I cross annually to fish Angle Inlet, MN. In 2014, a man in my party, who’d been crossing since the 1970s, was flagged. He had two DWIs from the ’80s on his record. They told him that for $300, he could cross Canada to get to the Northwest Angle. They also told him that it would cost him $300 every time he crossed Canada unless he got the last judge to sign him off as rehabilitated. Well, turns out there was some mishap and while Canada could see his record, the judge told him he couldn’t do anything because his case file didn’t exist… lost in a fire or some BS… He still comes to Angle Inlet twice every year but simply reverted to driving his pontoon across the lake instead of dealing with the border agents. I love his argument of, “How does giving them $300 make me a lesser risk in their country?” 2014 was the only year I’ve seen any issues arise.
This year? The border agent didn’t even run our passports. Looked at them, ran down the usual questions, and told us to have a good trip. We had a second vehicle behind us so we pulled over on the shoulder to wait and we were hardly stopped when the second vehicle came through. We got the story when we arrived at Jim’s Corner to call in our arrival to MN. They had handed the agent their passports and he asked where they were going, and the driver said, Prothero’s Post. We’re going fishing with those guys,” and he pointed to our vehicle. The agent handed their passports back and said, “Then be on your way. Have a good time.” We laughed when he shared this information because he’d been wondering what we said to be so highly thought of. We shrugged our shoulders and said, “We’ll never tell, but you can Google it.” Sometimes, ya gotta set something up for next year!
The best was 2012 though, when my nephew brought his three-year-old son along. My parents, the 3-year-old’s great grandparents, had him in their vehicle and my nephew was with me. My nephew told the agent, who appeared to be a very serious individual with no time for pleasantries of any kind, that his son was with him, but in the vehicle behind us, and he got chewed out for not crossing with his child in the same vehicle. So, we pull over because we were told to wait. Passports were taken inside, but soon returned. “Don’t go anywhere,” he said.
When my parents pulled up to the agent, he collected passports and asked questions, and then asked my great nephew, the three-year-old, when his birthday was. He just got a contemplating look on his face and replied, “Mmm… Saturday?” I’m told the agent almost cracked a smile and said, “Good answer.” He let us all through, but he reminded my nephew again to always keep the children with the parent(s). This was a June trip and the birthday in question wasn’t until October, and of course the agent knew a three-year-old probably wouldn’t offer an exact birthdate without being coached. That innocent answer still tickles our funny bones, and we think of it every time we cross the border.
Never ran into a crabby agent… maybe if you make them into one….? 
