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  #1  
Old 01-09-2017, 01:16 PM
Egymcara Egymcara is offline
 
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Default Lack of enforcement on Cold Lake

I have been ice fishing cold lake a lot this winter, probably 4-5 days a week for many hours a day. The marina, french bay, long bay and all the popular spots of CL.

I have seen Fish and Wildlife 0 times on the lake, not even driving to or from the lake. I drive by the office on the weekends and see the truck parked not even being used.

The most heavily fished lake in the Lakeland area and most accessible by far. I have seen people take undersized fish already this year, pike and lake trout, what else didn't I see?

My question is simple; We have 2 officers for this area, what exactly are they doing?
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  #2  
Old 01-09-2017, 01:26 PM
last minute last minute is offline
 
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Default Try asking them

If you're so curious what they're doing why not stop in and ask them .
just saying
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Old 01-09-2017, 01:29 PM
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2 officers in the Lakeland area. Maybe they are checking one of the many other lakes in the area?

I can't speak for this winter but Cold Lake is one of the few lakes that seems to get regular enforcement so be glad you have what you do... I have probably been checked more times at Cold lake then any other lake I regularly fish, that isn't saying that much though as I have only been checked a handful of times in all of my trips...
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Old 01-09-2017, 01:47 PM
Bitumen Bullet Bitumen Bullet is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Egymcara View Post
My question is simple; We have 2 officers for this area, what exactly are they doing?
They are investigating areas and incidents people have suggest they look at? At least if they are like the few I've known over the years.

You see violations, give them a call, they will check it out, otherwise they leave people to enjoy the outdoors. It is assumed people are following the laws and regs so all they need to do is check hots spots and a few random spots.

Which is very different than many other countries. I had a co-worker point out that if any enforcement agent was concerned about our business practices along a creek or river they would post agents there to monitor our activities. When I pointed out it is expected that we know the laws and follow them he mocked the idea saying it was an invitation for people to do as they please.

Maybe my co-worker was fishing the day you were at Cold Lake? If so he will continue until an enforcement agent shows up and gives him more than a warning.
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Old 01-09-2017, 01:48 PM
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Government budgets don't allow for continuous reinforcement on every water body at every moment of time and never will so it is up to us as responsible outdoorsmen to be diligent and be the eyes and ears for the few CO's that are out there to collectively protect what is ours.

If you see or hear of suspicious activities record the detailed event/data and call it in. CO's in most cases from my experiences will rush out there if its occurring in that instant and can get to it in a timely fashion and are pretty good at following it up otherwise.

FYI, I've been checked on Cold Lake more times than all other water bodies combined over the past 10 years.
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Old 01-09-2017, 02:23 PM
capper capper is offline
 
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I can't comment on cold lake but my buddy said they were stopping guys on pinehurst on Saturday. Reminder to have your license plate displayed on your sleds and atv. My buddy got a warning and the officer said in the past they never enforced it but now they are and it's an $80 ticket.
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Old 01-09-2017, 03:02 PM
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In that area I get checked most frequently on Pinehurst and Cold lake. They do drop by. If you are concerned call report a poacher line. We are their eyes. If you see small fish being kept it's your responsibility to report it. Can't blame CO for not being there.
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Old 01-09-2017, 04:52 PM
PerchBuster PerchBuster is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandonkop View Post
In that area I get checked most frequently on Pinehurst and Cold lake. They do drop by. If you are concerned call report a poacher line. We are their eyes. If you see small fish being kept it's your responsibility to report it. Can't blame CO for not being there.
X2, I agree. Would be nice if there was enough of them around to do the policing however it's every honest and law abiding anglers duty to call in violations.
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Old 01-09-2017, 05:09 PM
honker_clonker honker_clonker is offline
 
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I've fished that lake about 6-10 times through the ice over the last 3 years and it's hard to remember a time we haven't been checked by the COs. Always friendly in my run-ins with them. Caught a laker right in front of one of the officers on Saturday.
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Old 01-09-2017, 05:09 PM
waterninja waterninja is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandonkop View Post
In that area I get checked most frequently on Pinehurst and Cold lake. They do drop by. If you are concerned call report a poacher line. We are their eyes. If you see small fish being kept it's your responsibility to report it. Can't blame CO for not being there.
X2. Not sure why the OP is complaining, when he himself won't even take the time to report an infraction.
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Old 01-09-2017, 05:19 PM
super mario super mario is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by honker_clonker View Post
I've fished that lake about 6-10 times through the ice over the last 3 years and it's hard to remember a time we haven't been checked by the COs. Always friendly in my run-ins with them. Caught a laker right in front of one of the officers on Saturday.
x 2
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  #12  
Old 01-09-2017, 05:23 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Egymcara View Post
I have been ice fishing cold lake a lot this winter, probably 4-5 days a week for many hours a day. The marina, french bay, long bay and all the popular spots of CL.

