trouble on the lakes

[doitall5000]

Are you tired of being run off your lakes??

Utah Boating Concerns


Sense my recent visit to Deer Creek and Willard Bay I have decided to see what might be done to improve the Safety and sportsmanship on our local lakes and reservoirs. I have spent time finding the State Parks Managers contact information, and the Directors of state parks contact information. There is also a Boating Advisory Council (BAC) that meets several times a year with about nine people that have different assignments with in the council. One is Boating Safety, and Education, another is Boating Anglers.
I know there are many boaters that are as frustrated as I am, and some that say nothing will help, there is nothing we can do. I don't buy that, when we do nothing then nothing will happen. Or someones louder voice will dominate the discussion, and the attention.


I would like to start a discussion to generate some ideas and not just complaints. Your bad experience is good to hear, but we need to find ways to make those known to the right authorities.


These are some things I have been thinking about.
I would like to see signs posted at boat ramps and at the entrance gates, giving laws most frequently violated, including the 150 foot law.
I would like to see a mandatory certification test taken on line when people register for their boating stickers. This would be included with their registration papers, and carried on the boat. Just like the Invasive Species certification.
I have also decided to take photos of boats (with boat id numbers and people) that fly past me when I'm on the water, and use them to report violators.


I know there will be many suggestions from concerned boaters. I want to give YOU ways to channel those ideas in a constructive way.


Here is a list of people and agencies to channel YOUR ideas and concerns.
Utah State Parks Director-- Fred Hayes 1594 West North Temple Suit 116 SLC UT. 801-538-7220
[url "http://www.stateparks.utah.gov/resources/contact-informationural"]www.stateparks.utah.gov/resources/contact-informationural[/url]
His boss is Department of Natural Resources Executive Director –Mike Styler (hold public meetings)
Boating Advisory Council—email—[url "mailto:usprbac@utah.gov"]usprbac@utah.gov[/url] phone number is state parks 801-538-2628
Mike Williams is the Boating Safety and education rep.
Ray Schelble is the Boating Anglers rep.
1594 W. North Temple
P.O.Box 146001
SLC UT.
84114-6001
The Mission statement for this council says in part “Boaters have the responsibility to practice and advocate safe and ethical use of OUR water ways...”


I hope you who have better skills than I will use their Facebook pages, as well as Tweeter, and Pincrest
to give you feelings.
Rockport—Joe Donnell Mgr. 435-336-2241 Starvation—Alan Spencer 435-738-2326
Yube—Cheston Slater Mgr. 435-738-2611 East Canyon—Chris Haramoto 801-829-6866
Pineview—U.S. Forest Service [url "http://www.fs.usda.gov/"]www.fs.usda.gov[/url] find contact information
Willard Bay—James Morgan—435-734-9494 801-782-2321


Please make your comments with respect so they will be taken seriously.
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[fish_hntr]

[quote doitall5000]
Are you tired of being run off your lakes?? [/quote]

Without more detail as to what you are upset about this thread has little to no merit.
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[Kent]

[quote fish_hntr]

Without more detail as to what you are upset about this thread has little to no merit.

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Couldn't agree more.
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[doggonefishin]

[quote doitall5000]
Are you tired of being run off your lakes?? [/quote]



Darn mosquitos......................
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[MSM1970]

maybe storm clouds or wind.........[sly]
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[Therapist]

Where to start !!! OVer the years I have made several suggestions to the Parks people who are in charge of the water. I have several very good friends who were rangers at several waters that I frequented and enlisted their help in making suggestions to the powers that be. To date, nada !! Here are several that I have made over the years :

1) Put bar code readers at all park entrances so fishermen can get on the water at first light. The technology is there and they would be able to track who goes in and out w/o having to tie up a person in the booth !!

2) on waters like Deer Creek, Jordanelle, Willard, and Pineview that have heavy multi use, bouy off traffic lanes that can be used for water skiing/wake boarding, etc. These lanes would be in the middle of the lake and keep the power squadron out of the areas that most fisherman use !! It is my understanding that several lakes in Ca are set up this way.

3) On high use lakes, have spotters on the shore, watching the traffic on the lake and radio to the on the water ranger when they see dangerous operation.

4) Have a ON THE WATER RANGER during all high use periods. I very seldom see a ranger on the water at Ut. Lake, Deer Creek, Jordanelle, Willard, or Pineview. There needs to be a Ranger cruising the lake on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and all holidays. Just the visual presence of a Ranger will slow things down !!

Just a few thoughts on how to get things under control !!

[gaardvark]

Thanks for taking the time to assemble this list and address safety on the water. I had a neighbor once tell me he takes his wave runners to Newton specifically because he could ignore boating laws because there was no enforcement of any kind up there.
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[SBennett]

I know exactly what you mean.

High use/confrontational waters should have wake/wakeless days staggered on odd/even days OR Deer Creek should be wakeless from the island back to the Provo River inlet and Jordanelle should have the Rockcliff arm as wakeless territory.
Not sure what parts of Willard or Pineview should be wakeless, don't go there as much.

With another couple million people headed to this valley in the next few decades it is better to do something now than later.
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[freepunk]

Like the barcode and prescreen idea. Would be nice for both sides.

As a fisherman and power squadron owner I have never had an issue at Willard. The lake is plenty big for all. Not to say I have never had someone come a little close for comfort running a planer but for the most part nothing but positive experiences out there. There is always that "one guy" but the lake has never felt crowded to me even on holiday weekends.

Pineview and Deer Creek are completely different animals. You could wakeless specific zones/days but like it or not the guys with 3,000 watt stereo systems and six figure boats have the same rights as you do. I do not see wakeless zones as the answer and I think making the entire lake wakeless on certain days would be a terrible idea.

The only answer/solution I can offer at either Pineview or Deer Creek is placing a capacity amount on the lake. Hit the capacity and no more boats can be launched. Update this capacity information on an app or online so people know prior to going out. This will solve the growing population issue without increasing costs while allowing all forms of recreation to co-exist.
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[doitall5000]

I have been on Jordanellen and told the lake had reached its boat maximum. Not sure what that was. But I think the Rangers can not give enough on the water patrol, we need to help, but education is not good enough.
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[Therapist]

While Willard is large enough to handle the traffic, the Power Squadron still creates problems there. There is a member on this board, who shall remain nameless, who I have tubed Willard with in past years. Skiers and just plain idiots would " buzz" us. Said person was known to carry a wrist rocket and would bounce marbles off a boats hull, which was backed up by a .45 if they decided to make an issue of their bad behavior.

Personally, I had an incident several years ago on Deer Creek where I was fishing just below the tracks where the big rocks are. I was facing toward the dam and a ski boat was coming the opposite direction. The big problem was the towed skier was going to go between me and the shore while the boat was going to go outside me, pulling the rope over my boat. At the time I was throwing a large buzz bait and I was able to make a cast that bounced it off the windscreen of the boat. The gal driving made a quick turn out into the lake, causing the skier, her husband, to drop off. I was able to keep him in the water for almost 30 minutes by using my electric to stay between him and his boat. Bouncing the bait off the side of the boat kept them at bay. When I did let him get picked up, they of course headed straight to the ranger. When he showed up, I explained what happened and they got a ticket for unsafe operation of a water craft and operating to close to an unpowered craft.

We also have the death of the swimmer at Pineview several years ago. There was also a similar accident at Deer Creek years ago when a jet ski was going out between the Island and the shore while a big cruiser was coming in. The cruiser ran the jet ski over, cutting the kid on it with the prop.

There are close calls every year on all the waters and the Rangers just don't have the tools and manpower to deal with them all. Some how, everyone needs to take a deep breath and think about the rest of the people on the lake. Slow down around other boats, don't ski close to other boats or the shore, use some common sense !!!

[Fowl-Hook]

I hope your Frustration about how things might be better doesn't lead to one more test, one more certification paper, one more fee, one more inspection or one more line to stand in at one more newly created regulatory department.

Human Behavior is what it is and much like testing, schooling, certifying and regulating automobile drivers it does little to provide improved behavior on the road.
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[walleyebob]

Well stated Dog-lover. The problem is that most Rangers are lazy and don't understand fishermen. The regulations needed are already there. Enforcement is the problem.I've had water skiers go between my boat and shore dozens of times when I'm trying to work a jig at a specific depth, fifty or 75 feet from shore, or go by fifty feet out from me and just about swamp my boat. Almost got into a collision one day at Deer creek when a boat just kept going between me and shore. The water skier was trying to show everyone how cool he was and almost collided with me.W e don't need more rules that will be ignored by the play traffic. It's the same problem that most of the world has, a lack of respect and very little common sense.
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[castnshoot]

[quote Dog-lover]I hope your Frustration about how things might be better doesn't lead to one more test, one more certification paper, one more fee, one more inspection or one more line to stand in at one more newly created regulatory department.

