Northwest Fishing Reports

I have a really stupid question for you guys that has to do with tabs for your boat. If you have a boat w/o a trailer, (I just lug it around in the back of my truck.) So do I need to get tabs on the boat? I didnt think I needed any but yesterday I saw a man with tabs on his car topper. So whats the deal fellow anglers?

You do not need to register if:

Vessels less than 16 feet in length with a motor of 10 horsepower or less if used only on non-federal waters

If you just are fishing freshwater you are good to go.

Some people just register anyway to cover them if they go crabbing with it.

[quote="kickerfish"]You do not need to register if:

Vessels less than 16 feet in length with a motor of 10 horsepower or less if used only on non-federal waters

If you just are fishing freshwater you are good to go.

Some people just register anyway to cover them if they go crabbing with it.[/quote


Cool thank you. :thumleft: That would explain the car topper I saw last night

I have a follow up question: What constitues federal waters? Would that be like national parks and the coast? I ask because I just restored a 15-foot livingston with a 5 horse motor. The person who owned the boat before me put tabs on it every year it appears (up to 2003).

Here's a site that list Federal CG Navigable water/water ways-----
http://www.uscg.mil/d13/exhibit11_k1.pdf

gpc wrote:I have a really stupid question for you guys that has to do with tabs for your boat. If you have a boat w/o a trailer, (I just lug it around in the back of my truck.) So do I need to get tabs on the boat? I didnt think I needed any but yesterday I saw a man with tabs on his car topper. So whats the deal fellow anglers?

Here Is a link to the Washington Adventures in Boating Handbook. This handbook is pretty much the same thing as the drivers book you get at the DMV except for boats. The link takes you to the section of the book about registering and titling your vessel. I think the only thing you will need clarified after reading this document is, what constitutes non-federal water?

http://www.boat-ed.com/wa/handbook/register.htm


Does anyone have any documents to back up a definition of non-federal or federal waters?

Thanks for that federal waters list Eddie L; I will be getting tabs come July 1st for sure. Thanks for that link too Bigastrout, as a first time tabber it is extremely helpful.

[quote="Fish-or-man?"]Thanks for that federal waters list Eddie L]


Glad to help! I am not sure about Eddie L's document though. It looks like a list of navagable waters not a complete list of federal waters. I am not sure its a true representation of the definition of federal waters. But if you buy tabs then it doesn't matter.

What are federal waters?
Some Federal bodies of water are Puget Sound, Hood Canal, Lake Washington, Lake Union, Lake Sammamish, Columbia River, Snake River, Lake Washington Ship Canal, Capitol Lake, Pend Oreille River, Walla Walla River, Yakima River, and other bodies of water effected by the ebb and flow of the tide and are on or bordering federal land. For further clarification of federal waters, please contact the local marine law enforcement office in the jurisdiction.

Here’s one for ya……
I have a 12 foot Livingston that has got to be from the early 70’s. It has been passed down to me from several people. I have never licensed it because it doesn’t need to be in WA. I want to use it in Idaho. In Idaho ANY boat with a motor – electric or gas, has to be licensed. I’m ok with that….. BUT, they say I need something to prove it is mine. How do you prove something is your’s when the boat probably never came with paperwork to begin with? If it did it was probably lost before I was born.

Wilkstr wrote:Here’s one for ya……
I have a 12 foot Livingston that has got to be from the early 70’s. It has been passed down to me from several people. I have never licensed it because it doesn’t need to be in WA. I want to use it in Idaho. In Idaho ANY boat with a motor – electric or gas, has to be licensed. I’m ok with that….. BUT, they say I need something to prove it is mine. How do you prove something is your’s when the boat probably never came with paperwork to begin with? If it did it was probably lost before I was born.

Looks to me like you dont need a title, or licensing since your boat is older than model year 2000:

http://www.co.kootenai.id.us/department ... ensing.asp

You can operate on boat from another state in Idaho for 60 days without buying Idaho Tabs or Hull #'s

I got nailed years ago fishing out of a 6 ft inflatable with a 10hp motor in Tillamook Bay. Ignorance is no excuse (they didn't take my ignorance) ouch

Then this brings up my next question, about how much do tabs cost for a small aluminium?

$19.25 plus $4 sub agent fee plus .5% taxable value of the boat with a $5 minumum. So your lookin at $28-35 for a 12'er

In washington all boats with internal combustion engines must be licensed. Can't tell you for sure about electric but just try and buy any size boat with any size motor. You're paying for the license. Now all the money from boat licensing no longer goes into the general fund. It goes to maintaining boating facilities all over the state. Good bang for the buck.

Bodofish wrote:In washington all boats with internal combustion engines must be licensed. Can't tell you for sure about electric but just try and buy any size boat with any size motor. You're paying for the license. Now all the money from boat licensing no longer goes into the general fund. It goes to maintaining boating facilities all over the state. Good bang for the buck.

Not quite true Bodofish follow this link to see the washington state rules

http://www.boat-ed.com/wa/handbook/register.htm

Mike Carey wrote:I got nailed years ago fishing out of a 6 ft inflatable with a 10hp motor in Tillamook Bay. Ignorance is no excuse (they didn't take my ignorance) ouch

10hp on a 6' inflatable!? That must have been a screaming dingy!!!:rambo:

It's the federal waters thing. On the west side all the salt and "navagable waterways" are considered Federal. Columbia up to Richland, Snake up to Davorshack (sp). Lake washington, Lake Union. I guess they try and bang you if you could be using the boat in any of those areas. I have a 14' sorenson with a 9.9 and it has to be registered. It wasn't when we first got it but we got a nasty gram from the dol and had to register it. It might be the address is Camano Island. It's kind of a grey area and for the small amout it costs, it's not worth my time to to try and weasle out of it. FWIW all the little boats on either side of us, some of them little 8 footers with the two or three horse engines have registration #s. So you may be techincally right but......... the registration is cheaper than getting a ticket. If you get one then you pay for both.

Eddie L Posted: Tuesday, June 05, 2007 7:18:09 PM


Rank: Petty Officer

Joined: 5/1/2007
Posts: 22
Points: 66
Location: Seattle
Here's a site that list Federal CG Navigable water/water ways-----
http://www.uscg.mil/d13/exhibit11_k1.pdf

Wow! That's a lot more than I thought. When I called the USCG and asked about it a while ago (funny had the same discussion with a friend a year or so ago when he bought his 12' 9.9hp) They told me it was pretty much if there was an official chart for the area it was federal.