I have seen Fish and Wildlife 0 times on the lake, not even driving to or from the lake. I drive by the office on the weekends and see the truck parked not even being used.

The most heavily fished lake in the Lakeland area and most accessible by far. I have seen people take undersized fish already this year, pike and lake trout, what else didn't I see?

My question is simple; We have 2 officers for this area, what exactly are they doing?

My first question is what did you do? You say you saw unlawful fishing yet you did not report it? That gets the boys out quickly, just call, be part of the solution and not the problem.
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  #13  
Old 01-09-2017, 05:23 PM
Egymcara Egymcara is offline
 
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Its actually funny the people defending the lack of enforcement and most of you aren't even from the Lakeland area. My concern is for the lakes and fish and protecting our resources. Most of you sound like Donald Trump with your arguments.

If I notice no officers.... ever, its my right to bring it up. Secondly, I have no problem reporting infractions and I have in the past. Nothing is ever done about it or they are not able to prove anything. The lack of presence by these officers only discourages reporting in the first place.
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Old 01-09-2017, 05:26 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Egymcara View Post
Its actually funny the people defending the lack of enforcement and most of you aren't even from the Lakeland area. My concern is for the lakes and fish and protecting our resources. Most of you sound like Donald Trump with your arguments.

If I notice no officers.... ever, its my right to bring it up. Secondly, I have no problem reporting infractions and I have in the past. Nothing is ever done about it or they are not able to prove anything. The lack of presence by these officers only discourages reporting in the first place.
I'm from the area and see them often, not six times a week but they are around, you not calling and reporting is like I mentioned part of the problem.
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Old 01-09-2017, 06:11 PM
Bitumen Bullet Bitumen Bullet is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Egymcara View Post
Its actually funny the people defending the lack of enforcement......
IMO in a free society enforcement should be always at a minimum. The assumption should always be that the people are following rules and regs. Fishing should be for the people, not enforcement agents.

Of course I understand the position that it should be assumed people are breaking the law because some people break the laws. Or even everyone will break the law if no one agrees with the laws. I've had friends and co-workers who have come to Canada from such places and it takes them a while to see the benefits of assuming people innocent. Part of those benefits is not having to tax people as much and being able to allocate resources elsewhere.

Of course such a system is only possible when people feel invested in the country and when government is listening to them or at least the majority when deciding the laws. Once people feel governments are not listening not acting in the interests of it's citizens then respect for all laws will decline.

Which is why some countries have such heavy enforcement for everything and may in part be why Western societies are also moving towards more police state not less.

So while I defend the lack of enforcement I suspect your position or ideas are increasing in acceptance and with that a need for more enforcement may be called for. You might be right, the lack of overt enforcement may not only discourage reporting but encourage people to act as if the cat's away.

Pity, that democracy idea was meant to prevent that. Oh well times change and these are interesting times.
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  #16  
Old 01-09-2017, 06:30 PM
waterninja waterninja is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Egymcara View Post
Its actually funny the people defending the lack of enforcement and most of you aren't even from the Lakeland area. My concern is for the lakes and fish and protecting our resources. Most of you sound like Donald Trump with your arguments.

If I notice no officers.... ever, its my right to bring it up. Secondly, I have no problem reporting infractions and I have in the past. Nothing is ever done about it or they are not able to prove anything. The lack of presence by these officers only discourages reporting in the first place.
Your entire argument is funny. You think you saw something illegal, but instead of calling RAP, you come on here and whine. Then you twist responses so it looks like people are defending illegal activities, when in fact you are nothing but a troll looking for attention.
How many times have you been banned from this forum?
IBTL
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  #17  
Old 01-09-2017, 07:42 PM
jkbloom jkbloom is offline
 
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First all all there is more than 2 officers for the lakeland, maybe 2 out of Cold lake, Bonnyville has another few officers, there is a few lakes in the Lakeland for the officers to be patrolling, you won't see them every time you are out fishing, I personally fish Cold lake LOTS and see them very often, I have fished with them on their days off, I used to have coffee with them in my ice hut a couple of times a month, what you should have done was report the violations that you witnessed not come on a website and talk crap about them!!
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Old 01-09-2017, 08:48 PM
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RavYak RavYak is offline
 
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If you call rap and the people are caught you can get a reward.

