Fish Cop Boat Check Stop… includes storytime!!!
 

On my way home from Manitoba I encountered a Sask fish cop boat check stop. Interestingly, at the same time a truck with Alberta plates was in front of me and even more interestingly the guy had two kayaks in his truck bed and to top it all off, he ignored both the sign that said all watercraft, canoe, kayaks must be inspected and ignored the whole weigh station check stop.

Eventually the fish cops gave pursuit and pulled the guy over. Seemed like quite the comical chain of events. Two fish cops jump out of their truck, a likely boring day turned into an action adventure.

We didnt hang around long enough to see if there was any gunfire exchange.

So question…. What kinda fines would a guy like that be facing? What about other boat check stop fines?

What are the ins and outs of the boat stop check stop visit? Like the dos and donts of a successful visit, successful for the boat owner, not the action seeking officers!

Prob nothing, guy plays stupid oh I never saw it, thought that was for motor boats etc. They're starting to get a real hard on here for mussels etc. Drain your boats etc etc.

I was told fines range from $140 to $1,000 for failing to stop.

I make sure the check usually goes fairly quick. Can't do anything about the lineups though, as other people don't seem to be as prepared.

Make sure keep the plug is out.
Make sure all engines have been lowered so water drains out of the prop.
Make sure livewells are emptied and wiped out.
Make sure any anchor lines are left out to dry.
Make sure there's no seaweed hanging off your trailer.

The funny part is, I did everything on my list before the boat checks started. It's all part of good boat maintenance.

If everyone did this to start with, the longest part of the inspection would be uncovering and re-covering your boat.
I only uncover a portion for them to climb in. When they see you've done everything else, they don't spend hours looking, as they know you probably know the drill.

So officer's doing their jobs are now "action seeking officer's"?

Here in BC the fine for not stopping Is around $350. It was posted on a t the boat inspection stop east of Fernie on highway 3.

Id be looking for action! I get bored easily

Wasn't aware BC was doing it too, good to know. It's something that is worth their while to do in my mind. Easy with the pram, on roof of truck, whistle into a car wash and hit it on the way out. They never asked about anchor ropes when I went thru at Walsh though.

We got one just outside of cherry grove and have had nothing but great conversations, pull your plug and lower your engine to get water out etc.
They just walked around and checked the hull etc and asked where we were coming from etc
Also got some fishing intel from them too as they get to chat with lots of people which was a bonus....now blow by these check stations and yup ya might not have such a good experience....

Do you have to stop if you have float tubes or belly boats on or in your vehicle?

I blew through one with my kayak on top of the suv.
Forgot it was even on top.
Buddy jumped on the road behind me trying to flag me down.
I stopped and backed up.
All good. No ticket.

I wouldn’t bother if I had float tube that wasn’t inflated in the vehicle. Same for a paddle board or something. By virtue of it being deflated you are compliant. Rules prob say you should but I wouldn’t waste my or their time on it.

Funny enough they have an inspection station just at/ past Golden and I turned early because we had to grab a take out pizza we ordered on the road. I pulled into the station as soon as we were back on the highway. Apparently they called me in as a blow by. Got a talking to and no ticket, prob because my wife was holding a take out pizza haha.

Fully inflated tied down in the box of a pick up on a back road. Was stopped by CO's, they just asked to see my fishing license, they never asked about the float tube or payed any mind to it, it wasn't an inspection check stop on the highway though. Never crossed my mind to stop in, Learned something new, thank you.

The governing body states that inflatables do not have to stop at AIS Watercraft Inspection sites, but you still do have to Clean, Drain, Dry as with any other watercraft.

You know, all of the above actually. Its nice to get both the fact and fiction stories from all parties, nice to read the regs personally and ideally know them better than the officers do in case they get creative. I really like and appreciate officers that are bang on with their facts and interpretation on the law. I dislike like it when officers get overly creative in their interpretations or potentially become inventive, i like it best when the governing bodies build law properly and the upholding of those laws are executed accurately.

Ken i read some of your material a few years ago regarding boat check stops, dont remember much but people like me learn from people like you. (And im still fantacizing about buying a nice little ocean boat, ie 18’ trophy)… and then i encounter places like The Narrows on Lake Manitoba and suddenly i refresh those ocean boat buying lusts!

