just my 2 cents

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry to hear about the run around that you got from calling the TIP line. TIP and the DNR are investigating the call and the reponses.

I would like to clarify a few things for all, since this seems to be a hot topic.

TIP is a non profit MN organization, we receive no funding from the state or DNR. We pay for the rewards, advertise the program, and maintain the hotline.

When a call comes in during the weekends or evenings, it goes to the MN state patrol dispatch, during business hours it goes to the DNR dispatch, the local CO on duty is contacted within a few minutes.

We are looking into the call records to see what can be done so this is corrected, I have contacted the DNR to look into the call. Since we are not part of the state we have only limited leverage that we can use, but I can assure you that TIP, the DNR, and the state patrol want the system to work, we have been around 26 years doing this, and sometimes a call falls thru the crack, but we will check it out so it hopefully doesn't happen again.

Good ideas are to have the phone number of your local CO in your area, also the local Sheriffs office, they can also locate and dispatch an officer.

Thanks for posting and letting us know

AL

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you Al for the first hand response and for the info. Keep up the good work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Al, I for one and glad for people like you. I know on our end it gets frustrating at times but please continue to use this service. Even if it only gets through 50% of the time it's still worth the effort. Thanks again Al.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You might be on to something river rat. we spend a hugeamounts of money trying to create opportunities for every person in MN to catch fish and hunt turkey and pheasant even if it is not according to the natural order. Meanwhile how much are we spending to protect wildlife habitat and the wildlife that exist in it. Thanks to everyone that calls TIP and takes the extra steps to get direct numbers to the COs. Hopefuly getting caught or the threat of getting caught will dissuade some from poaching.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is also a good article on TIP in the last issue of the MN Conservation magazine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just reading this post now.....but this past weekend I tried calling for 30 min strait and got a busy signal the whole time. Must have called like 50 times and then gave up. I am sure it was a busy weekend for the TIP line thus why I could not get through....and I unfortunately didn't have a CO phone number.

Anyways....we were fishing a particular reef on the SW corner of Mille Lacs and the boat sitting about 50 yards from us had a two guys bobber fishing. The guy in the front that was closest to me had two lines out and his buddy in back only had one. I was pretty mad to see this so I tried yelling to him but he could not hear me the one time I tried. There were a lot of boats on this reef and I didn't feel like making a scene with a drunk guy (he had a clear bottle of some booze). So...I tried the tip line to try to deal with the situation.

Go to find out on Sunday that these guys (group of 6-8) are staying at Father Hennepin and their van has WI plates. They were just leaving when I saw and recognized the guy so I didn't have a chance to say anything to him. Not sure I would confronted him anyways if he was near the rest of his friends.....I tend to keep away from confrontation in certain circumstances.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote:

Quote:

Well, the people that complain about TIP should donate money to the DNR.... DNR funding has always been declining since the late 1990's... I know of soo many DNR people that got laid off since then. So many DNR, for example, fish hatchery in Mn as been closed since the late 1990's. So what happens when they are short in fundings, they can't hire enough people.... Perhaps if people donated money annually, then maybe the DNR ccould employ more workers and next time when you call TIP, you would see some prompt action.


Maybe if they didn't spend millions on stocking walleyes in lakes with no natural reproduction to satisfy every Tom Dick and Harry who want to be able to go catch there limit of eyes in the local sloughs and ponds they would have the money to hire people and catch the offenders..... I don't know just my 2 cents


If they didnt stock and improve the fishery in MN, who would want to buy fishing licenses and fish in MN? You do know a lot of the DNR's money comes from people purchasing fishing licenses right? So what? Is the DNR suppose to spend most of their fundings on trying to stop poachers instead of stocking lakes and rivers to help improve the fishery in MN? LOL... Without the DNR stocking of fishes, the fishing population will decrease in most lakes and streams because of over fishing and harvesting. Thus, people will not purchase as many fishing licenses anymore, and the DNR will be short in fundings even more. It's about trying to find ways to improve the system so that the system will generate more sustained income throughout the future. Keep in mind that it's difficult for some lakes or stream areas to reproduce naturally and sustain a healthy fish population on it's own without the assist of stocking programs by the DNR.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it is legal in WI to use 2 lines? Maybe he just needed to be informed. A good line to use:

"Hey, do you know it is illegal to have 2 lines in the water?"

response " (positive or negative)"

Your response(lie) "Well, it doesn't really bother me, but with all these boats out here I'm sure some "gerk"(i don't really mean that) will call the DNR on you. If you want to risk a $200 or so ticket that up to You, but I just thought I'd let you know!"

I don't know how they could still be confrontational after that and now you have informed them. If they don't listen then call them in.

If you are yelling at them from a distance they just think you're an A. But if you befriend them and trick them into thinking your on thier side and you don't want them to get in trouble, your success rate must go up. Now, I'm not tryign to bash you, but if you don't care enough to motor up to them within speakin distance, well it doesn't say much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.