Sticker

[8-Ball]

Hi guys- Where can a guy find that elusive Invasive Species sticker that we need to slap on the boat? Been to three stores, no luck. I would rather grab it at a store, rather than having to order it from the DNR.. Thx- 8-Ball.

[eelpout50]

I've always gotten mine at the launch from the DNR.

[CAMAN]

Eelpout, these are a new sticker that must be put onto the boat, not the trailer. It will be required to have one on each boat sometime in the next year or so. You should be able to pick one up wherever you get your license. Though I haven't gone on the search for them yet, they might not have gotten shipped to everyone yet. It would have been nice if they just gave them to us with our registration stickers, but that probably would have been too easy and cost effective, something the government doesn't like to do.

[RebelSS]

They have them at them at your local license bureau....where you get your plates, etc.

According to my State of Minnesota memo, will be mandatory by 2014, so I don't believe there's a big rush.

[Jarrod32]

So what is the rule if I bring my South Dakota licensed boat to Minnesota for a weekend of fishing?

[JohnMickish]

So what is the rule if I bring my South Dakota licensed boat to Minnesota for a weekend of fishing?

That is a good question, when you bring your Minnesota boat out to Ohio and want to put it in lake Erie, you have to go thru their safety inspection and apply their sticker to your boat. I haven't heard anything about out of state boats on this yet. Have you emailed the DNR on this?

[8-Ball]

Negative on that- just got new tabs/plates.. they didnt have the sticker there, either. I will contact DNR, I guess. Thanks guys for input just the same.

[Pat K]

My wife works at a license bureau and hasn't seen any stickers there yet.

[Het]

when you bring your Minnesota boat out to Ohio and want to put it in lake Erie, you have to go thru their safety inspection and apply their sticker to your boat.

It is not mandatory, nor is it law that 'out of staters' have to have their boats inspected to fish Lake Erie. The Division of Watercraft goes to some of the more popular ramps on Lake Erie on random days (usually holiday weekends), and does safety checks on those in line to launch to make sure they have the required safety gear to go out on Erie.

Out of staters do not have to be inspected before launching, unless they happen to be at a ramp on a day when the ODOW is doing inspections.

[JohnMickish]

It was mandatory for the FLW boats, but that might have been an agreement between the FLW and the state, or the state might have that written into their tournament permit rules. Either way, it's not that big a deal.

[Het]

Gotcha. A lot of the bigger tournaments require that boats have the safety sticker before launching to kinda cover themselves for liability.

[TruthWalleyes]

They have them at them at your local license bureau....where you get your plates, etc.

According to my State of Minnesota memo, will be mandatory by 2014, so I don't believe there's a big rush.

It is however a petty misdemenor by August 2011 to not have it... but not finable untill 2014

[SkunkedAgain]

I thought that I was pretty up on the rules. What is this sticker for and why is it a petty misdemeanor in two months if you are all having trouble even locating it?

[TruthWalleyes]

I thought that I was pretty up on the rules. What is this sticker for and why is it a petty misdemeanor in two months if you are all having trouble even locating it?

From DNR

"We'll be distributing them this summer at bait shops, retailers and boat dealers," Skinner said. Boats must have the stickers beginning Aug. 1. Failure to comply will be a petty misdemeanor, though the law doesn't call for penalties until 2014."

[SkunkedAgain]

I just did some digging too. I see that this is a free sticker and just is a reminder to check for invasives. Funny, it's similar to sending each fisherman a patch to sew onto their fishing jackets (finable if you're not wearing) that says "I swear not to keep a slot fish."

It does seem dumb that they made the sticker mandatory but didn't hand them out when people were buying their licenses.

[TruthWalleyes]

Blue Jean fishing jackets! I like it! Especially if they give them to us for 'free'

[MinnesotaMike]

It does seem dumb that they made the sticker mandatory but didn't hand them out when people were buying their licenses.

[TruthWalleyes]

They also didn't sign this bill until very recently.

[CAMAN]

They also didn't sign this bill until very recently.

I just got my boat tabs very recently(after the bill was signed). They very easily could have given them to me then.

[8-Ball]

Well, I found them.. or should I say, they found me.. There was a young guy at the launch when we pulled out today on East Rush, working or volunteering for the DNR. He asked a few questions of us. I then asked him if he knew where I could pick up these elusive stickers. He said I should have gotten one when I got my fishing license. I told him they did not have them at city hall, where I got my license. He then told me he had some with him, and proceeded to put one on the front of my trailer. As others have said, this reg for the sticker is confusing in its wording, and the DNR could/should do a better job of making them available for boaters/anglers. That being said, I am done w/this subject now!

[CAMAN]

I thought the new sticker went on the boat, not the trailer?

[SkunkedAgain]

Yeah, I've had the trailer sticker several times over the past several years, including again this year they "got" me on Vermilion as I dropped in for opener. I assumed that this boat sticker was new/different.

[Brad B]

this new sticker does have to be on the boat and must be visible to the operator. personally I think it is a waste of tax payer money especially when we are on the verge of a government shutdown.

[8-Ball]

On the boat? Well, the kid from the DNR put it on the front of my trailer....

[LMITOUT]

this new sticker does have to be on the boat and must be visible to the operator.

The law says it just has to be on the boat. Period.

The original language in the bill did say that it had to be in the view of the operator but the final law does not state that.