The Largest Walleye Caught in North Dakota

Did Game and Fish demonstrate a bias? Please take your time and read through this post carefully. It is the most important post of them all. I will detail actions by Game and Fish which demonstrated a potential bias. 1. Game and Fish contacted Gibbs's place of employment and stated, "witness to the violation" just hours after announcing my walleye broke the state record. If you remember, I caught my walleye on April 21st. It was around 9:00 am on Monday, April 22nd, the day after I caught my walleye, Game and Fish published a press release stating my walleye was the new state record for North Dakota. Again this was done even though I NEVER submitted the application to be recognized for the state record. See the image of the press release below: It was less than four hours after the press release, Game and Fish contacted Gibbs's place of employment and stated my fish was "under investigation" and Gibbs was " witness to the violation ." T...

State's Attorney's Letter to Winkelman The Investigation Report included the following letter from the Morton County State's Attorney. If you can't read the letter from the image, here is what is written: "Dear Warden Winkelman: Thank you for your referral to review the submitted investigative report and attachments involving the activities on April 21, 2019, on the Heart River downstream from the North Dakota State Highway 6 Bridge, in Morton County.   Several members of the prosecution team here at the Morton County State’s Attorney’s Office, including me, had the opportunity to review your report and the accompanying video of the incident on April 21, 2019, involving Mr. Volk’s angling activity on the Heart River and the landing of the walleye fish in question. After a careful and considered review of the report, along with the witnesses’ statements, and the actual video of the event, our team is of a consensus view that the walleye in issue ...

Page 9 of the Investigation Report referenced the May 10th conversation between me, my attorney and the Game and Fish investigator On May 10th, I professed my innocence to the investigator and offered all of my evidence including images, videos and the walleye. Funny how those details didn't end up in the investigation report. The image below highlights the area in the report which referenced the May 10th conversation with the Game and Fish investigator.  If you can't read the image, here is what it states, "On May 10, 2019 Winkelman talked to VOLK and Lofgren by telephone. Winkelman informed VOLK that he would be issued a written warning for illegal possession of a fould hooked fish. VOLK asked about the record status of the fish and Winkelman informed VOLK that the fish would not be recognized as a state record. VOLK asked to have the written warning mailed to him. Winkelman mailed written warning NO. W02490 to VOLK on May 10, 2019."  If you have not rea...

Page 9 of the Investigation Report referenced the State's Attorney letter See the image of the Investigation Report where it referenced the letter by the States Attorney.  If you can't read the image, here is what it states, "On May 6, 2019 Winkelman met with Morton County States Attorney Allen Koppy. Winkelman provided Koppy with a draft report for his review. On May 7, 2019 Winkelman received a letter from Koppy stating in part: several members of the prosecution team here at the Morton County State's Attorney's Office, including me, had the opportunity to review your report and the accompanying video of the incident on April 21, 2019, involving Mr. Volk's angling activity on the Heart River and the landing of the walleye fish in question. After a careful and considered review of the report, along with witnesses' statements, and the actual video of the event, our team is of consensus view that the walleye in issue was foul-hooked or snagged i...

Page 9 of the Investigation Report referenced my conversations with the investigator Below is an image of page 9 of the Investigation Report which reference my conversations with the investigator. Did Game and Fish lie - in writing? Neither Gibbs nor any "witnesses" said they saw the fish foul hooked! In fact, the only witness who provided an official statement said, "I could not see the hook in the fish."  If you can't read the report in the image, here is what is documented: "On May 1, 2019 Winkelman contacted VOLK by telephone. VOLK stated he was currently represented by Jackson Lofgren and that he wanted to talk to his attorney before speaking." "On May 2, 2019 VOLK called Winkelman on his cell phone and informed Winkelman that he would not be providing a statement per the advise of his attorney and that he would not consent to Game and Fish taking the fish without a search warrant. Winkelman stated to VOLK a decision would be made ba...

Pages 6-9 of the Investigation Report referenced Gibbs's official statement Pages 6-9 of the Investigation Report referenced Gibbs's official statement. See the images below: If you haven't already read POST 27 , please do so. I went into detail about Gibbs's official statement in that post. Here are some clips from his official statement: https://youtu.be/iYqA1AD5IQ0 https://youtu.be/c1v5Oi3F4ug https://youtu.be/5i3lVhyXaY8 https://youtu.be/EAPlEMVzee8 https://youtu.be/dY8NCkCn0Fg https://youtu.be/2_AKUMg_FW0 Summary of Gibbs's Official Statement When you compare what Gibbs actually said to what was documented in the Investigation Report, much of his statements were intentionally left out of the report - specifically his statements which supported the walleye was hooked legally. Here are some of the statements Gibbs made: Gibbs stated,  "I don't think we foul-hooked any walleye...he (Tom) has pictures."  Gibb...

Page 5 of the Investigation Report referenced comments made by a reporter for the Bismarck Tribune.  Towards the bottom of Page 5 of the Investigation Report, it documented a statement made by a reporter from the Bismarck Tribune. See the image below. Page 5 of the Investigation Report by Game and Fish referencing the statements made by a reporter. Here is what the report says, "On April 23, 2019 Winkelman received a telephone call from Travis Svihovec, reporter from the Bismarck Tribune. Svihovec stated taht he was checking on the status of the state record walleye because he had contacted VOLK and VOLK told him he would not comment because Game and Fish was investigating the fish because there was a chance the fish was not hooked legally. Winkelman confirmed that there was an open investigation and no further comments would be made while the investigation was open."  I  never  stated "there was  a chance the fish was not hooked legally."  The s...

Page 5 of the Investigation Report referenced how Game and Fish contacted Gibbs's place of employment and stated he was "witness to the violation."  As we learned in POST 12 , Gibbs's place of employment was contacted by the Game and Fish investigator. The investigator for Game and Fish (Winkelman) stated they wanted to speak with Gibbs because he was "witness to the violation." They referenced this on page 5 of the Investigation Report. See the image below. Page 5 of the Investigation Report by Game and Fish referencing a "violation."  Here is what the Investigation Report states, "On April 22, 2019 Winkelman called the Burleigh County Sheriff's Office trying to locate GIBBS, who is a deputy for the Burleigh County Sheriff's Office. Winkelman talked to Aaron Silbernagel,, Investigations Supervisor. Silbernagel provided Winkelman with a telephone number for GIBBS and asked if it was anything they needed to know about. Winkelm...