I boated on patoka lake in southern Indiana this weekend and got pulled over by a conservation officer after being on the water 15 min. He gave me a written Warning for a noise ordnance and told me my boat was too loud and he told me i had to put it on the trailer untill i change the exhaust. Anyone ever heard of such nonsense?

What exhaust do you have?
Welcome to POWER boating. You could be driving a cruiser with a nitro engine and they would let you pass.

How loud is too loud? Did he have a db meter? I've heard of the same thing on the lakes where I boat but the officers do not carry db meters...totally subjective and B/S!

I would have asked to see his db meter. I have head of people not getting tickets when having asked that. They have no way to prove the noise level without it. However, cops do what they want to do, when they want to do it. It has gotten really bad for much more than just noise. We say don't smile when they are around or you will get arrested just for being happy...

Hey Josh, I've boated on Patoka for 15 years, 6 years with my
34' Vyper never had a problem. Maybe they are starting to crack down. Is your exaust stock ? Havn't been on the lake yet this year maybe I should prepair for the worst.

Most lakes have noise restrictions these days. Do some research on what the acceptable db level is on your lake. If you have no mufflers or baffles, you're pretty much illegal on any body of water with restrictions.

Bring it to Michigan and let her roar!

Matt got pulled over last month and tested over. Got a warning. He won't get pulled over for 6 more years.

He told me the DB level was 80max and that i was over the limit. He didnt have a meter thoe. Im positive my boat is over 100db but without proof thay cant enforce it. And i looked and cant find any restriction on patoka. its not posted anywhere.

80db would be very low even for the J34 test. Most state limits are around 90db for the J2005 stationary test.

100db is really loud. Usually boats running near 100db are running dry exhaust.