Benalla-based Leading Sen-Constable Brett Tanian, of the North East water police, said 11 out of the 21 boats he stopped on Sunday raised some issue of concern.

“There was no specific offence that stood out, it was across the board, with speeding through to safety equipment,” Sen-Constable Tanian said.

“People have got to remember south of the bridge is Victorian water and remember 0.05 and below 21 years of age it is zero.

“They must also carry a licence with them at all times.”

Sen-Constable Tanian said he believed boat owners on the Border would have been more knowledgeable and was surprised at the high level of offending that he detected.

He said one boat owner was found to be carrying three other people and nobody on board was wearing a life jacket, a requirement in a boat measuring 4.8m or less.

He said a warning and $141 fine was issued with the owner told the same amount could have been applied for each person without a jacket.

There were also several people caught speeding on the lake, resulting in $181 fines.

Under the rules for the lake, there is a five-knot limit applied to boats that are within 50m of another boat and Sen-Constable Tanian said some were caught doing 30 knots.

He added that a rule introduced last year requiring boats not to exceed five knots within 50m of the shoreline was still being enforced through warnings rather than fines, but that situation was likely to change soon.

Following his operation at Lake Hume, Sen-Constable Tanian visited Lake Buffalo on Monday and found seven out of 18 boats were in breach of regulations with the most common offence being no registration.

He said his message to boat users in the North East was simple.

“Use common sense; you’ve got the whole lake to go waterskiing in, move away from the congested areas,” Sen-Constable Tanian said.