What the Heck?

[edwin]

2 hours ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

 It definitely looks cool as hell.  I don’t know the answer so everyone can enjoy the lake they way they want to though.   

Truer words have not been typed.  Let me summarize as best I can.  My parents built their home in Aunts Creek in the early 70's with a few contractors and ton of sweat equity.  My brother and I had more 'go find something to do' time than we really wanted.  Kids in the neighborhood were non-existent, so we spent time on the water in the blue boat...think 15'6" aluminum hull painted blue, stick steer up front, and a 50hp Merc.  It was basic at best but we learned how to be safe boaters while enjoying ourselves safely all the way into 2019.  The skills that were fine tuned and experiences enjoyed over those years helped make us cognizant of the fun to be had, while keeping in mind the responsibility of what can happen when monkey dodo goes sideways in a hurry.  

I point this out as the wake boat folks that are the ones we all notice fall into two groups (for the most part) - the high school / college kids in Dad's boat that will blast foul music at any time of the day, and flip you off as it's 'their water too'.  I saw the same thing in the 1990's when mountain bikes were getting popular and the horse back riders were being overrun by a-hole kids on their bikes.  Not a good scene.  

Second group are the oblivious ones, often first time buyers with some dough, or moving up from a run-about.  If you spend a few minutes and look at the current wake boats, they have every amenity of the highest end run-abouts, plus they can do a lot of things well in addition to pull a tube.  The challenge is the folks haven't a clue about the mess they're creating for everyone else with the huge wake they leave behind.  Honestly, they really don't get it's.  They're not trying to cause grief for others but they don't know any better.  Go spend an afternoon at the boat ramp and you'll see it on display.

Final thing to understand is why the surf thing is big and gaining momentum.  

- Slalom skiing at a high level is like casting a bait caster into the wind..takes some skill and practice...even once you got it, you're still gonna get some bird nests along the way.  The crashes hurt and the learning curve is steep.  

- Wakeboarding is like throwing a ned rig with an eight ounce weight on an ultra light.  Not as hard as the bait caster, but still a challenge.  Some try and do it for a bit with lots of smiles and laughs.

-Surfing is like casting a 2 ounce practice caster with a Zebco 33.  Learning curve is almost zero, the crashes at 10mph are no worse than jumping in a pool, and people can enjoy well into advanced years without the pain.  It's a social event and a ton of fun to see the smiles.  Everyone can have a turn and it's easy to learn.   That said, as snagged mentions, it's really, really tough for some of the folks to identify a way that it's fun for everyone in the wake boat, while not doing so at the expense of everyone else.

 

 

[vernon]

When does construction of the concrete surf wall all the way around Table Rock begin?

Lookin' to purchase some stock in a couple concrete companies.

Looks really nice at LOZ by the way.

I swear, y'all walk across my lawn just one more time and...........

[snagged in outlet 3]

30 minutes ago, vernon said:

I swear, y'all walk across my lawn just one more time and...........

Quiet down ole timer or we'll egg your house and car.

[vernon]

50 minutes ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

Quiet down ole timer or we'll egg your house and car.

You young whippersnappers are all alike!

No respect!

Now go on and listen to some that dang wrapper music that y'all like so much!

[snagged in outlet 3]

2 hours ago, vernon said:

You young whippersnappers are all alike!

No respect!

Now go on and listen to some that dang wrapper music that y'all like so much!

I got horses in the back!!

[Guest]

20 hours ago, Champ188 said:

For some who may not have been around here long, Edwin is a longtime member who used to post a lot of good information before he sold his bass rig. He is not the enemy. At all. 

did not say he was, and i liked his response, which clearly shows he in not the enemy and is fully aware of the issues we have going on lake wide.

bo

[Guest]

17 hours ago, Noodle said:

Just a thought, maybe not a great one and if it’s been mentioned previously I missed it.  But, my understanding is that during spoonbill season we are required to pass the spoonbillers at idle speed.  Why can’t the same stipulation be applied to wake boats and smaller vessels?  If throwing wakes at spoonbillers is a safety issue, throwing big wakes should be considered across the board, all times of the year. I had a situation in Woolley last year with a wake boat where I was scared to death—thought I was going under.  The wakes are why I will only night fish pretty much from the first of May until the end of September.  I don’t necessarily want to do away with wake boats, but there needs to be more safety regulations so all can enjoy the lake safely.  And, I have nothing against spoonbillers or idling past them, just trying to transfer the courtesy to all of us.

in any tight quarters, one should idle by boats are fishing.  what gets me is i will come off plane and idle by someone fishing up in the kings, and it will not be very long that same boat comes by us on plane and about throw us out.  it has made me, many times, want to pull up the trolling motor and follow them and give them a taste of their own medicine.  almost kind of glad my journey here is getting shorter all the time.  it has become a world that i am not accustomed to.

bo

[vernon]

I guess maybe there's always been about the same number of jerks in the world I just don't think that so many of them used to like to do the same stuff that I do!

Or if they did they didn't do it the same places that I did but now they follow me around like I'm that piper guy with the pie.

[Devan S.]

3 hours ago, merc1997 said:

in any tight quarters, one should idle by boats are fishing.  what gets me is i will come off plane and idle by someone fishing up in the kings, and it will not be very long that same boat comes by us on plane and about throw us out.  it has made me, many times, want to pull up the trolling motor and follow them and give them a taste of their own medicine.  almost kind of glad my journey here is getting shorter all the time.  it has become a world that i am not accustomed to.

bo

I don't disagree with this most of the time but a large number of guys that think their doing someone a favor coming off plane aren't at all. They come off plane too late, push bigger waves by not really slowing to idle, then back to full bore before they really get by you pushing even more water. 

They end up causing 3 or 4 times the headache then if they would have gone by at 20-30 mph on plane and give you a decent berth.  I can only think of a handful of locations from the state line down on the Kings that I can't pass someone at a reasonable distance on plane at a 20-30 mph speed unless your sitting dead center of the lake on a bend(think akin back) or the narrow channel just down from the 86 bridge or if the water is really low. 

Most of the spots I fish are above the bridge and in some cases the river is less than 150' across meaning legally just about every boat going by me should come down off plane and idle by. Since most of those guys run up to 50' of where I'm sitting, cut the throttle from 100% to 10%, power idle through, and get back on plane when their boat is even with mine, I would much rather them buzz me on plane at a lower speed and give me a friendly wave as they go by. Plus if they see me catch a fish 90% drop anchor right there and fish right on top of you.

Don't get me wrong the best method is certain giving plenty of distance, getting to a true idle, and passing the people fishing before hammering down, but in practice very few actually go to that level in which case I wish they would just slow to a reasonable speed, stay on plane, and wave.

 

[fishinwrench]

5 hours ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

I got horses in the back!!

No, you misunderstood.  What she said was..... "You're a horses @$$".