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Hi gang, Rick Ostler here from Used Pontoon Boats along with providing you news and views from the boating industry. An interesting article from Long Lake in Lacey, Washington.

Washington Fishing…….on Long Lake

LONG LAKE - This big lake in Lacey is all but deserted throughout April - until the last Saturday of the month. That’s when several hundred boats - and lots of shore anglers - arrive for the opening day of the lowland lake fishing season.

You can just about hopscotch across the lake from boat to boat, and shore anglers fire volleys of casts all day long. It’s a crazy scene - but just about everyone catches trout.

Opening Day is still one of the biggest fishing days in Washington - despite the fact that some lakes now remain open all year long. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife expects about 300,000 anglers on the water Saturday morning.

“We hope that everybody is successful,” said Larry Phillips, state Department of Fish and Wildlife fish biologist for South Sound. “Hatchery fish are there for people to catch and put on the dinner table.”

Trout and Sockeye Salmon Fishing…..in Washington

Fish and Wildlife will stock 3.4 million pan-sized - 7-to-10-inch trout - in Washington’s lowland lakes this year - plus another 76,000 larger trout. That’s on top of the 21 million trout and kokanee - landlocked sockeye salmon - 2- to 3-inch-long fry planted during the spring and fall of 2007.

The once-tiny survivors of those plants are now keeper-sized fish. Yes, the whole idea of opening day is to catch some hatchery trout and eat them for lunch or dinner.

Danny Warren, who lives in Seattle but shops at the Lacey Cabela’s store, fishes lowland lakes 10 or 15 times every spring.

“I’ve got a pontoon boats, and you can find lots of little lakes that have lots of trout - the state stocks them like crazy this time of year,” Warren said as he browsed lures. “I can go out after work and fish for an hour - and maybe even catch a big triploid trout of 4 to 5 pounds.”

Triploids are sterile trout that grow very fast.

Opening Day for Trout Fishing

Opening day is often the only real day of trout fishing for a lot of people, but it’s also a day where new anglers - of all ages - catch the fishing bug and become lifelong anglers, Phillips said.

Phillips said most South Sound lakes are getting generous plants of trout for the opener. Long Lake which usually pumps out a lot of fish on opening day - is a very popular spot, as is Summit Lake especially for kokanee, Phillips said.

Clear Lake, which is outside of Yelm, is a sleeper for the opener, as are Munn and Ward lakes, Phillips said. Even some year-round lakes, such as Black and Offut, are very good bets for the opener.

But opening day isn’t just about catching trout for dinner.

For many anglers, it’s a chance to reconnect with fishing friends - or take a kid fishing for the first time. Bill Hiblar, who belongs to the Olympia chapter of Trout Unlimited, said he won’t fish on opening day without a friend. “It’s hard to find somebody who will go out early enough,” Hiblar said with a laugh. Hiblar said McIntosh Lake near Tenino is a favorite spot.

Anglers also enjoy traditional opening day events, such as the trout derbies at Offut Lake and Fort Borst Pond in Centralia.

Kid’s Trout Fishing Derby

The Lions Club Kid’s Fishing Derby at Fort Borst Park is a tradition that goes back at least 50 years.
More than 300 kids will arrive at the park, register and fish from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Kids don’t have to keep fish to win prizes, as each registered angler gets a free raffle ticket. The kids even get free food and drinks. The Fort Borst pond is for kids age 14 and younger. At Offut Lake, resort guests, boat renters and people on the fishing dock can buy a derby ticket for $1.

The biggest trout of the day wins one lucky angler a new electric trolling motor, but other anglers win prizes as well. “Offut Lake doesn’t get the opening day crowds it used to get before it became a year-round lake,” said Becky Pogue of Offut Lake Resort. “But the fishing will be good, and that’s not a bad thing at all.” Thanks to Chester Allen for this. Chester can be reached at 360-754-4226 or callen@theolympian.com.

Be sure to check out these videos on fishing in Washington here.

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 Hi gang, Rick Ostler here from Used Pontoon Boats with an interesting article from Thunder Bay, Ontario. I encourage you to take a quick trip down to your favourite marine store to see just what they have to offer these days. It’s mind-boggling to say the least.There are makes and models to suit anyone or any situation, from small kayaks and canoes to huge cabin cruisers. Aluminum, wood, fibreglass, Kevlar, steel, and even fabric – you name it, they make it. Two-strokes, four-strokes, Optimax’s, E-Tecs, stainless props, aluminum props, speed props, fuel-injected, carburated, jet powered and electric cover the motor department.

