Boat Tags

[WMAMOS]

I got my boat tags today....$125.
This year there is a DNR charge of $5 and a Lake and River Enhancement (LARE) fee of $25. I thought in the past there was just a LARE fee and it was $5. LARE is administed by IDNR so they hit you up twice. I've worked on LARE Projects as a consultant in the past and MOST of those projects are oriented in Northern Indiana. Just a little tid bit I thought I'd pass along. They pinch us where they can.

[WMAMOS]

If you want to see what your LARE funds went to in 2005 check out the following link: http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/lare/...nts%202005.pdf

You'll notice that there were only a few LARE Projects south of I-70: Lake Lemon and Griffey Lake. The rest of the projects were in 12 northern counties.

[MikeAxsom]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Mar-08-06 AT 05:07PM (EST)[/font][p]Hi Wade

As a manager who has been to the LARE well more than once, I obviously think it's a good program. And as a manager at a southern Indiana lake, I'd obviously like to see some extra funds sent this way. But I have to say that the main reason that more Lake projects get LARE funding norht of I-70 is because that's where most of the lakes are.

[WMAMOS]

I acknowledge that fact Mike and thanks for pointing it out but with the increased cost across the board you'd think they could spread the money out a little more and focus some efforts in the southern part of the state to at least make it fair. I don't use those lakes so why should I pay the same as a guy who does or better yet the same as someone who lives on the lake? To qualify for LARE a lake simply has to have public access and I know for a fact a lot of those lakes are completely surrounded with houses and a consultant has latched on to the homeowners association and is driving the boat. All the while the lake sees little improvement and the consultants bread gets buttered.

It just burns me up to see the state gouging us for more cash whether it be for fishing license, ramp fees, boat tags, etc while the state taxes us more and more for fuel, cigarettes, etc. all while we are a state more dependent on the gaming industry than any other. Hell while I was at the BMV today I asked them how much it would be to renew my driver's license since I have moved and still have my old address on my current license. They told me $26 when I know it was only $8 or so a few years ago. Before you know it you'll have to pay to fart.

"My Main Itch" *****.

[MikeAxsom]

Hey Wade. I don’t have ALL the answers. I just pitched in to make a point about LARE. You’ll have to get someone else to address the BMV and gaming, etc. I actually voted for Daniels and I’m having heartburn with some of the things going on too. For example, here at West Boggs it starting to look like a time zone might bisect the lake and the park, leaving the gate house and office an hour different than the campground and boat ramp. It would take me an hour and 3 minutes to respond to a complaint that used to be 3 minutes away. That’s going to make for some interesting discussions about boating speed after sunset, camping checkout times, and such. I might just honor both and go to work on Central and go home on Eastern. That would be a 6 hours day. On the plus side I don’t think the fish will pay much attention to what time the politicians think it is.

Back on LARE and similar issues, I have to agree that the scale sometimes seems tilted toward feeding consultants. I know one service that lakes used to get from IDNR for free is now a requirement that we provide from private engineers. The requirements are much more involved than when the state did the same thing, and the cost is thousands higher. If that wasn’t bad enough, we then learned that the only engineers that would be accepted for the work were those on a list provided by the state office that set up the requirements. The very first engineer I spoke to for a quote had recently retired from the state office that wrote those regs and is now on the approved list. Go figure. But my experiences with LARE have been much better.

[Topwater2004]

I am not going to even tag my boat this year. I am only going to fish on private water. They can kiss my bassboat for all I care. I am not giving the state any more money.

My neighbor, god bless his soul just bought a new Ranger, so I will go with him when he wants me to other than that, I am fishing out on my strip pits and thats it.

I will buy the fishing license, which is up again to $17 now.

[bkehl]

Mike;
Did you come up with a system to return fish to the lake after being weighed?

[MikeAxsom]

No. Not yet. I'd still like to have some input on how that might be disgined without costing an arm and a leg. The research I have done indicates that probably the best method is to have a boat rigged with a tank or tanks, and do the release away from the ramp area. I have large old aluminum pontoon boat that I'd use for that, if I has some help with the rest of the project. We'd need a motor, tank with some release system, airation equipment, pumps, etc. If a plan could work to make that all come together, I think it could be avaialbe to each group doing a tournament on the lake. Anybody out there interested?