If you see someone breaking the regs and don't report it you are also part of the problem.
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  #19  
Old 01-09-2017, 10:01 PM
Isopod Isopod is offline
 
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Too much crap being dished out on people who don't report suspected violators. I would only report someone for the most blatant or extreme violations. When I go fishing I want to fish and have fun, not play fish-cop. I follow the regs myself but I'm not going to spend my time fussing about if someone else might be exceeding their limit or whether that pike they kept is really up to the size limit. And trying to be nosy and spy on people and get license numbers and such could lead to tension and conflicts. Nothing makes people follow the rules better than seeing CO's out checking people, just like nothing makes people drive the speed limit more effectively than seeing a cop driving behind you or flashing lights up ahead. I have no idea if Cold Lake is monitored properly as I've never ice-fished there, but I am surprised how little I get checked when fishing in general in Alberta.
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Old 01-10-2017, 07:33 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandonkop View Post
In that area I get checked most frequently on Pinehurst and Cold lake. They do drop by. If you are concerned call report a poacher line. We are their eyes. If you see small fish being kept it's your responsibility to report it. Can't blame CO for not being there.
2X report it. You can even give GPS coords too with most phones. Don't blame them for not being at that one spot, 2 dudes can only do so much over thousands of square km.
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Old 01-10-2017, 10:09 AM
Vigsy Vigsy is offline
 
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been checked a few times by the co in cold lake. he is a absolute top notch guy and overworked to the maximum. I believe he was telling us he had some 17 other bodies of water in his area he has to check. there simply just isn't enough funding nor budget room to hire the amount of co's we need to babysit all the idiots out there. to insinuate that they aren't doing their job is rediculous.

Last edited by Morbius131; 01-11-2017 at 02:35 PM.
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Old 01-10-2017, 09:33 PM
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Willowtrail Willowtrail is offline
 
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I can't agree more with Vigsy on this point.

When I got home tonight I didn't see a city cop on my street. That's because they're aren't enough of them to be on every street in the city. Same goes for Fish and Wildlife. They can't be on every lake, everyday. I was only able to fish Cold Lake 2 times last summer (Week long trips) and when Fish and Wildlife weren't there the Park Rangers were helping out at the boat launch.

One time they were there and I had a great talk with him and we had a legal fish in the boat. He measured it and congratulated us and went on with business after a short talk. I also had them check us on the lake the previous summer.

Last winter on my only trip of 4 days I was checked 1 day then as well. There are 2 guys to do how many square KM? They do a hell of a job and require our eyes to help them out. 90% of us have cell phones and should have the Report A Poacher number programmed in them, it's also on your licence. It's 1-800-642-3800

So if the Cold Lake Fish and Wildlife read this I feel you're doing the best you can with the resources you have and as usual on any lake I fish, I/m an extra set of eyes for you and got your back.
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Old 01-11-2017, 04:38 AM
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Probably a hundred lakes in the area. They can't get to every one of them every day.
And when they do catch a few illegal fishers, I'm sure they have tons of paper work to do for every one of the infractions.

I have noticed though, I have seen fewer and fewer F&W in the last 5 - 10 years. Used to get checked every second time on the ice or water. Now it's maybe once every 20 times.
I guess it's all those Gov cutbacks that started with Ralph C. and still happening today.
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Old 01-11-2017, 09:50 AM
waterninja waterninja is offline
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Originally Posted by Kim473 View Post
Probably a hundred lakes in the area. They can't get to every one of them every day.
And when they do catch a few illegal fishers, I'm sure they have tons of paper work to do for every one of the infractions.

I have noticed though, I have seen fewer and fewer F&W in the last 5 - 10 years. Used to get checked every second time on the ice or water. Now it's maybe once every 20 times.
I guess it's all those Gov cutbacks that started with Ralph C. and still happening today.
Thats Mr. Ralph K to you sir. I miss him.
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Old 01-11-2017, 10:11 AM
verado eyes verado eyes is offline
 
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I went for a load of water yesterday from the plant, I take the provincial road, I met a warden coming from the lake, On my second load I met a different warden going towards the lake, There out and about,
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Old 01-11-2017, 02:12 PM
Isopod Isopod is offline
 
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I went for a load of water yesterday from the plant, I take the provincial road, I met a warden coming from the lake, On my second load I met a different warden going towards the lake, There out and about,
I guess maybe they've been reading this thread...
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Old 01-12-2017, 03:36 AM
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Old 01-12-2017, 05:51 AM
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I guess maybe they've been reading this thread...
Yup, good place to cruise around from the office when it's -30 out...hehe
Gotta think these people enjoy the outdoor forums too
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Old 01-15-2017, 09:53 PM
QIsley QIsley is offline
 
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Default Only 95!

Only 95 Fish and Wildlife Officers covering the entire Province of Alberta..

http://westerncanadiangamewarden.com/F2016Officers.html
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Old 01-15-2017, 09:59 PM
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Only 95 Fish and Wildlife Officers covering the entire Province of Alberta..

http://westerncanadiangamewarden.com/F2016Officers.html
There he is!
I was wondering what happened to ya!
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