Jacob Magnes Contacted Game and Fish
Scott Winkelman Returned Magnes's Call
Scott Winkelman, the investigator for Game and Fish, returned Magnes's call. Here is the recorded conversation between the Game and Fish investigator and Jacob Magnes: https://youtu.be/JW2_S3KBuCA.
After listening to the statements by Magnes, he admitted he was NOT a witness to me catching my walleye. The investigator asked, “I’m assuming you weren’t down there when it was caught?” Magnes replied, “No. I was not.”
In the Game and Fish Investigation Report, it referenced Magnes as an "Involved Person" and "Interviewed." The report also included two of Magnes's statements where he said, "Was fishing that spot for 3 days and had not seen a fish over 20” actually bite…saw 8-10 fish over 27 inches caught that morning and all of them were snagged.”
In the future, if you have a complaint or want to make a statement about another fisherman and a fish they caught, maybe you should refrain from saying anything unless you are actually a witness. Or, maybe refrain from making statements to an investigator if you have no direct evidence to provide. Just because others are doing something somewhere earlier in the day, doesn't mean others are doing that same thing.
After listening to the statements by Magnes, he admitted he was NOT a witness to me catching my walleye. The investigator asked, “I’m assuming you weren’t down there when it was caught?” Magnes replied, “No. I was not.”
In the Game and Fish Investigation Report, it referenced Magnes as an "Involved Person" and "Interviewed." The report also included two of Magnes's statements where he said, "Was fishing that spot for 3 days and had not seen a fish over 20” actually bite…saw 8-10 fish over 27 inches caught that morning and all of them were snagged.”
It was never clarified what "spot" Magnes fished. Was it the same spot I was fishing? Was he using the same bait with the same technique or pitching into the same slack-water pool? Did conditions change from morning to afternoon which triggered the fish to bite? Again, I have images proving the walleye we caught were hooked in the mouth. Did Magnes perceive me guilty just because other people snagged fish at some spot in the morning?
Again, I was being judged on what others were doing earlier in the day at an unspecified location.
Changes
The fact that Magnes was not an actual witness was NEVER clarified in the Investigation Report. In fact, Magnes was listed as an "involved person" when he had NOTHING to do with me catching my walleye. If he was not a witness and provided no direct evidence in my case, why were his statements included in the Investigation Report? If statements are going to be used in a report, some specific points need to be clarified like which specific spot was the person fishing, or what type of bait were they using, or what kind of techniques? Everyone knows, you can't compare one fisherman to another because there are so many factors that determine success. Someone can be doing just one small, simple thing different than the next person and have completely different results.The actions by Game and Fish to include statements in an investigation report made by a person who was NOT a witness need to stop - or in the least, it needs to be clarified the statements were made by a non-witness or uninvolved person.Were the statements made by Magnes intentionally included in the report to mislead and provide a false perception? If so, this is an illegal act.
In the future, if you have a complaint or want to make a statement about another fisherman and a fish they caught, maybe you should refrain from saying anything unless you are actually a witness. Or, maybe refrain from making statements to an investigator if you have no direct evidence to provide. Just because others are doing something somewhere earlier in the day, doesn't mean others are doing that same thing.
We are in a bad place if we feel the need to pass judgement on people because of our perceptions and not on actual evidence.The actions by Game and Fish to include statements in an investigation report made by a person who was NOT a witness and a person who provided NO direct evidence in a case need to stop. Or, if Game and Fish wants to include statements from non-witnesses, they better include others too such as the person who stated,"I was there yesterday, the walleye that were caught all bit." Or, "fished for an hour..saw 1 decent sized walleye id say 24-25" caught yes caught in the mouth." Or, "I fish this spot every day in the spring during the spawn…I caught my 5 and they were all by the mouth.” If Game and Fish is in the habit of publishing statements from non-witnesses, they need to include all statements made by non-witnesses and not just the ones that make someone appear guilty.
#northdakotaslargestwalleye #volkswalleye #justiceforthelargestwalleye
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