Wake Boats

[GThunter5]

ive talked to dnr a few times as have my neighbors. you can hardly sit on your dock while they are out there. Ive asked some go surf the big water. some do, some dont.

there is really not much they can do as they will only enforce the 100' law. dnr was just as annoyed as i was about them

its just a me, me, me culture out there nowadays. people are oblivious and could really care less. i got after some kids that were jet skiing 50' from my dock. they lived a few docks down. i asked them politely if they would horse around on the big water and they did. they were just oblivious to what they were doing. no situational awareness.

school is back in session so the lake will be quieter, once hunting season starts ill have the lake back to myself again.

 

[GaMudd]

We live on Jackson, which is a small lake compared to Toona and Lanier and the wake boats are brutal out here. People are having their floating docks broken off and one guy installed rip rap last year, and the waves were so rough, the rip rap washed into the lake. The waves are getting so big, they wash over sea walls and erode them from behind. We stay off the lake on the weekends to avoid the madness. I can't see what DNR or anybody else can do about it. How do you tell a guy who spent $60K (a guess) on a boat that he can't use it?

 

[Batjack]

How do you tell a guy who spent $60K (a guess) on a boat that he can't use it?

Same thing they told the folks that bought that high winged 1970 Plymouth Daytona Super Bee....sorry that's not legal to use in public any more. Only problem is getting the power that be to pass any laws to that affect.

 

[j_seph]

If it states in the GA Law it is illegal to cause damage from your wake, you see them causing damage and get their boat number then they should be charged to fix damage. Law is the law right?

 

[The mtn man]

I was in my 22ft tracker fishing barge on chatuge this summer and had one come real close, i was stationary, i flipped my bow around with my troller to hit it head on for fear of getting rolled, and took a nose dive flooding my pontoon deck with 6 inches of water. Washed everything , cooler , fishing gear and all to the back.

 

[Browniez]

I was in my 22ft tracker fishing barge on chatuge this summer and had one come real close, i was stationary, i flipped my bow around with my troller to hit it head on for fear of getting rolled, and took a nose dive flooding my pontoon deck with 6 inches of water. Washed everything , cooler , fishing gear and all to the back.

Same for me this year. It was just a 55 foot cabin cruiser coming off plane and turning left into me. Guy missed us by 20 feet and **** near flipped us.

 

[The mtn man]

Same for me this year. It was just a 55 foot cabin cruiser coming off plane and turning left into me. Guy missed us by 20 feet and **** near flipped us.

Ive took on so much water in the little 16ft boat from the wake boats ive had to turn the pump on lots of times.

 

[greg_n_clayton]

They need to ban them from our lakes they are bad news.

I am hearing some chatter on the local lake pages up here that residents are beginning to come together to approach Ga Power about them on their lakes up. The boatsbwith water bladders are doing alot of damage to boat houses and seawalls !

 

[acurasquirrel]

Here on Lake Wylie we had a meeting to discuss this same thing, banning of wake boats. Of course the responsible wake boat owners showed up to pled their case.
The outcome was the responsible owner said they would do a better job of policing other wake boat owner who were not as courteous.
We will see how this works out.

 

[greg_n_clayton]

I guess I need to get out more. I had never heard of a wake boat till I read this thread. They sound like trouble.

They are boats that have a water bladder in them Nic. They pump water into them to add weight so that they sit down in rear and throw a huge wake. They started as wake board boats. Now, they have evolved so as to create a wake so big that people actually "surf" on a surf board like they surf in the ocean. We are talking about waves as big or bigger than those on the atlantic coast !!

 

[Nicodemus]

They are boats that have a water bladder in them Nic. They pump water into them to add weight so that they sit down in rear and throw a huge wake. They started as wake board boats. Now, they have evolved so as to create a wake so big that people actually "surf" on a surf board like they surf in the ocean. We are talking about waves as big or bigger than those on the atlantic coast !!

Thank The Good Lord I do most of my fishing where those things can`t go.

 

[HermanMerman]

I usually fish Island Creek on Sinclair in a kayak. If I see one of those wake boats coming, I am hauling tail for cover. I have resorted to fishing at night just to keep clear of them.

 

[Beenslayin]

This is why I quit fishing the bridges at West Point. I got tired of them bouncing me off of the pylons. I had a wake boat come through and he didn’t even slow down. I had a wave come over the side of my tracker it almost knocked me out of the boat. Checked my bilge and it had about 10 inches of water in. I looked at the back of the transom and it was only like 2 inches above the water line and sinking. I panicked, put my vest on, turned on the bilge and pulled my anchor. Between this and too many experiences like this, I sold my boat and now do electric only lakes.

 

[howboutthemdawgs]

If it states in the GA Law it is illegal to cause damage from your wake, you see them causing damage and get their boat number then they should be charged to fix damage. Law is the law right?

Sounds easy but it’s not. It’s usually not one wave that causes the damage. It’s death by a thousand cuts. Not to mention I can’t sit on my dock 24 hours a day trying to catch boat registration numbers. That law is pointless 9 times out of 10.

 

[j_seph]

Surf rod, braided line 6 oz sinker, below a 12 inch slip float and a rod holder. Sinker will keep end of line stationary, 12 inch slip foat pegged at about 30 foot deep so sinker doesn't pull it under. Float will stay put, reel line tight when you see em coming, loosen drag a little bit and place in rod holder. Bad when a boat runs over your line when your fishing and gets wrapped in prop

 

[jocko755]

I think the cruisers coming out of Bald Ridge put up a bigger wake than a wake boat. If I was a land owner, I'd rip rap. The docks must surely take a beating! Must suck to be on a main busy creek. They have a right to recreationally use the lake - the same as anglers. The only way for anglers to beat it is go early or late until cold weather. There will be no enforcement or changes in laws - just for wake boats. Laws do apply to ALL boats. Lanier can be an ocean in the south end on weekends!

 

[LTZ25]

Only thing good about $4 gallon gas was it slowed down the use of all wave makers

 

[Lindseys Grandpa]

Yea , im surprised there hasnt been some buzz about the wake boats, it seems to be a new fad , they have done some serious damage to the shorelines of our resevoir's. I even encountered one on seed lake , had my small boat and almost got flipped.

Man one on Seed would cause a problem no wider than it is. I am almost surprised Seed dont have a HSP limit.

 

[RamblinWreck]

Seems to me there are enough folks living on the shore of Lanier paying dock taxes to make a pretty fair class action suit to change the law. I have no problem outlawing/restricting wake boats - they cause damage. G'bye. Take it to the ocean, dude.

I do my best to video 100' wake violation and get the boat number on video, then call DNR on cell or VHF to lodge a complaint. I know in one case it got someone a big ticket, because they didn't have PFDs or something and I saw them get escorted to the ramp. Booya.

 

[mizzippi jb]

Man I fish out of a wake boat with a min Kota 72 volt. 24 foot supra that I got to pull around with a 3 axle trailer. I got rod holders on my tower to troll for crappie and surf at the same time. Y'all cut me some slack