Flopping fish in cooler a dead giveaway that poacher was lying
Three adults and a juvenile were caught red-handed for catching way over their limits of walleye and sauger while fishing Lake of the Woods and Rainy River on the opening weekend of deer season in Minnesota.
“With a half-million hunters in the field, the firearms deer season is an incredibly busy time for DNR conservation officers,” the Minnesota Department of Natural Resource posted on Facebook. “But if you think they have only deer hunters on their minds, think again!”
According to DNR’s incident report, Conservation Officer Corey Sura was checking fishermen at Wheeler’s Point public access near Baudette, Minn., when he approached Michael Sysa on Sunday afternoon and asked how the fishing had been. Sysa told him it had been good, and when asked about the fish they were taking home, he said they were taking home only the fish in the livewell.
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Upon counting those fish, Sura discovered 26 total fish—two over their combined limit.
Sysa, who was driving the boat and trailer rig, told Sura it was a mistake and he would take the ticket, according to the Star Tribune. Sura was prepared to confiscate the two fish and let them take the rest home, until he checked the truck.
Sura asked several times if there were any fish in the truck and was told there weren’t. Then he asked to check the truck bed. When he opened the tailgate…
“I immediately heard the sound of ‘flopping’ coming from one of the two coolers,” Sura wrote in his report, according to the Star Tribune.
It was a dead giveaway that Sysa had been lying. Sura opened the cooler and discovered it three-quarters full of walleyes and saugers.
Repeating the conversation about no fish being in the truck, Sura asked what he was “now looking at in a cooler in the back of his truck?”
Sysa answered, “Fish in a cooler.”
With help from Conservation Officer Ben Huener, the two counted 32 walleyes and 40 saugers. The fishermen were a whopping 48 fish over their combined limit.
The poachers—identified as Michael Sysa, 22, David Sysa, 23, and Yevgeniy Simonovich, 29—agreed to split the blame for each being 16 fish over their limit and were charged and cited. The juvenile was given a written warning.
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The Star Tribune reported that under the law, the consequences could include restitution of $30 per illegal fish, which translates to $480 apiece.
Commenters on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Facebook page called for them to lose their licenses for several years and most agreed that punishments should be “far stricter.”
At least the fish went to a good cause. All the fish were confiscated and donated to the Warroad Senior Living Center for meals.
Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.