So what’s the best answer when it comes time to buy a boat? Sometimes it’s not what we want, but rather what’s the most practical and sensible for our budget. Money is one of the main factors when deciding what kind of boat to buy. Let’s face it, they range from less than $1,000 and can reach as high as the mortgage on an average house – or more – so your ability to pay factors heavily into the equation.

Over the years, the Bohonis family has had many boats and motors, dating back to the time when my grandparents owned and operated Royal Windsor Lodge on Lake Nipigon.

At the time they had several 35- and 40-foot cabin cruisers to ferry their clients for a week at a time about the big lake, and although this is not the norm today, it was a thriving business back then. These large vessels fared well on a large, rough lake. My grandparents towed smaller aluminum boats behind them, sought out sheltered bays and used them to fish from.

Many of the family boats were used solely for fishing rather than pleasure riding or towing a water skier, and therefore were geared and designed for that purpose. We’ve had the usual 14-foot aluminums, closed bows, open bows with walk-throughs, side consoles, tillers and they all met our needs at the time.

Today we have a very simple outfit consisting of a Princecraft (Yukon model) 15-foot regular aluminum boat with a 25-horsepower Mercury two-stroke motor, swivel leather seats, a Hummingbird fish/depth finder and a custom-made travel cover that sits on a Shorlander galvanized trailer.

The boat is very light, at 220 pounds and with this motor I can scoot along at 54 kilometres an hour with two people and gear.

I chose this set up simply because it’s easy to tow and allows me to launch in places where I could not launch a bigger, heavier model. I often frequent places where the landing is non-existent and the roads are trails, but the fishing is awesome. At times I have lifted the boat off the trailer and carried it to the water’s edge to get into some of the spots I like. However there are downfalls to this smaller lighter setup, like space limitations. There’s also the danger of bigger, rougher water, but I weighed all the options to determine what would suit me and my lifestyle best.

If I had a camp on one of the bigger lakes, and didn’t venture out on other bodies of water to fish, it might make a lot of sense to have a bigger, heavier more luxurious and spacious boat sitting at my dock for the summer.

There is no perfect setup that will allow you to do everything, but boat manufacturers are pretty diverse in what they put on the market, as they know the consumer has different wants and needs.

Some people are content to go slow and enjoy the room of a big platform on a pontoon boat, which is becoming more and more popular with cottagers. I have seen more of these units on the lakes than ever before, and according to the marine dealers, they are selling more of these units every year.

Then you get anglers who are very serious about their passion and want a custom rig. They want it fast and decked out with all the goodies like live wells, bait wells, rod storage, trolling motors, fish finders, casting decks, moveable pedestal seats, the works. If that’s what you want, there’s nothing stopping you from fishing in luxury. Except money, of course. Once again these types of fishing rigs come in all sizes, makes and models.

Motors have changed a lot in the last 10 years and now with gasoline at ridiculously outrageous prices, we all have to think about motor choices.

Two-stroke outboard motors have been around what seems like forever and still are today, however, there has been a huge influx of four-stroke motors and although they are much more costly to buy, they are that much more fuel efficient and their emissions are half of what a two stroke produces. Four-stroke motors are not as fast as two stroke motors and are a lot heavier, but what they lack in those two factors they make up for in mileage and pollution control. A four stroke mid-size motor will go twice as far on a tank of gas as a two-stroke will. I’ve done the comparisons and in most cases have found this to be true.

A brand new 50-horsepower, two-stroke motor will cost you between $1,500 and $1,800 less than the same type of four-stroke motor, but depending on how much you use the boat, it won’t take long to recover the difference in fuel consumption given today’s ridiculously high prices.

With the opening of walleye season just a mere month away, there’s no doubt the marine dealers are starting to get busy selling and servicing for another great summer on the water. If you want to learn more about what’s out there in the way of boats and motors, take the time to go to our marine dealers here in Thunder Bay and talk to a professional. Let him or her show you first hand what today’s technology has to offer.

Don’t forget, you can also get a lot of information online and in most cases all the manufacturers offer technical support right from the comfort of your own computer.

