Articles : The Lack of Law Enforcement On Our Waterways

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The Lack of Law Enforcement On Our Waterways
By: Steven James Rusteberg

I have become very frustrated this season with what I have seen. I don’t know weather it is the fact I have been fishing more every season, or I am starting to pay more attention to people around me. The lack of law enforcement on our Illinois Waterways is the root of my frustration.

This year I have witnessed numbers of “illegal snaggers” down below Shelbyville’s Spillway. Many poachers, without a care in the world, because it is commonly accepted that a violators chances of bringing home a meal is high, and the risks of getting caught is low. I have seen better than fifteen-muskie put on stringers, illegally snagged, or beaten to death right before my eyes. It is a common occurrence below the spillway in spring. Many southern folk consider the muskie an invader that simply should have never been put into the lake to begin with. These despicable poachers have told me that muskie eat all the walleye and catfish in the rivers and lakes, even though knowledgeable anglers know through a research study done by Tom Burri disputes this misnomer. This “muskie death camp” is a common, daily occurrence, down on Shelbyvilles Spillway. There is no game warden or law enforcement to be found (at least not regularly). It made me sick… literally sick.

According to a local muskie angler whom will remain animus, a call was made to local law enforcement this year regarding the poaching. The local angler couldn’t take the trauma of seeing these fish taken illegally or hurt. He decided to stepped up to the plate and called for help. There was a man across the spillway several weeks ago. He was aggressively ripping a weighted trebble hook across the white wash of the dam. The officer didn’t recognize the fact he was illegally fishing. No ticket was written. Few verbal warnings were given out that day, and I never saw the officer write a ticket despite obvious illegal activity happening right before both of our eyes. Our friend, the local angler, commented to me that “that is just how they do it in these parts. People fish for food down here and I guess giving warnings is easier than writing a ticket”. I found the whole incident sad.

Several years ago I was fishing on Lake of the Wood near Champaign, Illinois. Lake of the Woods is a hot spot for early spring muskie. The lake is very small but has excellent numbers of mid-size muskies in it. I approached the launch only to notice that anglers blanketed the shoreline. I had forgotten that 10 days earlier Rainbow Trout had been stocked into the lake. Now that the season had opened for the species anglers from far and wide had come to enjoy the plethora of newly stocked fish. Rainbow Trout plethora, or not, I was there with tackle boxes of 8” lures or better in them, in order to catch the elusive muskie. I didn’t have anything in the boat that even remotely resembled bass or trout tackle. As I launched the boat I noticed a law enforcement officer approaching me. She was dressed in appropriate attire, with patch and brown uniform, unquestionably representing authority. Before she had even opened her mouth I went for my license, boat sticker, and appropriate paperwork. I was in a hurry to get fishing and wanted the process to go as quickly as possible.

She approached quickly and asked for my license and paperwork. She was kind, but stern, and grew very inquisitively at our choice of tackle.

“Looking for a big Trout with those lures”, she asked. “No, were muskie fishing officer”, I replied.
“There are no muskie in here sir”, she stated.

I corrected her with my advanced knowledge of muskie stocking history in Illinois waters, and replied something to the effect that the IDNR has stocked this body of water with muskie for many years. In fact the lake was stocked by the Natural History Survey in order to study populations of genetic lineage. The officer looked confused. She was taken back that I had all this knowledge in my head of stocking records. She then became stern and told us that we could not launch our boat without buying an inland trout stamp from her. I told her we had no need for one because we were muskie fishing today, and if we were lucky enough to catch a Trout we surly would not keep it.
“We are catch and release only fisherman”, I stated.

. The office then became enraged and demanded we buy an inland trout sticker or she would not let us launch the boat on this lake. I was amazed that I had a better knowledge of the law than the officer did. I demanded her name and her superior’s name. She then threatened to put us under arrest if we did not buy an inland trout sticker. I bought a sticker from her knowing full well my rights to avoid further incident despite what my brain was telling me. I left the lake full well knowing my rights had been violated. I knew I was right and later found out later that the officer was relitively new to the force and didn’t understand that there were muskies in the lake. She also didn’t understand that you don’t necessarily have to buy an inland trout sticker to cast a line into the water where they live. I was disappointed to know that I knew the law better than the officer. What if an undersized muskie was caught and kept illegally that day? Would she have known what it was? Could she enforce the law properly? Was she competedent? What about all the people fishing the lake that bought a sticker that didn’t have too,… but did… because they were pressured into it? How wrong is that? I filed a complaint against the officer but little came of it. I hope today she understands the law a little better then she did then.

I witnessed another innocdent just last year, once again making me very disappointed in law enforcement. I know that officers can’t be everywhere all the time. I know that there are budget crunches, but I am tired of the countless excuses. Shabbona Lake, near DeKalb, Illinois is a lake that if law enforcement spent more time on, could pave Illinois roads in gold, solve world hunger, and home the homeless in revenue brought in to the state. Every day I spend out on this lake I see someone breaking a law. Weather it be undersized fish on a stringer, ten individuals in a 14’ rental row boat with no lifejackets, or people motoring around in the no motor zone, you could write tickets all day long. I critised the IDNR last year on Labor Day. The law enforcement officer for that region was down in Ottawa, for opening day of Dove season, rather than creating massive state revenue by writing tickets on Labor Day Weekend on Shabbona. More violations took place that day than I have ever seen on any given weekend. There are also more people per acre of Forrest Preserve then anywhere else in the State of Illinois during a holiday weekend such as this one. People were swimming, boaters were boating without safety or precaution for others, and illegal fish were coming off the lake on stringers by the boatload. Undersized muskie were obviously biting because several boats had them lying in the bottom of the livewell at the end of the days fishing (dead of course). Frustrating sights for those who try to understand and follow the law. I called and again nothing more became of it.

The reason I am writing this article is because I am emotionally tired of the excuses by the IDNR and it’s Law Enforcement Division.

“We don’t have the money or the people”, according to just about anyone you talk to in the State run organization.

It is the common excuse (and a poor one at that), and I am tired of it. Raise our license fees if that is what it takes. The excuses have to stop and action has to be taken. The “Wild West” should be over on lakes such as Shabbona and Shelbyville and even the Fox Chain. I intend to report every violation I see this year if I have to get a direct line from my boat to the IDNR. Hopefully, I am not just wasting my time. They are going to get tired of hearing from Steven James Rusteberg Rusteberg and maybe some action will be taken. I encourage others to follow. It is time to stop crying about lack of money or personnel. Find the revenue and start acting like professionals and an organization that cares. Anglers (and muskie fisherman) take a stand when you see that individual harvesting undersize fish, boating in a no motor zone, or being unsafe to themselves and others. Make the call, and make Illinois Waters the best fishery it can be. Stop making excuses!