John K. Flores: Staying safe on the water

If you ride in a boat or truck with me to go fishing or hunting, you better have all your licenses and gear in order. I’ve been 32 miles offshore fishing speckled trout around a rig in Eugene Island Block 72 and had two Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries agents climb in the boat to check our licenses, count our fish, and measure the catch.
I’ve been in a long canal not far from Lone Oak Bayou and had enforcement agents check my alligator license and every alligator I had in the boat to make sure it was properly tagged.
Once I was in the middle of a 50,000-acre ranch hunting antelope in New Mexico. I had no sooner drove through a cattle gate and rounded a bend on the ranch road I was traveling, when there sat a NM Game and Fish Department agent waiting in his truck. He too, checked my license.
Then there was the time I was salmon fishing the famed Ausable River in Michigan on Wurtsmith Air Force Base. The river flowed right through the middle of the base and was one of the best kept secrets in the Strategic Air Command as far as duty stations go.
At lunch time, we airmen would grab our fishing poles and hurry down to the river to try and catch a salmon or two. It was great fun.
One day there were about 10 of us fishing, when behind me I heard the slow-moving wheels of a vehicle crunching the rocky pea gravel bank as it pulled to a stop behind me. I knew in that instant it was law enforcement and didn’t bother to look back.
The Department of Natural Resources officer got out of the vehicle with a huge Doberman pinscher escort. Starting down the line he checked every airman’s license. When he got to me, he was cordial and asked me for my license.
I said, “Sir, I don’t have it with me. I forgot my wallet on my dresser this morning.”
The agent then asked, “How much did you pay for that license?”
I replied, “$7.50,” and before he could say anything blurted out, “and $7.50 for the trout and salmon stamp too.”
He patted me on my shoulder and said, “Don’t forget your license next time,” then continued to walk down the line of airmen checking licenses.
I caught a break that day.
This past week, while at the Louisiana Outdoor Writers Association’s Annual Conference held in Lake Charles, I was inside the city limits taking a tour of the Calcasieu River and Ship Channel with a bunch of other writers. Our tour guide was letting us know how we could fish the body of water during the day and gamble at night if we had a mind to.
Just over halfway through the tour, a United States Coast Guard patrol boat with lights flashing stopped us to do a routine safety check.
“It’s your fault Flores,” a couple of the writers let me know. My reputation as a law enforcement magnet preceded me.
There were four boatswains mates that made up their team. All were pleasant, cordial, and highly professional as we made conversation with them.
They checked to see if we had enough personal floatation devices for everyone on board our vessel. They asked to see our Type IV throwable floatation device that’s required for boats longer than 16 feet to less than 26 feet.
They checked to see if we had a fully charged fire extinguisher. And finally, asked if we had a horn, whistle or bell.
The whole inspection went fast and was basically, “check, check, check and check!” We were good to go.
Honestly, these guys are just doing their jobs and there’s no need to get upset because you got pulled over on the road after a hunt or while on the water fishing or boating.
LDWF Enforcement Agent Lt. Scott Dupre patrols St. Mary Parish when on duty.
Dupre said, “The number one violation or probably the most frequent violations that we see are PFD violations and kill switch violations. The tiller switch lanyard and PFD go hand in hand with one another. If you fall out of that boat and you have a life jacket on, well now you’re on top of the water and a sitting duck. If that boat starts what we call the ‘circle of death,’ because you didn’t have your kill switch lanyard on, you’re toast!”
Dupre pointed out any vessel up to 26 feet with a hand tiller outboard (10 horsepower or more) must have a motor kill switch connected via a lanyard to the operator of the boat.
There continues to be a high number of fatalities each year on Louisiana waterways. Most of the time when deceased individuals are found, they’re found not wearing their PFDs.
Dupre said, “People need to be aware that the rule has changed, where any person on board a vessel underway and is under the age of 17 — so 16 and under — have to wear a life jacket.”
Other things that Dupre says his agents see that are violations, particularly in the summer, is people sitting on the gunnels while underway or bow riding.
“Believe it or not, we see people riding on the pedestal seats on the front deck while they’re underway. They’re like waiting to be catapulted off if they hit something. We see people laying on their stomachs on top of the front deck. It’s a flat surface and if you hit something you’re just going off the front of the boat. If you sit on the front deck itself, you must be facing backwards with your feet inside the hull,” Dupre cautioned.
Dupre also warns boaters to not just assume their life vests are in the boat before they head out on the water.
Finally, anyone born after Jan. 1, 1984 is required to have successfully completed an approved boater education course. For more information on boating regulations and safety go to the LDWF website at https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/boating-regulations.
John Flores is the Morgan City Review’s outdoor writer. He can be contacted at gowiththeflo@cox.net.