Remember, when thinking about buying a boat and motor, think long and hard about what will be the most practical for you and your family or friends.

Don’t let a salesperson talk you into something that might look good, but does not really serve your purpose. It’s easy to get caught up in all the new technology. Do your research and ensure you buy what meets your needs. See you on the water and be safe. Thanks to Mick Bohonis, tbsource.com/tblife for this. 

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Hi gang, Rick Ostler here from Used Pontoon Boats. An interesting article recently appeared in our local newspaper. I hope you enjoy it. A tragedy half a world away hit a little too close to home for Peterborough’s Survivors Abreast.

A Singaporean dragon boat team capsized in November in Cambodia, causing five people to drown. The tragedy happened across an ocean, but the news was chilling for the worldwide tight-knit dragon-boat community.

The news led the Peterborough dragon boat team to heighten safety at its annual festival on Little Lake, said team member and founder Meredith Cosburn.

Plans include buying a pontoon boat for people to climb onto should a boat capsize, she says. The festival plans to pay up to $10,000 for a pontoon, but would also welcome the donation of one, she said. Bell Canada has always provided a pontoon boat to the Peterborough festival, but this year the team wants to have its own and equip it with a grab rail on each side for people to hang on to while waiting to climb aboard, said festival chairman John Gullick.

It’s intended to have a safety cage around the propeller and would have more ladders for people to use, he says.

Also aboard would be standard safety equipment such as first-aid kits, lifejackets, a two-way radio and whistles.

The festival has always been safe, Gullick said, and has ensured all participants wear lifejackets.

But in light of the Singaporean tragedy, the festival has decided to formalize safety procedures such as making it standard practice to call 911 immediately if a boat capsizes.

There are also plans to have a formal buddy system in the boat to ensure everyone is accounted for, he said.

It may not be ready until 2009, but there are also plans to make a video of a boat capsizing to show festival participants exactly what to do, he said.

 Only one boat has ever capsized at the Peterborough festival - it was a few years ago and everyone was fine, Gullick said.

But formalizing safety rules just makes sense, he said.

“Safe boating is enjoyable boating,” Gullick said. This year’s festival takes place June 14.  Thanks to ELIZABETH BOWER, ebower@peterboroughexaminer.com for this.

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Hi gang, Rick Ostler here with Used Pontoon Boats on news from BoatMax. As Canada’s largest full line Doral and Seaswirl dealer, also offering Bennington Pontoon Boats, BoatMax is excited to announce the opening of its third location in the heart of Muskoka, Port Carling.

Recognized formerly as Proline Marine, General Manager Tom Fulton shared the news with Boating Industry Canada that the negotiations were just completed to re-open under the BoatMax name what was once Doral’s top Sport Boat dealer for many years.

“Without question, this will extend our share of the marketplace, as well as provide a service outlet for all our current and future customers who do their boating in the Muskoka area,” said Fulton.

Sales and Rentals will be offered as of April 1st, the anticipated grand opening.
Thanks to Boat Industry Canada for this.

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The Outstanding Volunteer of the Year for AmerenUE’s Adopt-the-Shoreline program was presented to Louis DeVries, who has helped haul more than 35 tons of trash and debris from the lake since 1996. Photo courtesy AmerenUE

Hi gang, Rick here from Used Pontoon Boats with news from the boating industry.
LAKE OF THE OZARKS - Louis DeVries has hauled 35 tons of trash and debris from a 13-mile stretch of shoreline between Linn Creek and Race Track coves since 1996.

DeVries was honored this week as AmerenUE’s Adopt-the-Shoreline Outstanding Volunteer of the Year.

The award is highly coveted among the die-hards who get out every spring, and sometimes in the fall, to keep the lake’s shoreline pristine. They haul out pontoon boats, barges and shovels to do their part for the lake. Nothing deters these hardy souls.

Over the years, he’s recruited neighbors to volunteer and when he had to, paid helpers out of his own pocket. These days, he has a pretty good crew to help out.

Ask him how long he’s been doing the shoreline cleanup and his response is a quick, ‘as long as I can remember.’ And at 78, he says he has no intention of slowing down. At least not yet. He plans to have his crew ready by April 19 to tackle their 13 miles of shoreline.

