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What the?


tonyjor

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A co-worker of mine said his friends received a ticket from a CO on Mille Lacs the other day. it was about 9:10-9:15 and they didn't have their lights on. It was still quite light out and the officer gave them the ticket because the sunrise/sunset time was 9:04. The fine is $117. I always thought that boat lights didn't need to be on until it was too dark, but not at the published sunset time. Any thoughts?

He also asked if they had any fish in the livewell and they had one 20 inch walleye. It was 20 and an eighth on the CO's tape, but he didn't give them a ticket for that one.

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I'm glad to hear that they are out there giving tickets. I'm sick of watching everyone break the law. They really need more enforcement on that lake and many more. Hopefully the DNR will do a couple big CO hires in the near future.

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Quote:

The regulations went up to 22 on saturday maybe thats why


it accually went up on friday the 15th. when did he get the ticket for not having his lights on?

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I think it was wed. or thurs. I'm not exactly sure. My co-worker just said "the other day".

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I had that happen to me two years ago on Sand Lake in Itasca county. The sun had just hit the horizon and it was bright enough that I could see the CO uniforms from 100 yds away. I figured they were coming over to check out the livewell. Nope, just wanted to bless with the ticket for no running lights on. The real kicker is that my lights were in place, I just hadn't flipped the switch yet. That's being picky. The regs do say lights have to come on at the posted sunset time, not when it's too dark to see. I learned my lesson, oh well.

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It's unfortunate for your friends, but I have to say I don't have much sympathy for them. I spend time on Mille Lacs, Leech and the Cass chain and every time I am out I see people that just don't get it. The lights are for the safety of all. Twice in the last week I have been heading off the lake after dark and saw something dark that turned out to be a boat w/o lights. So I drive over to see if they need help. The first time, as I approached very slow, I could see the guy scrambling to get his light out. He probably thought I was DNR(because he was in a hurry), which proves it was too dark since he couldn't see me well enough (I had my kids with me). The second one, the guy was having trouble with his battery. He had managed to get his motor started, but still had no lights. I offered to guide him in to shore, but he turned me down. It was VERY dark, after 10pm. Do you really want to put your safety in the hands of the "other guy", trusting they will see you, not me. confused.gif

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The law is the law! It's amazing to see how many boaters don't know the laws. I once saw a boat nearly get hit because he had no lights on. I nearly creamed my jeans on that one and I was a good 75 yards away. Boats are bigger and faster than ever before. We all need to be safe out there. My hats off to the CO who was doing his job and issued the ticket.

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Quite a few years ago my dad "t-boned" a boat on Balsam Lake (WI) well after dark. He was following the wake of a buddy of his in another boat. A guy was sleeping in the bottom of his row boat and drifted into my dad's path after his friend had passed by.

He hit the boat broadside and it flew over them (my mom was in the boat too) and landed behind them. The guy was ejected out of the boat and couldn't swim. Dad jumped in, lost his glasses, and saved the guy from drowning.

Rather than being thankful, the guy was an a-hole (and not too bright to boot)and was threatening to press charges because he had been hit.

When the CO arrived, he ticketed the guy for not having his lights on. It was obvious that the guy had been drinking too and was lucky he didn't get a DWI.

My dad ended up with a lost pair of glasses and a banged up boat. They felt fortunate that nobody had been hurt - my mom (who couldn't swim very well) had just spun her chair around to face him prior to the collision and the back of her chair kept her from flying out.

I agree with the guys above - the law is the law.

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I can't agree more, I fished Mille Lacs quite a bit at night, until the last few years. There have been so many occassions that I find boats with no lights I can't count them!!! One time in particular I was coming off the 7-mile at around 2:00 AM, I don't like to run fast at night since I know there are nut cases out there that don't run their lights and I can't imaging running into someone, especially, 4-5 miles off shore. Anyway my buddies and I motored toward shore slowly and we came across 7 boats with no lights on. I motored over and asked them where their lights were, the response, "they attract bugs"!! I asked if they'd rather fight a few bugs or get run over by a boat that can't see them?? They gave me the "f-bomb" so I continued on, I now have TIPS programed into my cell phone and if I find anyone out there with no lights, I plan on just making the call and not even approaching anyone, let them get a ticket, maybe that will make them think!?!?!

Ole

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1-800-652-9093 had it in my phone for 3 years now.

The problem here is the guy with the lights on has to live with killing some nut case that did not have theirs lights on. Pretty sad if you ask me. I know I would not like to drag that around with me the rest of my life!!!

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When I first got my boat back in 1988 I had problems with the navigational lights. They also lit up my dash board gauges. It was extremely hard to see with these bright lights in my face. I rewired my lights. I moved the gauges to the accessory switch. Much better night vision when running afterwards.

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The same law is in place for car headlights. The cops would have a hay day if they were going to pull the sunset schedule out on that one. Alittle common sense on the part of the COs would be nice

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It just floors me to see guys without running lights. The way I look at it is I'm a dummy with a fast boat; there is probaly another guy just like me tearing around the lake...I better turn on my lights. wink.gif

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