Good Sign But?, Kinda weird for me

I am fortunate to now live on Stoney Lake. For that reason usually this time of year I am down at the dock at least once a day trying to catch some Crappie. Trying to gauge when they are coming into our bay. So yesterday I see a Conservation Office drive into our dead end road and I go out to say hi and see if he needs anything (I have never seen one on our road before). He asks is this (says my address)?
I say well yes it is a bit perplexed. He says they received a call saying that someone was fishing from my dock targeting Bass. I basically chuckled and said "seriously". We had a good conversation and I showed him my rod which was sitting by the front door. Very clearly setup for Crappie with a bobber and Mr Crappie electric chicken jig. I did say I had caught 2 bass over the last week or so but not targeted, promptly released and avoiding certain spots if I did catch a Bass. He was very polite and was satisified that it was a misunderstanding. I have no idea who called since it's pretty quiet this time of year but I guess I am thankful people are reporting what they think is bad behaviour. I was also impressed that the CO actually came.
It's just funny as I am such and advocate in my lake neighbourhood telling neighbours to mind the Bass nests until the spawn is done and informing when I can about regs and good practice outside of the regs.

MC

That's a good story and good to see them out checking around as always. How is the crappie hunting going. Your water level is way down from what it was around a week or so ago. Maybe the levels will come back up after the rain. Good luck on the dock.

Crappie have been elusive this year. It was warm then cold and as you mentioned the water was very high and now low. I keep a fishing diary with dates and catches and this year is definitely weak on the crappie numbers so far.

Speaking of stories I was just talking to my neighbour an hour ago and he said the MNR was in our bay this week doing Muskie sightings. They told him they spotted visually two 40+ inch Muskie
getting ready to spawn.

MC

It seems the spawning is early this year for many species. Depending on where you live of course. My friend is a couple lakes away from you. This muskie was at his feet a few days ago.

Seems like you may have p##### off a neighbor,or your not telling us the whole story..
Caught many Bass on a Crappie set up,more than Bass lures.

That’s hilarious I was recently reading a storey on Reddit about a guy who was concerned his neighbor was fishing for bass off his dock on Stoney lake , I wonder if it was him …lol. Link to the post https://www.reddit.com/r/FishingOntario/s/xdLHn8kF0X

It's not if I catch bass and walleye in the spring. It's how many will I catch. Fishing for crappie at night in the spring is just a matter of time before a walleye or bass hits my crank baits or plastic baits. Now if I was keeping them or taking pictures of them all night, that would be breaking the regulations(law). If a neighbour's sees me catch a fish that is out of season, he then sees me release it as well..... Guessing it was a nosey neighbour.

Lol, I read that thread on reddit as well.

That’s funny, reading all the Reddit comments.

HA HA! definetly the guy! I have been away for the winter and just got home a few weeks ago. They moved in while I was away and from my understanding are moving out shortly as they only rented for the winter season to live. It makes sense as all my neighbours know me and my respect for the lake and fishery. He obviously thought my bobber was a top water lure from 300 yards away LOL! Anyways at least people care and no harm done.

MC

In my very young days, I had people tell me that I was illegally catching rock bass because bass season was closed. Some are very ignorant of the rules and don't really want to find out the real details. Often, partial knowledge if more dangerous than complete ignorance (at least they know they don't know anything and won't pretend to be knowledgeable). So many species in Stoney Lake that are not out of season. What I want to know is how do you retrieve your bobber to make it an out-of-season bass-specific topwater lure? That can save us some money on real topwater bass baits

lmao this guy saw a bobber and took it to reddit

It's a good thing this was a positive interaction with a CO.

Haven been in law enforcement myself, sometimes all we got were tips from the public. Some were legitimate and some so vague they couldn't be followed up.

I do want to emphasize that if something doesn't look right, it's in our best interest as sportsmen to report it.