Kiss My Rump

That is a question that should be directed to someone higher than the CO’s. I’m sure they had their orders on what to focus on.
DT

I would at least take it to court,won’t cost you anything more than the 50 bucks, and the judge can figure out if a public access is also considered a public roadway as I don’t think the highway dept. maintains these areas.
Just my thoughts

Don

NIce volley back.
Lets put a little twist on it. He entered the parking lot from a public roadway I’m guessing. Did they watch him pull in and not put the plug in.

On a side note. I have heard of judges doubling a fine also if someone takes it to court. Never heard of it in my area but it happens in the metro. My sister in law took a speeding ticket to court just to ask if she could make payments and ended up getting a bigger fine.
DT

I agree that the new AIS laws are somewhere between difficult and impossible to enforce consistently, and may not do any good. That said, with all the bitching on this website about the subject, I’m amazed that any IDO member could forget to keep the plug out until just they put the boat in the water.

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That said, with all the bitching on this website about the subject, I’m amazed that any IDO member could forget to keep the plug out until just they put the boat in the water.

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I hear what you’re saying. But the actions that may, and I say MAY, aid in stopping the spread of AIS is in draining all water before leaving the landing. Once that’s done… you’ve complied. You’ve done your job as a “good citizen.” The rule about not putting it back in just makes it easy(er) for the CO’s to hand out tickets and does NOTHING to stop the spread of AIS. It only penalizes boaters under the assumption that they did not comply upon exiting the landing.

The rules are simple you guys, if you leave the access with your plug in you are subject to a ticket. Even if you drained all water, cleaned off all weeds, and drained all livewells and baitbuckets. When you are going to the launch you can not put your plug in until you reach the access and are ready to launch your boat. I’m not sure why everyone is complaining about this. It is straightforward and easy to understand. If you receive a citation for anything that falls outside of the guidelines noted above, I would fight it in court.

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I’m not sure why everyone is complaining about this

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‘Cause it’s a bad law? Just a guess on my end.

After a guys pulled the drainplug and emptied the bilge, doesn’t he have the right to pull to the top of the ramp and put the plug back in? Don’t make any sense to me because the bilge is empty and going to stay empty until his next trip, well except maybe for some rainwater.

I’m just the type of guy who would take this to court. How does the drainplug in place befor you enter the water spread anything. Isn’t it supposed to be. Who cares where it was put in at and what time of day it was, at the house or at the ramp, its supposed to be inplace.

I’ll be interested to see what happens with my boat. My Mr. Pike has 2 livewells. I use one as a storage compartment and all openings are sealed. I see no reason to pull those plugs. Guess I may be headed for ticket land.

When a fishing guide from MI says he has never taken his plug out of his boat in 30 years and probably taken it to hundreds of lakes every year, that is pretty worrying.

If there is any truth to the DNR’s reasoning behind taking out the plug; that you could give AIS a free ride to another lake, then the potential to do this seems pretty high.

Ever run your bilge pump after a hard rain, or wave over the bow or transom?

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Sounds to me like you’re part of the problem, …

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Are you kidding me??? I haven’t taken the drain plug out of my boats for 30 years…

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Wow. Everyone’s assumed guilty… even by other anglers.

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Because those guys can’t actually enforce anything.

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If you have a beef with a law, go to the people who write them.

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This, and only this, will get the law tossed.
In the meantime….why aren’t those badge toters out ON the water checking for violations and let the social twinkiess who they hired to stand guard over the landings handle what they’re hired to do.

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having fished in multiple states and having dealt with their GW’s, only in mn have i heard this saying so often “We were told not to issue any more warnings”

and fyi, i’ve never been on the receiving end of any of those. my dnr record is clean.

What are we supposed to do Nov – Feb? Frozen plugs don’t come out….frozen plugs don’t go in.

From MN Statute 84D.10:

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Subd. 4.Persons transporting water-related equipment.
(a) When leaving waters of the state a person must drain water-related equipment holding water and live wells and bilges by removing the drain plug before transporting the water-related equipment off the water access site or riparian property.

(b) Drain plugs, bailers, valves, or other devices used to control the draining of water from ballast tanks, bilges, and live wells must be removed or opened while transporting water-related equipment.

(c) Emergency response vehicles and equipment may be transported on a public road with the drain plug or other similar device replaced only after all water has been drained from the equipment upon leaving the water body.

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I’m not saying it’s not a dumb law, but it seems clear that you broke it.

Don`t know about your boats but if my bilge has water in it, it never totally drains all the water out anyway, even when the plug is out. Same with my livewell lines never totally empty.

