by North Dakota Game and Fish District Game Warden James Myhre
Working the Devils Lake area late in the ice fishing season and/or early in the open water season can be very interesting, when there can be some very good fishing at one of the many bridges in the area.
One day in late March of 2021, I was checking fishermen that were ice fishing and open water fishing along Highway 19.
Many of the anglers were doing well catching some nice walleyes and northern pike.
As the day progressed, I observed a group that was set up about a quarter mile south of Highway 19 and just east of old Highway 281.
After seeing how good many of the other groups were doing, I decided to check everyone when they left.
Due to the deteriorating ice conditions, I checked most of the ice fishermen when they would be leaving and had walked off the ice.
The group that was along old Highway 281 was still fishing at sunset.
When it was dark and everyone else had left, that group was still fishing.
I drove around and parked on Highway 19 and set up so I could observe the group.
There were three individuals fishing and they had put out many lines.
They had many tip ups spread out over a large area around a small soft sided fish house.
The tip ups had a small light that would turn on when a fish would bite.
I watched as the group caught several fish in the dark.
They would keep all the fish and place them in a cooler located next to their fish house.
It was apparent that the group was planning on spending the night on the ice.
Shortly before midnight, I decided to walk in and check them.
I walked down old Highway 281 and then found a spot to venture onto the slushy ice.
I walked out very quietly as I approached the fish house so I would not be noticed by the anglers in the dark.
Two of the fishermen were inside the fish house and the third was a couple hundred yards away tending a tip up that had a bite.
I announced my presence at the fish house and talked with the two occupants.
They said that they were fishing and did not have much luck that day.
They had cleaned 12 walleyes and had the meat in a zip lock bag that they showed me.
Soon the other joined us at the fish house.
I asked what they did with the fish heads and guts.
They said that they forced them down an ice hole in an effort to get rid of them.
I informed them that I had watched them catch several fish after dark that night.
They said that they were all small walleyes they let go.
Then, I informed them that it looked like they put them in a cooler by their fish house.
As I said that, I shined my flashlight toward a large cooler that was beside the fish house.
I could see that the cooler was so full that the lid would not close and there were walleye tails sticking out of it.
I asked them how many walleyes were in the cooler.
They said that they had no idea how many walleyes they had.
I seized all the cleaned walleyes and all the walleyes in the cooler.
There was a total of 42 walleyes for the three anglers, which put them way over their daily limit of 5 walleyes each.
It was also discovered that they had 23 tip ups set, which was way over the maximum of 4 lines for each angler.
I directed the anglers to pick up all their lines and equipment and then head back to their vehicle, which was parked along Highway 19.
I took all 42 walleyes and headed to shore with the fish.
As I got fairly close to old Highway 281, I fell through the ice.
Thankfully, where I fell in at was only about waist deep.
I eventually got back to my patrol vehicle with the fish.
After a short time, the anglers made it back to Highway 19 where the vehicles were parked.
I asked them why they had been so greedy.
They said that the fishing was so good that they planned to fish all night long and then leave for Wisconsin just before sunrise.
They said that the chances of getting caught would be slim if they hit the road before the sun came up.
The group was cited for the fish overlimit, fishing with excessive lines, and depositing fish parts in the water.
I seized all the fish and fishing equipment.
The anglers ultimately pled guilty.
Who knows how many fish they would have kept if they had fished until sunrise.
[The moral of the story is] Being greedy never pays and sometimes its costs.
