just keep a few
Posts: 3
Joined: 3/28/2008 Status: offline
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I guess it’s my turn to write in…I was one of the fisherman the WCO stopped on the boat ramp at Linesville ( end of the road ) in mid April. I was tying down my rig when he pulled up and engaged in friendly conversation about my day’s fishing and after 3 minutes or so he got out of his truck and walked around the drivers side of my motor looking for some indicator that it was above 10HP, well he found it on my very small emissions sticker. He returned to his truck obviously delighted of the fact he “got” me but he did not immediately inform me of his find. He again engaged in conversation about the weather and I commented I would be returning later in the week after the water warms a bit. At that point the sprung his discovery on me and warned me in an almost personally irritated manner that my motor was a 20HP and in violation and if I returned he would fine me. Well, I never denied to him I was in violation but tried to explain that in my opinion most motors are in violation on this lake but was under the impression unless you do something stupid on the water like speeding around disturbing other boaters, creating an unnecessary wake etc. that I would not be bothered. I asked him “ just what did I do out there for him to be so concerned about my motor size?” ( I run my motor very slow on shallow water tilt to avoid the stumps ) His reply was “ I did not even see you on the water or I could fine you right now, but I know you were on the lake because of the water dripping off your boat”. I guess I was especially unhappy about this because he did not check me for a license, PFD’s, or any fish, etc. just the motor size. After talking with his supervisor at the PFBC I was informed that over the winter this WCO went to various dealerships and found indicators on the motors that would not be on 10HP’s and after my experience at the ramp he is in pursuit of violators. Well I guess I understand his position as he was hired to enforce the regardless how little sense the law makes but my question is.. Why the upbeat enforcement this year? With little internet research one can find out the reason Pymy hasn’t been raised to 20HP ( Pymatuning compact). The reason I and many others bought the 4- Stroke 20 HP Honda is because they are very clean burning and much less polluting than the older 10HP 2-strokes. In my opinion a 20HP limit would attract larger safer boats and fewer of the little aluminum shells I read about when someone drowns, after all isn’t the bottom line about being on the water safely. Oh. And by the way, I saw him again two weeks ago at Espyville marina and he informed me there is no change and he will still fine me and any others that test his warning. He also said there are 2 big tournaments coming up and he will be checking. Good grief…
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