I'm sure it's been done before but I like to give those Men/women of the DNR much respect when I see great things happening.
I've had two positive interactions with MD DNR in the past 6 months. My first interaction was at the Upper Patsaspco Rive northwest of Baltimore. While fishing that river I noticed a gentlemen down river in his underwear throwing a net to catch fish. This part of the river is a trout fishery. Because I've recently moved to MD I wasn't fully aware of the laws regarding this. So I called the DNR number. The operator/officer transferred me immediately to a local DNR officer. That officer, I forgot his name, took my report and told me he could meet me at the parking lot "in about 30seconds". WHAT! Dam.. I told him that it would take me about 5mins to get there because I had to cross the river, which was fast flowing... I met him, told him where I saw this happening... I decided to walk upriver away from him and the netting throwing fool. about 30-40mins later I decided to come back to the lot to pick up my car and leave. Upon coming out of the woods, I came into the lot and saw 3 officers in unmarked DNR trucks, one officer had a long gun slung around his chest at the ready. Next to them were about 6 individuals who ended up being part of the group.
Found out later this was a group they were looking for. Apparently they have been poaching trout and other fish out of MD's rivers... That day they had about 26fish in the cooler. #UCKERS!
WELL DONE DNR...
The second interaction was about a week ago while ice fishing @ Cunningham Falls State Park. A beautiful 65 degrees and sunny with 6inches of ice. When I saw them coming down the trail to my location I sure there were going to kick me off the ice.. I thought this because of past experiences with uneducated LEO's. I'll explain in the next paragraph. I was completely wrong. These two DNR officers couldn't have been more professional. After some small talk, they asked me for my fishing license. I presented what I thought was my license. They informed me that the document wasn't correct but checked it via a phone call and my id. All ended well. Though I hated them the wrong document (DNR ID card) I was expecting the small $35 fine. I would have been ok with that. They instead made the extra phone call to confirm everything. Other LEO's wouldn't have done that.
In the past I've been threatened with arrest for ice fishing. Important to say that both times were up in MA and I was threatened by non informed local police officers. One of those threats resulted in a complaint to the local police department which resulted in disciplinary action towards the officers. To the Police--- Ice fishing is not illegal no matter what your opinion is. You are hired to uphold the law. Not your opinion. These two instances resulted in a huge headache for the local governments and that State in MA. Thousands of fishing called their reps and complained about the abuse of officers harassing fisherman.
I with my 16yrs working in my industry I have to hire multiple police officers on a daily basis to do my job. I've spent as much as 100K a year in police details. I fully understand the difficult job police have. I 100% respect there officers and their abilities. But an officer looses my corroboration and respect when they abuse their power...
Maryland DNR have earned my respect 100%..... I hope it's the same for everyone.
