District 6 - Two Harbors
CO Sean Williams (Ely #1) reports very hot weather arrived over the past week, as rain continued to consistently fall across the Arrowhead. Angling activity slowed and made way for recreational boating, which became the focus towards the weekend. Violations included angling without a license and failure to display watercraft registration.
CO Brent Ihnen (Ely #2) spent the week checking anglers and watercraft operators. Ihnen also monitored AIS compliance at area public accesses. Additional time was spent patrolling for ATV and OHM activity.
CO Thomas Wahlstrom (Grand Marais) spent time checking anglers, ATV riders, and boaters. He spent time on his ATV patrolling Cook and Lake counties with area officers. Time was also spent on the watercraft checking area lakes. Enforcement action was taken for ATV and watercraft violations.
CO Hudson Ledeen (Hovland) spent the week patrolling area lakes, rivers, forest roads, and ATV trails. Heavy rains over the week caused major damage to multiple forest roads and trails. Enforcement action was taken for ATV violations.
CO Anthony Bermel (Babbitt) instructed at the CO Academy during sportfishing week. Time was spent working station lakes and patrolling ATV trails. Enforcement action was taken for ATV passenger under 18 without ahelmet, failure to display ATV registration, unregistered kayak, and no/insufficient PFDs.
CO Megan Franzen (Silver Bay) spenttheweekmonitoringanglingand ATV activity. Heavy rain during the earlier portion of the week raised the water levels of many local creeks and rivers. Lake Superior anglers reported low success over the weekend. Time was also spent investigating a complaint of ATVs operating on a snowmobile-only trail.
CO Trent Anderson (Tofte) focused on angling, boating, and ATV enforcement for the week. Smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to cloud the area. Time was spent assisting local agencies with a missing person case. Enforcement action was taken for various angling related violations.
CO Cassie Block (Two Harbors) spent time this week attending K9 training with fellow handlers. Time was also spent patrolling the area for angling activity. Block also spent time performing equipment maintenance.
District 5 - Eveleth area
CO Darrin Kittelson (International Falls #1) spent most of his time at Camp Ripley instructing new CO recruits in sportfishing enforcement. Fishing, boating and ATV enforcement continue to be the other work activities.
CO John Slatinski IV (Ray) reports ATV activity has picked up in the area andtherehavebeenquestionsaboutage requirements for operators. Seatbelt requirementswhileoperatingorriding in side-by-side ATVs is relatively new and several people were educated on the topic. As ATV activity increases with the progression into fall seasons, users are asked to refresh themselves on the regulations. Uncertain weather patterns have contributed to inconsistent angler efforts and success reports. Overall angling reports for the area during the entire season have been positive.
CO Troy Fondie (Orr) reports diminished outdoor activities over the week. Camping activity appears down considerably. Fishing remains poor with littleobservedcaught or in thebag. Some recreational boating activity was noted. Forest roads and public access sites continue to be visited.
CO Sean Cannon (Cook) spent most of the week checking anglers and monitoring boating activity. The bite continues to be slow, but seems to be slowly picking up, with a few anglers having decent success. It was an extremely busy weekend onthelakeswithwarm weather. Some time was also spent monitoring ATV activity and workingonequipment. Enforcement action taken this week included fishing without a license, expired boat registration, PFD violations, PWC violations, excessive motorboat noise, boating light violations, dangerous wake, illegal-length walleye, fishing with extra lines, and unregistered ATV.
CO Aaron Larson (Tower) spent time checking anglers and ATV activity around his station. Several violations were addressed such as angling without a license, registration issues, AIS violations, and boating without life jackets. Larson also spent time checking anglers and campers in the BWCAW.
CO Marc Johnson (Hibbing) primarily worked ATV, boating, and angling activity. In addition, time was spent training at Camp Ripley and completing onlinetraining.Violationsencountered included expired registration, illegal operation of a PWC, ATV helmet violations, and angling license violations.
CO ShaneZavodnik(Virginia)spent time checking shore anglers and patrolling on ATV. Angler success remains slow due to inconsistent weather patterns throughout the region, and ATV activityremainsconsistent.Additional time was spent preparing for field training in the next couple weeks. He also responded to a call involving dead livestock.
Aviation Section
CO Pilot Jason Jensen (Brainerd) reports flying a creel survey and following up on Wetland Conservation Act/aquatic plant management impacts found along the way on creel flights.
Anglers were check via seaplane when weather allowed.
CO Pilot Charles Scott (Brainerd) attended to aircraft maintenance. He also rescheduled flights that were cancelled due to rain and smoke over the project area. Scott also continued to prepare for upcoming surveys and training flights.
NR Pilot Gracie Zeller (Brainerd) flew a missing persons search while the weather was too rainy for aerial spray. The rest of the week Zeller and the roving crews finished an area and were able to move north. Zeller has noted more open water in the areas that have been treated, and the wild rice is very thick in the Roseau River WMA.
CO Pilot Ryan Hanna (Grand Rapids) flew creel surveys near the Rainy River. Hanna also stopped in at various airports to discuss DNR Aviation with the public.
