schooled in the art of.....

[nine-tiner]

Removing weeds from the boat trailer Sunday afternoon.

There was a young DNR rep at the landing when we were coming off the lake. I had seen her before and answered her questions about invasive species, milfoil, zebra muscles etc. and even placed the sticker on my boat trailer. Well I was about to back the trailer back into the lake to load the boat when she stopped me.."Sir I will have to report you if you back into the lake with those weeds hanging on the trailer" to which I respond..."but they came out of this lake right here at this landing"..and the landing was a soupy mess....she followed with "it is illegal to have weeds of any type or source on a trailer while backing in to load your boat."...So I followed instructions and cleaned the trailer, then loaded the boat, pulled out, and cleaned the trailer and boat again. Now I am all for controlling invasive species but was a little taken back with her statement. I thought about it some since and it does make sense, they really have no way of knowing the origin of said weeds.

Just thought I would give everyone a heads up........

KEEP THOSE BOATS AND TRAILERS CLEAN!!!

thanks!

[jwmiller33]

my question to you would be why didnt you clean those weeds off your trailer before you left the parking lot of the boat launch after you pulled your boat out last time? regardless if your intentions were coming back to that same lake. i wonder how many times someone had your same intentions, didnt clean off the trailer, then ended up going to a different lake for whatever reasons, and bam, you helped spread milfoil

if you had gotten pulled over and had those weeds on your trailer, you would have gotten a ticket. i thought everyone knew you had to take the weeds off boat and trailer after loading the boat. i guess i was wrong

[CAMAN]

my question to you would be why didnt you clean those weeds off your trailer before you left the parking lot of the boat launch after you pulled your boat out last time? regardless if your intentions were coming back to that same lake.

I read it as he had just gotten back from using the boat and was putting it back on the trailer. If the way I read it is correct, this new law is getting a bit out of hand if you can't even put the boat into the water park the truck/trailer in the provided parking lot and come back a couple hours later and have to worry you may get a ticket if you left a weed or two on the trailer from the exact lake they were removed from a little while earlier.

:facepalm:

[Joe's Kid]

"I was about to back the trailer back into the lake to load the boat when she stopped me.."

There's your sign.

He wasn't launching, he was loading the boat.

He never left the parking lot. He put the boat in, the weeds got on the trailer, he parked the trailer in the lot.

When he was done fishing, he backed the trailer in to load the boat.

She wasn't thinking logically.

Sometimes people don't think about things logically,and end up going off half-cocked.

We let our emotions take over and that's when the trouble starts.

[jwmiller33]

my bad read it wrong

[Joe's Kid]

Eh, no big deal. I do it all the time.

The CO did too!

[nine-tiner]

You read it correctly, the trailer never left the lot. I probably should have asked to see the written law for clarification, but she said she would have been able to write me a ticket for basically putting the weeds back in the same lake they came from....I have always cleaned trailer and boat, and have actually been pulling the plug since I purchased my boat, just part of the routine. Like my previous post said, I thought about it and it does make sense, they really don't know the origin of the weeds. Now it just one more step.

and just to be clear this wasn't a complaint, she is just doing her job....this was meant as a 'heads up'

good luck fishing

[Castinski]

It's a good idea to remove those weeds before backing into the lake again. When the boat goes back onto the weed covered bunks, how are those weeds going to be removed? The answer is they won't until you back into another landing.

[motley man]

So we have to clean the trailer after launching the boat into the lake, or before we reload the boat?

[mabr]

Can these assistants give us a ticket? Never heard of that before. Every one ive seen is a kid, This cant be right is it?

[goblueM]

its common sense that you shouldn't clean the trailer off (when loading) if it was clean going in to the launch, but think of it from an enforcement point of view. it'd be impossible to tell when/where aquatic veg on your trailer is from.

start putting in exceptions and compliance drops and enforcement is impossible

[GlassEyeangler]

not sure if anyone remembers my thread from last year when i confronted an officer for having weeds on his trailer???

funny, every CO, dnr volunteer, police, etc. this year, have very clean looking trailers!

the law states that the weeds must come off the trailer before leaving the water access. (not in those exact words, but it's close)

i will obey whatever laws and rules the dnr wants to create; however, i will continue complaining...here's why -

i can now receive a ticket at a fast food drive through for having my plug in

i can now receive a ticket for loading a boat with weeds on it from the same lake

wow...what else are they going to enforce? it's getting stupid!