Not that i want to run past boat check stops… really just curious what that poor stoopid bass turd faced yesterday for being a very bad dawg with his kayaks immediately after the clearly marked KAYAKS TOO signage!

So what happens when your boat doesnt have a drain plug? What happens when it rains and you have rainwater in your boat? Stop and suck it dry with a shop vac before the inspection station?

Ken you stated a few years ago that you “debated” with folks at a station regarding your ocean boat not being in a sane category as run of the mill freshwater based craft? Or something??

What about evening/night driving with a boat, what if station closed?

Curious how they define it because they called me on a blow by and my boat is 14’ Stryker, technically just an inflatable though. It was fully inflated and strapped down on the back of my trailer.

One of the last boat inspections I stopped for (with a kayak) I asked the two 20 year olds what they were going to do about that guy, and pointed to a truck and canoe not stopping. They told me it was illegal not to stop. I rolled my eyes.

Marty I was stopped several times by great and sometime overzealous seasonal boat checkers, and was told several times that 'ocean only craft are exempt from deep search because there are no zebra mussels in the ocean'.

Generally when I am stopped they ask where I was, I tell them Pacific, they say have a nice day. I give them twizzlers or peaches and they give me shamois. Good interactions. I gladly let them inspect water intakes and props, ensure the plug is out, and the REAL good ones check to see if the trailer bearings are cool to the touch. Extra treat for them.

Now in rare cases I got the other kind. One I remember was a heavily motivated training seasonal worker at Vermilion with a German Shephard with massive nails that she absolutely insisted HAD to go inside my boat to inspect, to which I refused and watched her face turn tomato red. I was already inspected at Hinton, but she did not care. I told her that I had been informed ocean boats were (maybe at the time?) exempt, and she could inspect the bottom of my boat, the props and intakes, but I was not moving the coolers, traps, gear, so she could stick her face into the live wells.

She huffed and puffed and whined about not being able to train her dog or her new summer crew and I told her to look behind us, there were a half dozen little boats waiting to be inspected plus a couple drive by's while she was being important. I did not tell her about them by the way.

I have NO issue at all with any inspection station, they are doing I would hope a good job and these mussels are a real problem. The issue I have is multiple stops on the same day. Now I do not even go past the Vermilion station, which is not on my way home anyway, AND is on the wrong side of the double highway. I actually drove past it east, then back west just to be compliant, then back east again.


Now on the way home I have to pass a couple stations so I always get them to sign a note saying where and when I was inspected so I am not pulled twice.

If the stations are not open they are not open. That being said the last time I came home I slept in the weigh station parking lot at Hinton and waited for them in the morning. They said 'ocean boat?' I said yep, they said take care drive safe. :)

Exactly my thoughts! Probably 2 guys voluntold to perform that shift. I’ve pulled those shifts myself here in Montana. People give you the dumbest excuses on why they didn’t stop despite there being 1 mile of signage. Then they have the nerve to get angry when you make them turn around to get inspected. Don’t even get me going when you issue them a citation for it! Guess what all, if you own a boat and you travel with it then get used to stopping! It’s part of owning a boat just like sitting at the dmv, shopping for insurance or getting oil changes is part of owning a car!

If it floats you stop ... seem pretty simple to me ...
The inspectors are always friendly ... it only takes a few minutes ...

Just the facts. Read the link.
 

The specified penalty for not stopping in AB is $324.

https://www.alberta.ca/watercraft-inspections.aspx

The do's and dont's? Don't be a smartazz. Pleading ignorance is never considered a defensible argument. The message has always been the same: clean, drain, dry your boat.

Fer cryin' our loud if it doesn't have a drain plug it doesn't have a drain plug. If it's raining your boat is going to be wet. If the inspection station says CLOSED.......it's closed.

People will lie about anything and you know they do. Just because a boat owner says the last body of water the boat was in was the Atlantic Ocean doesn't mean an inspector is obliged to give the boat a pass.

Stop at all inspection stations, answer the questions and expect to get inspected. It's pretty simple.

Voluntary compliance is always preferable. Next stop is enforcement action.