DeVries and his wife Janet have owned and operated the Creel Resort at the 28.5-mile marker since 1982. Today, the family-style resort is still open for seasonal rentals. The resort has eight cabins and slips for more than 20 boats. Although there’s plenty to keep DeVries busy around the resort, he always seems to find time to help out.

According to his neighbors, Ron and Lanell Hagar, he was able to recruit them in 1999. For several years the three of them did the work of cleaning more than 13 miles of shoreline.

‘Most years we completely filled two large dumpsters with foam and debris,’ they said. ‘The last two years Louis was able to recruit more helpers and last year Doc Pushers provided a boat and barge, which was a great addition to the cleanup efforts. With a dozen volunteers we completed our cleanup in record time. This came at a good time as Louis’s old pontoon work boat finally had too many holes in the tanks and had to be retired.’

He’s hauled a lot of old, soggy dock foam and trash off the lake and has stumbled across some unusual junk along the way. The most unusual was an old safe that he found lying on the bank.

‘Someone had beat us to it,’ he joked. ‘There was a hole cut in the back of it.’

This year’s theme for the annual dinner to recognize volunteers and kick start the shoreline cleanup was a play on the popular Survivor games with the theme ‘out work, out clean and out haul.’

DeVries and his team will definitely be some tough competition for other crews when the spring cleanup officially gets underway April 1.
Thanks to Joyce L. Miller at lakesunleader.com

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Hi gang, Rick here from Used Pontoon Boats with a MONSTER of an article. Scotland is home to the world-famous Loch Ness Monster, also known as Nessie. But could nearby Lake Norman have a monster named Normie?

Residents say something strange is lurking in the waters of Lake Norman

Some people living along the shores of North Carolina’s biggest lake suspect that some kind of strange, large creature exists beneath the surface. For years, they have told strange stories about a monster in the lake.

And an entire Web site is devoted to the weird phenonemon. If you go to LakeNormanMonster.com, you can read all kinds of strange and sometimes funny stories about the purported creature. You can also submit your own report if you have seen something unexplained at the lake. The many rumors and tales prompted Mooresville resident Matt Myers to create the site.

“People in Lake Norman have seen strange things in the waters,” read a news release from the Web site. “Many dismissed these sightings and the resulting speculation as flights of fancy. In 2000, locals began spreading disturbing sightings of alligators sunning on docks and sand bars. No one believed these sightings, either, until video footage of one of the alligators was delivered to a Charlotte news station.”

Bobby of Huntersville submitted his tale to the site, dated Aug. 21, 2006. “I’ve lived in North Carolina all my life and while I was growing up I’ve always heard the story of the Lake Norman monster also known as ‘Normie’ and I never really believed it until last week when I was fishing off my boat with my dad,” reads Bobby’s tale. “I had a bass on my fishing line and while I was reeling it in I saw a big creature in the lake with huge eyes about the size of a basketball and a striped squirmy tail. At this time I couldn’t believe what I had seen and I told my dad and all he said was ‘Bobby, your seeing stuff,’ but when I pulled in my line something pulled it and then out of nowhere my bass was gone and the creature I saw was gone too. I was in total shock and now I believe there is something in that lake and I am scared to swim in it.”

The site also offers a history of Lake Norman, facts about the man-made lake, a list of the most recent sightings, a form for users to submit their own sighting and a tongue-in-cheek introduction by world famous Swedish cryptozoologist Jan Sundberg, best known from documentaries on The Learning Channel, including “Loch Ness: The Search for The Truth.”

Visitors to the site can also sign up for a free monthly newsletter and purchase souvenir T-shirts, mugs, hats and more.

In addition, Asheville author Joshua P. Warren and his team of paranormal investigators called LEMUR have looked into what is underneath the waters of Lake Norman. LEMUR stands for League of Energy Materialization and Unexplained Phenomena Research. The group has previously investigated the Brown Mountain Lights, the Pink Lady ghost at the Grove Park Inn and UFO sightings.

In April 2003, the LEMUR team got on a pontoon boat and went out on Lake Norman, armed with video and digital cameras. “It was a wonderful way to spend a beautiful day,” reads LEMUR’s Web site. “However, we never witnessed anything out of the usual.

Of course, if Normie was out there, it would literally have been easier to find a needle in a haystack. At least a needle doesn’t move around!”

Unlike Loch Ness, Lake Norman is a manmade body of water. It was created from 1959 to 1964 when Duke Power built the Cowans Ford Dam across the Catawba River to generate electrical energy.

