Agriculture stations boat check

[Malibudude]

It's really not that big of a deal. They've been stopping boaters in and around the Lake Havasu / Colorado River area since April. It's a two second interview. "Where were you boating? How long has it been out of water?" They hand you the flyer that Stewart posted and you're on your way. Personally, I can't figure out how that's stopping the spread of mussels but there you have it. Incidently, it didn't matter if I had declared my boat out of water for one day or one hour. It was the same process and I was on my way in seconds.

Returning from Havasu back in April I got the same questions and information flyer. Then the inspector ran his hand along the underside of the hull, and walked to the back of the boat. He returned and asked if the boat had any other drain plugs besides the one in the rear and if I had removed them as well. I said I had and we were on our way.

In my opinion, the state knows there is little they can do to stop the spread of those mussels to CA lakes, other than making boaters aware.

Probably true....what about our trailers?

That doesn't address how to get rid of them w/o getting it completely dry. The ballast tank/bags won't get dry nor will the water in the engine. So this concept of dring isn't totally affective, granted it's better than nothing. How do they know if you're vessle is infected is there a simple test? How do you clean it up other than dryinh it out? Cleaning is all fine and dandy but say I'm coming from the Colorado and then want to hit Shasta on my way home?

Headed to Shasta from Colorado this summer. Guess we'll just plan for another few poker hands while waiting at the AG station. I'll bring along a couple of Red bulls for the inspector to see if we can this done before his/ her lethargy leads to another day on the calendar passing while getting the inspection completed. If we paid them more money would the inspectors lethargy and apathy go away. If so how much do we need to pay?

When are you coming?

[NvBoarder]

There's an easy way to avoid the Ag Checkpoints...don't come to Cali.

Or go around it!

[NvBoarder]

Just an update on this subject. Went to Cali on Saturday and expected a little delay at the Ag check because I was pulling the boat. No delay because it was CLOSED! Opened not even a week ago and already unattended, good way to spend 22 million dollars of your money.

[Jimmy Buffett]

If these buggers cause that much damage, seems like a little extra time at the checkpoint is a small price to pay.

Here some genius decided to release (at least one) northern sneakhead fish into a local lake. These fish are native to Asia and can live out of water for 3 to 4 days. A fisherman caught one and thought it was something else, so he released it. Another smart move.

Two weeks ago somebody caught what they thought was a pirhana. Turns out it was a Pacu.

My point is non-native species are a huge problem, so better to prevent them than to cure them.