Human Behavior is what it is and much like testing, schooling, certifying and regulating automobile drivers it does little to provide improved behavior on the road.[/quote]

I second that!
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[AlexB]

I've been out in my kayak several times have water skiers come way to close. It's really irritating, especially when they have an entire lake and they decide to buzz by you in your little corner.
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[submoa]

I had the same thing happen to me on DC. Guy pulling a skier in about 7 ft of water, wide open. I couldn't believe how stupid he was. I was bottom bouncing in 15 ft of water and it went up rapidly near shore where he went flying bye me. I thought for sure someone would be killed if the skier wiped out.
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[ice_sled]

Low water at Utah Lake is a blessing at times. Keeps a lot of the power Squadron of the water😊 Unfortunately it also keeps the fisherman away also. But as bad as it sounds I enjoy hearing the sound of a prop on the Lincoln Beach reef after being buzzed by a unfortunate soul racing to get between me and the springs👿
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[submoa]

It's amazing how dark our humor gets after being buzzed constantly, or nearly ran over. Last year at the Gorge this woman was pulling a tube and had a boat full of people. She somehow couldn't figure out that she should be watching where she's driving instead of the kids in the tube. She almost ran my boat over, if I wouldn't have saw her and screamed at her, she likely would have. 20 minutes later I saw her again, she was heading dead at the wall by hideout. I secretly was praying she'd hit it, sink the boat and nobody would be injured. I film them now on my phone (also added an air horn to the boat). If I see that again, I will sign the ticket the officer writes. Matter of time before she kills someone.
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[Tin-Can]

[quote ice_sled]Low water at Utah Lake is a blessing at times. Keeps a lot of the power Squadron of the water😊 Unfortunately it also keeps the fisherman away also. But as bad as it sounds I enjoy hearing the sound of a prop on the Lincoln Beach reef after being buzzed by a unfortunate soul racing to get between me and the springs👿[/quote]


AMEN Brother. Had that almost exact experience at UL years ago. Was anchored out in the "hole" on the north east side of Bird Island. A coworker and I, in his 21" Lowe Walleye boat, had been there 30 minutes or so, dead calm morning, low water level (about like now) and the island was perfectly visible above water level. Had a large power boat that had been roaring past us about 250 feet out in the lake where it was maybe 5 to 6 feet deep. That fellow was not pulling a skier, was alone in his boat, but running up and down past the island at a high rate of speed. At the time I was not aware that there are some rock arms extending out from the island in a couple directions. But my fishing partner knew. After several passes past us, and each pass the power boat operator seemed to be edging closer to our location. About the time of his 4th or 5th pass, my partner says to me " that dummy obviously does not know anything about this lake or isn't using a depth finder" . Just as I asked my partner why he said that, the power boat hit one of those rock arms with his prop at about 50 mph. The crunching and grinding was louder than his motor, which came to a sudden smoking stop. Well we had a bit of a laugh out of it then my partner says, "haul in your lines, we need to go tow that idiot in" We did just that. Towed him from the island to the State Park Marina, at about 5 mph.

I have never owned a boat anywhere but here in Utah. But have fished with many friends and coworkers on their boats in other states. I was surprised to learn that Utah has no Boat Operators License and no minimum operators safety course required.

I think that at a bare minimum a Boat Operators Certificate, or license should be required, like a drivers license. Maybe just a one time thing, take the test, pay a one time fee, get the license registered in the DMV same as a drivers license, a Concealed Carry Permit, Motorcycle license, or CDL. Then the DWR Rangers would have some leverage on irresponsible and dangerous boat operators. The license could be suspended, or revoked for similar reasons a drivers license is. The fee paid for the boat license could be put to use to hire more Rangers to be on the water at peak times to monitor and enforce the rule of the waterway.

Just MHO [fishin]
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[Island20]

{Quote Tin Can}

I think that at a bare minimum a Boat Operators Certificate, or license should be required, like a drivers license. Maybe just a one time thing, take the test, pay a one time fee, get the license registered in the DMV same as a drivers license, a Concealed Carry Permit, Motorcycle license, or CDL. Then the DWR Rangers would have some leverage on irresponsible and dangerous boat operators. The license could be suspended, or revoked for similar reasons a drivers license is. The fee paid for the boat license could be put to use to hire more Rangers to be on the water at peak times to monitor and enforce the rule of the waterway.

Fully support your idea Tin Can. Having studied for a captain license I know what the rules are and I get really P.O.[mad]ed when the rules are ignored by clueless idiots that put my life and my craft in danger. I fully support a drivers license endorsment for boat opperator. No more of this "Sorry I did't know". BS.
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