New Lake County Boat Inspection Program starts this Friday

[bassbooger]

Here is the Record Bee article written by Outdoors Columnist Terry Knight.


New boat inspection programs starts New Year's Day

By Terry Knight -- Record-Bee outdoors columnist
Updated: 12/29/2009 10:50:32 PM PST


Boaters on Clear Lake and other waters in Lake County will see major changes in the way those boats can be launched beginning Friday.

New Year's Day is when the new quagga mussel inspection program gets under way and the Internet fishing and boating blogs have been teaming with misinformation about the program.

First off, the county isn't using the mussel program to make money. In fact, the revenue received from selling the color-coded bands won't even pay for implementing the program. The other misinformation is that the quagga mussels are already in the lake.

The truth is there is no evidence the mussels are here and contrary to what a few people are saying, the mussels won't improve the fishing in the lake. They will do just the opposite.

The entire program is actually quite simple. All visiting boaters have to do is keep their boats clean, drained and dry and they won't have any problem passing the screening and inspection process.

Local residents won't see any changes. Once they obtain a sticker it's good indefinitely. What determines if a boat is local or of the out-of-county variety is where the boat is actually moored or stored. There is a block on the boat registration form that provides that information. This is for people who aren't actually Lake County residents but have summer homes here and keep their boats in the county. However, they are asked to make sure their boat is clean and dry if they leave the county and then return.

Kayaks, float tubes, cartop boats, and other inflatable boats will be exempt from obtaining a sticker or band.

The big change will be for the out-of-county boaters. They will have to be screened once a month and be issued a color-coded band for each month. They will be required to fill out a form that asks where the boat has been for the past 30 days. The screener will then make a walk-around inspection of the boat. If the boat is clean, drained and dry the boater will be issued a color-coded band. The band is to be attached to the front one-third of the boat where it will be visible to the Lake County Sheriff's Boat Patrol.

Should the screener determine the boat is wet or dirty or has just been in mussel-infested waters, the inspector will tell the boater that he/she must take the boat to an inspector. The inspector will do a more thorough inspection of the boat and if it passes the inspection the boat will be issued the band. If the boat doesn't pass the inspection it will have to be decontaminated before it can be launched.

Officials don't expect that many boats will have to be decontaminated. If the inspector actually finds a quagga mussel on or in the boat, the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) will be notified and the DFG will quarantine the boat for 30 days. Once a mussel or mussels have been found on the boat, the DFG then assumes all authority over the vessel, not the county.

The fee for out-of-county boats will be $10 per month and a different colored band will be issued for each month. There will be a seven-day grace period, which means if a boater arrives in Lake County at the end of the month and plans on staying through the first few days of the next month, he/she will issued a band for the new month. This would apply to some of the bass fishermen who are prefishing for a tournament that is scheduled for the first weekend of the new month.

There are more than 20 authorized screening and inspection stations around the county. Just about all of the tackle shops can screen boats and many are open during the earlier hours of the morning. Many resorts also will screen boats and more will be screeners as time goes by.

Boaters can make the entire process easier by making sure their boats are clean, drained and dry before arriving for the screening process. All it takes is to wipe down your boat, pull the bilge drain plug and make sure the livewells are dry. The final step is to temporarily lower the motor so the water drains out. All this takes just a few minutes and it will make sure your boat pass the screening test.

If your boat is dirty with debris sticking to it, then make a trip to a carwash to clean the boat before arriving at the lake; it will save you a lot of trouble and expense.

Like all new regulations, there will some glitches when the program first gets under way but these will be corrected. For those who don't want to obey the regulations and are issued a ticket by the sheriff's boat patrol, the fine is approximately $460, which includes all the court costs.

[keithcant]

Actually, after all the HOOPLA- - - this really isn't unreasonable....and I'm sure the basic intent by the local govt. is to protect what's theirs.

@ $10./boat there doesn't seem to be much room for profit as like virtually all govt. programs administration and manpower far outweigh the few dollars taken in.

In 10 yrs, places like Mead/Havasu/etc. will show whether all the turmoil really mattered.

Anyways--these costs and procedures aren't enough to alter my treks from So. Cal to Clear Lake.

Yet, I'm a firm believer that far more than recreational boats are spreadin the little critters anyway.