Boating Safety on the Flowage

Anyone born on or after January 1, 1989 must hold a Wisconsin Boating Safety Certificate to operate a motorboat or personal watercraft. § 30.678

• Under 10: may not operate a motorboat under any circumstances.
• Ages 10–11: may operate only if accompanied on board by a parent, guardian, or designated adult age 18+ who holds a valid certificate or was born before January 1, 1989.
• Ages 12–15: may operate with a valid safety certificate, or accompanied by a qualifying adult as above.
• Ages 12+: may operate a personal watercraft only with a valid safety certificate — adult accompaniment is not a substitute for PWC.
• Under 16: may not rent or lease a personal watercraft.

One Coast Guard–approved PFD must be on board for every person on any vessel — including canoes, kayaks, and paddleboards. Vessels 16 feet or longer must also carry one throwable Type IV device immediately accessible. PWC operators and all passengers must wear a PFD at all times.

Federal law requires children under 13 to wear a properly fitted PFD while underway on federally controlled waters. The Wisconsin DNR strongly recommends the same practice on all state waters, including the Flowage. Don't let the technicality be the reason you skip it.

Wisconsin law requires slow-no-wake in the following situations, everywhere on the Flowage, all season, without any posted sign or local ordinance:

• Motorboats: within 100 feet of any shoreline § 30.66(3)(ag)1 and within 100 feet of any dock, raft, pier, or buoyed restricted area. § 30.66(3)(a)
• Personal watercraft: within 200 feet of any shoreline § 30.66(3)(ar) — double the motorboat rule — within 100 feet of any other vessel § 30.66(3)(b), and within 100 feet of any dock, raft, or pier. § 30.66(3)(a)
• All vessels: must operate at a reasonable and prudent speed for conditions at all times § 30.66(1) and may not approach within 100 feet of any swimmer. § 30.68

Beyond the rules above, Wisconsin law § 30.68 prohibits PWC operators from:

• Operating after sunset or before sunrise.
• Jumping the wake of another vessel within 100 feet of that vessel.
• Operating in a circuitous pattern within 200 feet of another vessel or swimmer in a manner that creates a hazard.

The Minong Flowage has a 253-acre Eurasian watermilfoil infestation. Every boat that leaves carrying plant fragments can spread it to other water bodies — or reintroduce it to areas of the Flowage not yet affected. Wisconsin law § 23.22 NR 40 requires all operators to take the following steps before leaving any Wisconsin water body:

• Remove all aquatic plants and animals from your boat, trailer, and equipment.
• Drain all water — bilge, live wells, bait buckets, motor.
• Never transport water or live bait between water bodies.