Lake Norman has more than 500 miles of shoreline and some parts of it are more than 110 feet deep.

In addition to Normie, other folks have reported seeing huge catfish in the lake. Some people have said they are as big as a car with mouths large enough to swallow a human.

So how could such weird creatures live in a manmade lake?

Some folks speculate that the Lake Norman Monster and the huge catfish could be mutations caused by the nearby nuclear power plant.

Others think that Normie swam up the river from the ocean and got trapped there before the lake was formed in the 1960s. Thanks to

Thanks to Mike Conley, ourstrangeworld.net for this.

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Hi gang, Rick here from Used Pontoon Boats with inforamtion out of Oakridge, Oregon about a project manager being felon. The project manager of a multimillion-dollar “manufacturing and office operation” proposed in the city’s industrial park is a convicted felon, City Administrator Gordon Zimmerman and Community Development Director Kevin Urban have confirmed.

The two officials identified the man they know as Atherton Properties LLC Oakridge representative Ted Thomas from a 1998 jail booking photo of Ted Combis, 62.

According to court records, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Hogan sentenced Combis then to 57 months in prison after a plea bargain in which Combis pleaded guilty to payroll tax evasion and mail and bankruptcy fraud. He was sentenced to an additional 24 months in prison in January 2005, when Hogan found he had violated conditions of his probation by consuming alcohol, unlawfully receiving Social Security and distributing controlled substances by selling drugs prescribed for him.

The Register-Guard obtained the prison photo on Friday after being directed to old Modoc Record newspaper accounts of Combis’ criminal activity by an anonymous telephone caller who said he is an Oakridge business owner. The newspaper then showed the photo to Oakridge officials, who confirmed he is the man they know as Thomas.

Thomas called The Register-Guard on Friday afternoon to say that he legally changed his name last year in order to make a fresh start after satisfying his prison term. He also said that because of the disclosure he was now resigning from the company and that his past should not reflect on its partners, whom he identified as “Keith, Joe and Rich.”

Atherton, which is incorporated in Nevada and not registered to do business in Oregon, has been secretive about the identity of its owners and its plans for 18 acres of industrial land it optioned a year ago in a $628,000 conditional purchase agreement with the city. The only publicly identified partner is Eugene attorney Keith Boyd, who did not return phone calls and an e-mail inviting him to comment on the matter.

Court records show Boyd represented Combis in a 1995 bankruptcy proceeding that followed a federal raid of Combis’ former company, Thena Inc., during an investigation of alleged fraud.

Combis was the company’s president. Details of the criminal and bankruptcy cases are archived in Seattle and not immediately available.

But Oregon and California newspapers reported that a July 1996 federal grand jury indicted Combis on 48 counts of mail fraud, interstate transportation of stolen goods, money laundering, failure to pay payroll taxes, obstruction of justice and tampering with a witness.

The indictment charged that Klamath Falls-based Thena sent letters to thousands of Northern California landowners, offering to remove dead and dying timber at no cost. When its loggers did so, they also removed 25 million board feet of healthy timber, the government charged, selling it for $15 million. The alleged fraud loss was reduced to less than $1.5 million as a part of Combis’ plea deal.

“This is news to us,” Zimmerman said Friday soon after he and Urban viewed the booking photo of Combis.

Washington County records show that Combis indeed changed his name to Thomas in May 2007, four months after completing his prison term and post-release supervision. According to city records, however, he was identifying himself to Oakridge officials as Ted Thomas as early as September 2006.

According to court records and news accounts, Thena owed $3.4 million to some 500 creditors at the time of its 1995 bankruptcy filing.

Even though federal authorities seized more than $1.75 million in Combis-owned real estate, airplanes, boats and other assets, the reports said, hundreds of creditors never received full payment.

Zimmerman said he did not expect the revelations about Thomas to affect the land deal, which has not yet closed despite an initial deadline of Jan. 1.

The city twice has extended the timeline as it continues to work with Atherton on details of the proposal.

“All I can tell you is that (the criminal activity) happened before he was an employee, he served his time for what he did, and he was a real champion for Oakridge by helping convince these five principals (Atherton partners) to move their business here,” Zimmerman said.

He credited Thomas with persuading the partners to build their project in Oakridge rather than Harrisburg, the other site they reportedly considered for a development they projected eventually could include 800,000 square feet of manufacturing and office space and create up to 545 jobs in enterprises as diverse as printing, logging and racing.

Oakridge has been trying for more than a decade to attract new employers to the industrial park, site of the former Bald Knob mill that once employed hundreds of area residents.

“We vetted the five principals and didn’t find anything in their backgrounds — we didn’t vet Ted because he was an employee,” Zimmerman said. “I am sorry that this has come out now, because it appears to be his personal life and unrelated to this project.

“I’m sure the council will want to have the five principals answer some questions about this, but I don’t think it changes the economic nature of their proposal.”

Zimmerman said the revelations did not cause him to question the judgment of the company’s partners.

“In fact, I think we ought to applaud a company that employs someone who’s been convicted of wrongdoing and paid the price for it,” he said.

Mayor Don Hampton declined comment on the matter, saying he wants more information first.

In an e-mail to the City Council last week, Zimmerman revealed details of Atherton’s first planned business on the site.

He said Record Boats, a manufacturing plant and showroom, is expected to employ up to 100 workers building fiberglass and pontoon boats “under the Oakridge brand by the end of the year.”

He declined to provide further information, citing a confidentiality clause in the purchase agreement.

He said he was able to speak about the boat businesses because Atherton had made that information public in a press release to Oakridge’s weekly newspaper, the Dead Mountain Echo.

Boyd did not respond to The Register-Guard’s request for the same press release.

He said in December that Atherton would no longer provide The Register-Guard any information about the company because it had refused his request that it withdraw a request for Oakridge’s public records pertaining to the development.

“Other than curiosity, I see no public interest or need to know in connection with our dealings with the city of Oakridge,” he said then.

Thomas said Boyd “convinced me to work for the company.”

“My original capacity was to try to find a location that was suitable,” he said. “I wanted to prove that I was a good and honest person.”

Thomas said other enterprises that he previously owned and were listed in bankruptcy records — including Oregon Racing Products and Diversified Fiber Corp. — are “past companies not remotely connected to Oakridge.”

He expressed concern that publicity about his past would unfairly hurt the owners of the company. “I don’t own the company. Please don’t hurt Keith, Joe and Rich. I don’t want the owners of the company to be hurt because of me. Keith (Boyd) is an honorable man, an honest attorney. They don’t belong in a bad light.”

Thomas said he was in Klamath Falls while his former partner conducted the salvage operation that included the alleged theft of healthy trees.
Thanks to Karen McCowan, The Register-Guard for this.

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Hi gang, Rick here again from Used Pontoon Boats with interesting from BREVARD COUNTY, Florida about a man cited for feeding a Dolphin. A captain of a Merritt Island pontoon boat tour got a $321 ticket for allegedly feeding a dolphin in the Banana River.

Officers cited Donald Quinn, 51, of Brevard County, captain of the vessel, Fish Tales, at about 1 p.m., at the Barge Canal locks, Local 6 News partner Florida Today reported.

An undercover officer with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission filmed Quinn and a passenger on the 24-foot-long boat feeding menhaden baitfish to the dolphin, said Lenny Salberg, an officer with the commission.

Quinn’s ticket was for interfering with a dolphin’s normal activity, a second-degree misdemeanor.

The passenger who also fed the dolphin was not cited.

“They didn’t know. They were tourists from Pennsylvania,” Salberg said.

Quinn declined to comment.

“He’s brand-new,” said Peter Wallace of Rockledge, owner of Fish Tales.

“He didn’t know what the rules were, which isn’t any excuse,” Wallace said. “It was his third trip. He’s from Utah. He’d never seen a dolphin before.”

Officers could have charged Quinn under a federal law that also bans feeding wild dolphin, which carries much stiffer penalties.

“That could go up to $5,000,” Salberg said. “It could be as high as seizing the boat.” Thanks to local6.com/news for this.

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Hi gang, Rick here again from Used Pontoon Boats with an article about Keego Harbor aiming to rein in sandbar parties. On almost any given summer weekend, more than 100 boats anchor on Cass Lake’s popular sandbar, a shallow stretch almost a mile long off the lake’s eastern shore.

That’s when the sandbar sometimes turns rowdy, with public urination, drunken behavior, obscene language, and occasionally, indecent exposure.

Some say as many as 500 boats anchor there, but Oakland County sheriffs who patrol the lake put the number closer to 200.

Keego Harbor and the Department of Natural Resources are taking a hard look at the complaints and may soon come up with a plan to regulate the sandbar — the first such plan in the state, and one that other communities may consider.

“It could very well be a test case for other lakes,” said City Attorney Thomas Ryan. “We’re not trying to stop people from using the lake. But we can’t just have wall-to-wall boats anchored out there.”

Although there already are ordinances that prohibit drunken boating and other bad behavior, such as urinating off boats and taking a bikini top off, there are no rules that restrict the number of boats anchoring, or the number that “raft,” a local term for tying several boats together so that people can hop from pontoon to pontoon.

Among the considerations, creating navigational lanes using buoys every 50 feet that would make it easier to cross the sandbar and to break up the large crowds. Keego Harbor also is considering limiting the number of boats that can tie up together.

The rafting and sheer number of boats make it impossible to cross the sandbar on some days, residents said. Some citizens worry that law enforcement would have trouble responding to reports of people needing help. A St. Clair Shores woman testified at a DNR hearing in January that she lost a finger in a clasp on a pontoon last summer and that medical help was delayed because of the crowded sandbar.

“If you took this exact problem and put it on a street, it would not be tolerated,” said Paula Reeves, who lives a block off the lake. Reeves, a Keego Harbor council member, said she has grown disgusted by the antics on the sandbar. “It’s clearly out of control.” The DNR, which held a public hearing on the matter in January, solicited written opinions from residents in February and is expected to make a recommendation to Keego Harbor in April and May. The city can then consider adopting ordinances that the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office and DNR officers could enforce.

But some residents say they would object to restrictions or navigational lanes.

“It’s gotten a bit more crowded in the last few years and more people go out” on “pontoon boats, but I think all you need is a police presence when you get a crowd of people,” said David Osborn, who has lived on a canal leading into the lake for 12 years. “I don’t think you need more regulation.”

Should Cass Lake become more regulated, other lakes might follow suit. The Macomb County sheriff’s marine division routinely responds to complaints about parties on Gull Island in Lake St. Clair. On Torch Lake in Antrim County, hundreds of boaters tend to congregate on a sandbar there.

“Almost any lake that has a sandbar has this situation,” said Sgt. Al Bavarskas, an enforcement officer with the DNR. “It’s not a situation unique to Cass Lake.”
Thanks to BY L.L. BRASIER • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER for this.

PS: Go to their website and read the comment responds from boaters…….

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Hi gang, Rick here from Used Pontoon Boats with an article about Old Barney. Lake Havasu Lighthouse Club recently installed their latest lighthouse replica at Mohave Point, Barnegat Light. Old Barney, as it’s affectionately known in New Jersey, joins the thirteen others already acting as navigational aids around the Arizona lake. This wasn’t like the other installations, though.

As the sites get more remote, the replicas are being built offsite and hauled by pontoon boat to their destination. This particular feat of engineering involved hauling the twelve foot fiberglass body up a thirty foot bluff to set it on its concrete footing. Previously, they were built on site of wood and stucco.

As soon as the volunteers finish the final work on the solar powered, LED light from Canada (which only needs five hours of sunlight a month, by the way, easy to get in Arizona), they’ll be busy installing the next one. Berwick Light from Louisiana is next, along with three others expected to be installed this year.

All the replicas are based on the original lighthouse plans, just scaled down to around fifteen feet or so. It costs $4,000 to sponsor a light, and Barney was sponsored by Ruth Naven and her family, in honor of her father, who grew up near Barnegat in New Jersey. The West Coast lights are on the California ( west) side of the lake, the East Coast lights are on the Arizona (east) side of the lake, and Great Lakes lights are placed around Parker Dam.

The “East” coast lights also include one Canadian light, East Quoddy Head, pictured below, in honor of our nation’s longstanding friendship and good relations. The Lake Havasu Lighthouse Club was previously featured in a story when their floating lighthouse won a sweepstakes last December. Thanks to Sue Clark, at Lighthouse News for this.

Be sure to check out this weeks latest Pontoon Boat Videos

Used Pontoon Boats, By Rick Ostler
Pontoon Enclosures-North American Waterway

Also we value your comments, if you can add more info in regards to this article please do so. Thanks…………Rick

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