DC, The sergeant at the lake patrol told us that you do not have to have a permit to use the float tube, but you must be off the water before dark. The regular police will write you a ticket if you fish near the tower, but the City's law (1992) says that a float tube is defined as a "fisherman's float" and is NOT a watercraft. The sergeant told us that we can fish near the tower, but he said we should not tie up to it. Someone recently told me that the police are still writing tickets, but it was for tying up to the screen on the tower and pulling off the screen. If you have more questions, the sergeant at the lake patrol is the horse's mouth (and a nice guy to boot).