[ozzie]

Everything that is a little extra work is always such a pain to most of you. How hard is it really to pull the weeds off of your trailer when the boat is off? I do it all the time cause I figure it is less weeds I will have to pull off when the boat is loaded. It takes two minutes tops!!! The other day it was really bad at the lake I fish and had weeds draping my trailer and they were all off in a matter of a minute.....easy thing to do to keep the law off your tail and it saves time when the boat is on the trailer to leave!!! Good Luck and enjoy the season!!

[Fisherman45]

The bad thing here is that the weeds are cleaned off the trailer into the parking lot and then we get a rain storm and most of the weeds end up washing back in the launch area. It seems if they want to put all these rules in place they would have a container or something to put the weeds in to keep from flowing back into the lake. If just a few bits of weeds is all it takes then this is all a waste because with the shape the launches are in mostly weed infested and slimy anyone with a bunk trailer and even those with rollers are trapping weeds between the bunk rails or rollers and the hull that can't be seen then backed into the next lake. It is a vicious circle.

[Sonicrunch]

I'm with the CO.

When it comes to bunk trailers,(or even rollers) you could have weed ON TOP of the bunks (or rollers) that will get sandwiched under the boat. You won't see those weeds once the boat is loaded, and the next lake that you got to will get those weeds.

[leech~~]

Yea! for the teenager for doing the summer job she has been given to do! Hopefully the big bad man at the boat launch will follow the law and give her a break so she will also learn something about Sportsmanship!

[nine-tiner]

my understanding goes like this

(put plug in)

unload boat

go fishing/skiing etc

done fishing/skiing etc

clean any weeds prior to loading boat

load boat

clean any weeds prior to leaving

(as well as pulling plugs)

[leech~~]

my understanding goes like this

(put plug in)

unload boat

go fishing/skiing etc

done fishing/skiing etc

clean any weeds prior to loading boat

load boat

clean any weeds prior to leaving

(as well as pulling plugs)

Great! Did you tell the little girl that!

[nine-tiner]

leech--

Not sure where you are going with that, but I have always been and will always be respectful of any law enforcement officer. I answered all of her questions and followed her suggestions. I did not at any time "mock or ridicule" her in any way. She was just doing her job, and whether that is a summer temp or a full time regular doesn't make a difference to me. She was wearing a Conservation Officer uniform and deserves the respect that goes with it.

again...

THIS POST'S ORIGINAL INTENT WAS TO GIVE A HEADS UP TO PEOPLE TO KEEP THEIR TRAILERS CLEAN

[paceman]

Thanks for the heads-up nine-tiner. I have not been very good at pulling weeds off the trailer but I will make a better effort to do so....

[GlassEyeangler]

it's the principle of it and if your caught...hmm, it cost you $$$$$$ - get it?

i spend more time than the others putting my boat back together at the landing...and, i don't mind spending more time to make sure my boat/trailer has as many weeds off of it as possible - again, its the principle of the matter.

[leech~~]

leech--

Not sure where you are going with that, but I have always been and will always be respectful of any law enforcement officer. I answered all of her questions and followed her suggestions. I did not at any time "mock or ridicule" her in any way. She was just doing her job, and whether that is a summer temp or a full time regular doesn't make a difference to me. She was wearing a Conservation Officer uniform and deserves the respect that goes with it.

again...

THIS POST'S ORIGINAL INTENT WAS TO GIVE A HEADS UP TO PEOPLE TO KEEP THEIR TRAILERS CLEAN

I know nine-tiner. Just pulling your chain. I just think sometimes we give people [PoorWordUsage] just for doing their job and she maybe just a volunteer or intern on her first job or something. I've found myself giving the little girl at the gas station [PoorWordUsage] a few years ago when the gas went out of sight, when I realized she may not even know who OPEC is!

[ozzie]

whats there to get caught with if you take the time and do what is asked?? most people complain cause they have to pull the plug and it is such a nuisense (sp) and they have to pull the weeds.....now they want them to clean the trailer off before loading back up....how dare they? they are such easy things to do it is amazing that some actully complain about it!!

[Sonicrunch]

Well ozzie, of all the online forums I am a part of, this one takes the cake for crybabies and ignorance.

[pulleye16]

a great heads-up and thanks for that info....I never really thought about that!