So at the sask border stop i encountered the other day, there was an authentic fishcop with authentic fish cop truck when buddy blew by. So buddy not getted far. But when i pass Alberta boat inspection sites i generally see one plain AB govt marked truck but no lights, likely no officer, so if people don’t stop, then what happens? Are the RCMP called? DOT? F&W or whatever we call them today?

Next time your at one of these boats inspection stations just ask them as I am sure they got something in place to deal with the non compliance individuals.

Or call them directly....If you have questions about the Fisheries (Alberta) Act legislation changes, watercraft inspections or aquatic invasive species please call: 1-855-336-BOAT (2628).

The signs going into BC for boat check stops are far better compared to Alberta signs (as I almost missed the Alberta one on the way back). They are also set up in the same place as usual (bottom of the hill as you pull into Golden) so you expect to see someone there.

These are literally 30 seconds, you don't even get out of your vehicle stops quite often (if you are just coming from Alberta) and have not been any further east recently.

As far as I'm concerned - I'm fine with these stops. They are stopping the spread of invasive species.

AB Watercraft Inspection Stations.

I forget the terminology applied to watercraft that don't report for inspections...

The only thing that the inspectors do is record the event for statistical purposes. They do not record tags, but do record vehicle/watercraft identifying information. Again this is just for statistical purposes and not to hunt down violators, no agency is called for enforcement.

Fish & Wildlife and CO's collaborate with watercraft inspection stations in AB and often hang out at inspection stations for the purpose of enforcement/bringing in those who fail to stop. You could expect F&W/CO's to be present at stations during peak periods of travel but very infrequently at other times.

In BC, watercraft that do not stop are reported to the RAPP hotline. The same should be done in AB, but it isn't.

Used to be, if your drain plug(s) were not pulled in BC, you got a warning. In Alberta, you get a ticket. Has this changed?

I was curious if how well signed they are would be mentioned at all. In Sask and Manitoba, that is really the only beef I have with inspection stations. I've heard of people getting significant fines for driving past, and maybe in those situations it was done intentionally. But that lingers in a guy's mind a bit and it has made my encounters slightly frustrating.

My first time through an inspection station was in Swan River, MB. Probably not a lot of folks here are familiar with the area, but there's a small provincial park area on the north side of town. Has a bit of a tree line around it, not thick but it does limit visibility. So I'm heading southbound coming from a trip to Porcupine Mountain, just hitting town limits and I see a sign for the watercraft inspection station ahead. Right at the same spot where there's a sign indicating a speed limit change from 100 to 80. No indication of direction or distance, so I just reduced my speed as much as reasonably possible given there was traffic behind me. And then I see the station through the tree line, this might be 75 to 100m past the sign. Too late. I've got a truck camper in the back, towing a boat and I've got a pickup behind me and a semi behind them. I'm not risking an accident trying to make the turn. So I find the first reasonable spot to get turned around and head back while thoughts are running through my head that they are going to have somebody hot on my tails to write a ticket. I got to the station, acknowledged I went past. They said they noticed me and were hoping I would turn around. It was a cordial, productive conversation. I explained that where they set up is not a great area, given the lack of visibility, location of their signage and people just transitioning from highway speed. For some people, the fear of getting a ticket for driving past might override their decision making as to whether slamming on the brakes to make the turn is a safe decision and there is potential for an accident. They agreed and said they were planning on addressing it with their supervisor. My next time through Swan they were set up more inside town limits, in plain view of the highway. Much better location.

The next time I saw signage for a station was a few years later in Sask. I was driving through a fairly densely treed park. Same kind of situation. Come around a curve at highway speed, see the sign. No directional signage as to where it is located. There was a grid road about 100m past the sign, but there was nothing set up anywhere close to the highway that I could see. Basically same situation all over again, I'm trying to figure out where a station is that is not in plain view from the highway. I cut my speed, turn the hazard lights on. Eventually I've gone a couple km and start thinking I should just find a decent spot to turn around, which I'm not having a lot of luck with. I'm not about to make a three point turn off a twisty highway into the few small approaches I'd seen. Eventually I find myself probably 5km from the signs and say screw it. I end up at an intersection into Manitoba and figured I'd google the station locations. No cell service. Decided to have a look online later when I did have service and they did not have any info available. If they want people to comply they need to make a reasonable effort to indicate locations.

