FISHING -- The opening day of the lowland lake fishing season is a good opportunity for sheriff deputies to contact a large number of boaters to be sure their vessels are up to snuff.

Spokane County Sheriff Deputy Jay Bailey was checking boaters before they launched at West Medical Lake on Saturday.

He said about half of the boaters he checked were missing one or more of the state or county boating requirements.

High on the list of oversights was the requirement to have an onboard sounding devise -- a boat horn, air horn or whistle.

Other requirements include:

• Current registration on board.
• Registration numbers properly shown.
• Boat drivers 35 and under need boater education certificate.
• Life jackets for everyone in the boat.
• Functioning fire extinguisher.