So what does this law provide a new source of revenue for the uninformed especially out of staters that have no clue as they pass thru Minnesota with there drain plugs in.

The AIS regulations are a knee jerk reaction to the fear of “what if’s”. We all know the “what if’s” are just a matter of time. We got checked by the AIS police yesterday. I wanted to show them my new sticker. After wanting to show them, they informed me of something I already knew. You don’t need that he said. I asked dumbfounded, why. He sheepishly said that law changed. I was curious how we as boat owners are to be lawful, when the laws change at a drop of the hat? Was also interesting to learn, there is a protocol with all this, as far as amount of debris or something along those lines, to what is contaminated, really, hmm? What is that and I would love to get a hold of that? When we got back we had to back the trailer in 3 or 4 times to float the boat, to get the chunks of wood from under the boat and between the bunks off the trailer. It was full of debris at the ramp. No way to avoid, period. We cleaned the boat off as best we could and then hosed the boat down at the first car wash.

This is idiotic all the way around and going to cause nothing but un needed frustration and confusion on both boaters and LEO’s, who have to enforce these laws. Laws that are going to be constantly changing over the next few years. If you’ve ever been to a weed choked access how are you suppose to make sure, if you have a bunk trailer, that there are no AIS’s in between your bunk and your boat?

We need to look into ways of getting rid of AIS’s once in a body of water. Prevention is a great idea. But on such a grand scale, with so many connected waterways, the number of boats and all the gear that gets used in and around water, it’s going to be a losing game for law makers. Who are always going to be playing from behind, reacting vs actually containing the problem.

We always pull the plug, so that’s a not a big deal.

Was hoping for a free boat wash yesterday but that never happened.

What about all the aquatic animals and birds that jump between bodies of water with invasives tucked between thier feathers and down. I’d bet its a whole lot more widespread then some may think, kind of like asian carp, wherever they end up is where they end up?

I heard the free boat wash was at Wabasha. Along with 6 CO’s. Wonder how much money they made?

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I’ll be interested to see what happens with my boat. My Mr. Pike has 2 livewells. I use one as a storage compartment and all openings are sealed. I see no reason to pull those plugs. Guess I may be headed for ticket land.

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x2. Do i have to pull the plug from my onboard cooler as well. There are no intakes for lake water to enter but i can see some CO with his power trip badge writing a ticket for dirty ice water.

So if I’m understanding this I should just seal off the drain plug. Then its no longer a plug and I can’t get a ticket for it. Seems right to me, and a lot easier than fighting with CO’s about it.

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Do i have to pull the plug from my onboard cooler as well.

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Yes.

You all might want to send your comments to…

[email protected]

Just a suggestion.

But them how will I keep my beer cold for the drive home?

Guess I could drink it all at the landing before I leave.

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But them how will I keep my beer cold for the drive home?

Guess I could drink it all at the landing before I leave.

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that is a good excuse to get out of an open container ticket. But sir, to prevent invasive species I had to take the beer out of my boat cooler…..

DT

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I’m not sure why everyone is complaining about this

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‘Cause it’s a bad law? Just a guess on my end.

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I’m not denying that it is a bad law. We have tons of bad laws, but we still have to follow them. Complaining to the CO issuing the ticket does nothing. They have been instructed that there are to be no more warnings. They are simply doing their job.

Might not be a bad idea and just use the bilge pump, but that might not be dry enough for them, who knows. I guess a guy would have to write a question to the dnr over that one.

I’m in 100% agreement Frank.

Then again there was the time I receive a speeding ticket when I had my cruise control set. Went to court to plead my case to the judge. He found me guilty of speeding and the first reason he cited was because I didn’t contest it with the officer at the time. I was taught never to argue with an officer. (EDIT>> ‘cept for DT)

I would never suggest to anyone to break this or any law…I would however suggest…

You all might want to send your comments to…

[email protected]

Few if any will, but if there’s enough noise made, they will figure something else out.

I also contend that since boats will harbor water in their hulls, when a boat is put into the lake without the plug in there will be more of a chance to “contaminate” the lake than if the plug was left in (for 30 years).

Is this strictly a MN law, or do we WI guys have to watch for this when we’re using landings on the WI side of the Mississippi River?

MN can’t enforce it at the WI landings since it is a MN law.

Now I’m talking about boat plugs here. WI has their own set of rules for transporting live bait away from the water.

(That are much more fisherman friendly…and make more sense.)

The Minnesota sportsman and voters are the people responsible for putting the “clown legislators” in office that dictate this drain plug rule, next election pull their plug !