Then last year I did a trip up to the Flin Flon area. Co-worker was up a few weeks before me an said the inspection station wasn't set up at the usual spot at the turnoff to Clearwater. Googled prior to my trip and near as I could tell that location must have been done for the year. Nothing set up when I went by on my way up. Two weeks later and I'm on my way home, not giving the inspection station a second thought. As I pass that intersection for Clearwater I see the station set up. Lovely. So now I'm asking myself if I was in a daze and didn't see the signs or what. Again, I'm a bit anxious about having driven past while I continue driving while looking for a safe spot to turn around on a busy highway. Headed back to the station and ask if I missed the signs or what the deal was. Nope, all good, only for northbound traffic. I was curious later and decided to look online, now the schedule is showing for that location. But no mention that it is only for northbound traffic.

My only frustrating experience actually going through an inspection station was near Moosomin, SK. My boat had been decontaminated immediately after getting off the Red River at Selkirk park the day prior. Tag still on my winch, paper work in my console. Had just gone through this earlier in the morning driving past Headingly (15 minute wait, 2 vehicles in front of me). I pull up and I'm relieved there isn't a lineup in front of me, thinking this is going to be quick and easy. Wrong. The fella manning the station starts asking all kinds of questions and wants to look the boat over because "he doesn't like the way Manitoba does things". Ok, I'm not exactly in a rush so I roll with it. One question he asks is if they took the large round cover off in the splashwell and ran water in there. I said I didn't believe so, but I did think they pumped water in from the outside of the drain plug hole. He said that isn't adequate. So now he wants to decontaminate inside around the bilge pump. Tries taking that round cover off and it won't budge since that area gets damp and fills with dust. So now I'm fighting with it. I don't have a hammer with me, or anything with a decent blunt edge to tap with. Eventually opened up my large hook removing pliers and tried twisting the cover off. The pliers snapped and I slammed my knuckles into the cowling. I'm surprised that all I managed to do was let out a long sigh. I think the fella started realizing that this whole thing might have been a bit much and asked me about my boat storage methods and when I intend to fish next, etc. I had no plans of fishing for at least 3 weeks so he eventually said I could carry on. I did make a suggestion that if Saskatchewan's stance is that Manitoba's decontamination process isn't on par with their expectations that it might be worth having his higher ups open up some dialog with Manitoba and maybe come to some sort of working agreement. I told him we were fortunate it wasn't a heavy traffic day, if there were 10 vehicles lined up behind me in that 30 degree heat there likely would have been some cranky people to deal with. All told I spent about 40 minutes of idle time that day between the two inspection stations, broke a pair of pliers and bruised my knuckles. For a boat that had already been decontaminated. I don't have an issue with the stations, I agree with the reason for having them but the provinces should be working together to recognize each other's decontamination process. And having a bypass line for those who have been through a station previously probably wouldn't be a bad idea. Pull up to the bypass line with paperwork in hand and tag and tag in tact, thumbs up and carry on. No half hour wait in line for that 30 second interaction.

The ones I’ve seen are pretty hard to miss.

Should be $1000 fine for not stopping and complete forfeiture if found to have mussels on the boat. Irrigation canals will be ruined in southern Alberta. BC and Alberta will be aggressively impacted.

Spoken like someone who has seen the damage mussels can cause!

Pulled in at Jumping Pound (I think that's what it was called) on the way back from Revelstoke a couple years back. They had a dog sniff around my boat. No mention of going inside. Took all of 5 min and got a floating key tag and inspection paper. PERFECT
Just this year pulled into the one at Golden. I'm driving my motorhome and buddy pulling my boat with his truck. I stopped and they said I can't park there. Said that's my boat, not moving (was not in the way of anything). They asked the usual, where you coming from, where and when was the last time your boat was in the water? I live in Calgary and last September at Crawling Valley. First time out this year sir. They asked to look inside my boat ??? WHY I asked? Cause we need to see inside. I said you untie cover and retie it. Big puzzled look on their faces. Then they said have a nice day. They gave me a pamphlet of all I needed to know about clean boats. :thinking-006: Took less than 5 min :sHa_shakeshout: