Be aware of the new slow-no-wake law!

[BlueRanger]

For those who haven't already heard, it is now illegal to operate a boat at greater than slow-no-wake speed within 100 feet of the shoreline of any lake in Wisconsin. This is primarily meant to reduce shoreline erosion and destruction of shallow-water fish habitat. The only general exception is for picking up and dropping off waterskiers. I sent an email to Randy Stark, the DNR's Chief Warden, and he indicated that the new law does include the shorelines of islands, not just the main outer shoreline of the lake. This is going to have a significant impact on boaters on the TFF, where many of the safe travel areas are less than 100 feet from shorelines. The narrow section of the channel heading out from Springstead Landing is one obvious example, but there are many other areas where following the safest route will put you within 100 feet of shorelines and islands. It will be interesting to see how active they are in enforcing the new law and whether they're more interested in issuing warnings and educating boaters this season, or just start handing out citations. PWCs already had a 200 foot restriction, which remains in effect. The previous law requiring slow-no-wake within 100 feet of any dock, pier, raft or restricted area also remains in effect.

With the early ice-out providing an opportunity to get out after some preseason panfish, it's also important to be aware of the 3 seasonal fish refuges on the TFF:

1. No fishing is allowed from April 1 until opening day on the Little Turtle River within 200 feet upstream and downstream of Popkos Circle Road.

2. No fishing is allowed from April 1 through May 14 from the Lake of the Falls dam to 1000' downstream.

3. No fishing is allowed from April 1 through May 14 within 200 feet of the shoreline of Seifert's Point. I don't think most people are aware of this one, and it isn't marked.

[Brad K.]

So you have to stay 35 yards off shore before you juice it....really...that isn't that far...now the jet-ski's can't go dock jumping anymore..

[Hot Runr Guy]

Thanks for the info Blue. Maybe we'll get guys to slow-down while some of us are anchored by the dam.
HRG

[sureshot612]

blue i have seen your pics . i have a 987c . would like to post some when i come up .would like to add some . any help. thanks

[BlueRanger]

You need to have a writeable SD card in one of the card slots, then you can go into the drop-down menus and turn on screen capture - it's under the Accessories menu if I remember correctly. Then you just hit the "Mark" button whenever you want to save a screenshot (this will also create a waypoint with a camera icon, but you can go into the Navigation menu and delete it if you want). If you're actually out marking a bunch of waypoints, you'll want to turn screen capture back off so you don't end up with a bunch of unwanted screenshots and camera icons on all your waypoints. Remove the SD card and transfer the images to your computer. Depending on the age of your unit and whether you've kept your software updated, they'll be either .jpg (older) or .png (current) files. From your computer, you can upload them to a photo sharing site and post a link here, or just post them here as a message attachment. But if your unit exports them in .png format, you'll need to downsize or convert them to .jpg before posting them here, since for some reason this site allows a much larger file size for attachments in .jpg format.

The best place for Humminbird tips, especially for sideimaging units, is the "sideimaging" group on Yahoo! groups - it has a very active Humminbird discussion board moderated by a couple of factory guys, and it's a great place to stay up to date on new features and get tips on installation, settings and troubleshooting. It also has tons of screenshots posted by people from around the country, so you if you're considering buying one, you can see what kind of results real-world users are getting.

[George]

Thanks for the info Blue! Just might save a few props and lower units too!

[connor]

Blue
For my own edification. Where is Seifert's Point. Most of my time on the Flowage has been spent on the Turtle arm, then on down towards Lake Ten.
Not vary familiar with the other parts of the Flowage.

[BlueRanger]

It's the big one with houses on it that sticks out northeast from the middle of the west shore of the Horseshoe/Townline section.

By the way, I noticed that another question on the Spring Hearings ballot involves the elimination of several fish refuges, including the one on the Little Turtle River.

[Flambeau Riverman]

does this law apply to lakes and rivers or just lakes.
alot of the rivers we fish you have to follow the river channel and are less than 100 feet from shore or your in the nasty stuff stumpfields sandbars
rock piles i can just see the wardens sitting at the launchs handing out
tickets like an early june skeeter hatch.

[BlueRanger]

I hadn't asked, but Randy stated explicitly in his response that the new statewide rule does not apply to rivers. However, local entities can enact no wake and other restrictions on individual rivers. Personally, I've fished several rivers that did have no wake zones, but the information was always posted at the landings and often marked with signs or buoys. Still, you probably should check with the local DNR or Sheriff's Department to be certain.

[Flambeau Riverman]

Thanks this makes me feel much better. I was dreaming of are first trip
in june and on the first day out pulling up to the launch and the warden
sitting there with a big smile on his face handing me a $500.00 ticket.
Still it's going to be ruff running out on the TFF with these new rules
and the water levels being 3 feet below pool.
There was another question i hope somebody can answer.
We put in at the Springstead Landing and i remember last year some people were having stuff stolen off there trailers and tires flatened.
Did they ever find out who was responsible?
We have never had an issue on the TFF thankfully but when we were
pulling away from the landing last october i found myself looking back
at are rig and praying it would still be there and in one piece when we came back. This is not how it should be in Northern Wisconsin.
Thanks Again

[LundAngler]

Blue,
Where is the info posted on the fish refuges? I spoke to Mr. Roth about this last year, but I never asked him where exactly the rules were written down.
Thanks

[BlueRanger]

They're listed in the Wisconsin Administrative Code, and I ran across them by accident while looking for something else.

Go here: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/rsb/code.htm

Type "ch. nr 26" into the upper search box.

That will give you an index page, from there you'll just have to click each of the 34 individual links and read through them - most of them include multiple refuges, listed alphabetically by the county in which they're located. A little inconvenient, but I looked for a list on the DNR site and couldn't find one. There are additional refuges listed under NR 21.15 (NR 21 covers WI-MN boundary water regulations) that affect spring fishing below the dams on the Mississippi at Onalaska, Alma and Red Wing.

[BlueRanger]

I had a few minor things like wiring harnesses and winch straps stolen off my trailer many years ago, and stopped leaving it overnight. But I hadn't heard about tires being flattened. Tough to do much about it unless people want to start taking turns as volunteer night watchmen.

Last year or the year before, I was coming back to the TFF at about 3:00 AM, which isn't uncommon because I have friends up in Hurley who play in bands and like having their pictures taken. As I drove past the road to Springstead Landing, I saw headlights in the parking lot, which I found a little suspicious at that time of the night. I suppose it could have been some campers who had been out doing more or less the same thing I was, but it's not something I see regularly. So I stopped and called the Iron County Sheriff to report the suspicious activity. The dispatcher up in Hurley said, "Well, I only have one deputy on duty tonight and he's bringing a DUI up from Mercer right now and has to get him booked into jail, so it'll be a couple hours, but we'll make sure somebody checks it out." The point, I guess, is that the downside to getting away from it all is that you're away from it all. Video surveillance might be an option if the DNR can be convinced that there's enough of a problem. Here's an idea - if anybody has a trailcam, test it to see if it works through glass - you could put it in the back of your vehicle pointed at the trailer.

[ski2313]

I'm coming up in a few weeks... if I run into Josh I'll ask him what his take is on the new law and how it's going to be enforced. Seems pretty un-necessary on a body of water like this.

[ski2313]

http://www.lake-link.com/boards/forums/viewposts.cfm?Thread_ID=6046

According to the warden on the thread listed above, the new no-wake law only applies to LAKES and not rivers/flowages. Take that for what it's worth. Of course Josh may interpret the law differently. That's Wisconsin DNR law for ya.

[Tom502]

I don't agree with the Warden on the Lake-Link post mentioned by Ski2313.

Here is a partial copy of the news release put out by the DNR when this rule went into effect this spring:

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All boats required to operate at slow-no-wake within 100 feet of shoreline

(Weekly News Article Published: May 4, 2010 by the Central Office)

MADISON – A new boating rule in Wisconsin is designed to make lakes safer while protecting shorelines and improving water quality. The law prohibits boaters from operating their boats at speeds greater than slow-no-wake within 100 feet of lake shorelines.

The law applies to all lakes,including the lake areas of flowages

“The law will make it safer for people wading, swimming or fishing near shore, and it should help reduce conflicts between near-shore recreationists and boaters,” said Scott Bowe, a Department of Natural Resources conservation warden in Chippewa County.

Moreover, boats operating in shallow waters often churn up sediment and chop up vegetation, decreasing water quality, and potentially spreading invasive aquatic species like Eurasian water-milfoil. Slowing these boats will reduce this problem. In addition, eliminating near shore wakes will reduce shoreline erosion.

This change is in addition to current law which already prohibits boaters on lakes from operating at speeds greater than slow-no-wake within 100 feet of docks, rafts, piers and buoyed restricted areas.

Personal watercraft (PWC) operators must also follow these laws in addition to speed restrictions that apply specifically to PWCs. PWC operators cannot operate at a speed greater than slow-no-wake within 200 feet of the shoreline of any lake. They also are required to cut back to slow-no-wake speed when passing within 100 feet of other boats, including other PWCs. This law applies to both rivers and lakes.

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Tight Lines,

Tom502