Lake life is changing

[RDT-G23]

Like I tell my wife when she complains about fishermen pulling up to our dock to fish around our pier - we didn't buy the whole lake. For as many inconsiderate wakesurfers as there are, there are just as many or more jetskis and pontoons that think it's a great idea to follow my rider and cut back and forth across my wake.

On my lake, my experience is that the wake boat drivers are the safest and most considerate group, by far.

You are correct, none of us owns the entire lake. That said, when fishermen cast under my boat into the lift area-they risk three things happening.
1. Hitting my boat with the lure, weight, etc.
2. Snagging their rig on my lift and having to cut their line and leave it if they can’t get it un-snagged. (They better not enter that boat house to try and un-snag it)
3. Me doing something something terrible if numbers 1 and/or 2 occur...

[functionoverfashion]

We're going to Lake Lure in North Carolina next week, and I've been reading up on the rules that govern boat traffic on the lake.

- you must have a permit for ANY boat - even a paddleboard - and there are many limitations (only 1,000 resident annual power boat permits sold, 75 annual non-resident permits, with more daily/weekly permit options)
- no boats over 21 feet in length (pontoons are allowed up to 28')
- no boats over 4,000 lbs (again, except pontoons)
- no jet skis
- headway speed only 7pm to 7am (regardless of sunset times, which seems crazy)
- headway speed only within 75' of pretty much anything
- no paddleboards, kayaks, canoes more than 75' from shore
- no swimming more than 50' from shore unless accompanied by... something I guess but then what, you can't go past the 75' line?

Now this is a pretty small lake - just 800 acres - and I gather it gets very busy. But there must have been some pretty wild days on this lake to bring about such onerous restrictions.

I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun there, we're going with two other families, all of us have little kids, and we're bringing a Sport Nautique (JUST under the length requirement). None of these rules will bother us, in fact, it'll be to our benefit to be honest. We got a permit for the boat, so we're good to go.

I guess the reason I'm bringing it up is that I really wouldn't want to see regulations like this on my own lake, because it seems like a whole lot of rules to solve for a few problematic days or weeks. But if I had to put money on a body of water that might ban wakesurfing, it would be Lake Lure.

[BoatGuy2019]

I get up early to take pictures of the wildlife and I can’t stand those people out for Their morning swims and scaring away the loons.

I get up to take a swim and hate those paddle boarders and kayakers who almost run over me.

I get up to paddle board and kayak and hate that fishing boat.

I’m trying to fish and the stupid water skier is scaring all the fish away.

I’m trying to water ski and stupid wakeboarders are ruining it.

I am trying to wakeboard and the wakesurfers and chopping up the water.

I’m trying to wakesurf and stupid tubers are
Doing donuts and messing things up.

And the guy In the Prius is probably angry that you are towing your boat with your 3/4 ton and ruining the environment. Age old story. Note that water skiers are in the middle of the pack at best.

As someone who wakesurfs and on a very busy lake we try not go out before 9 to be considerate but at the end of the day your hobby does not trump mine - no matter how much you feel your entitled.

Cheers fellas.


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#greatness!!



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[BoatGuy2019]

Respect and courtesy is important. With that in mind, there is a big difference in surf experience between calm and even slightly choppy or lightly wind blown water. Surfing smooth water has a way better feel, and more consistent wave. That is just a fact.

The nice thing is that you can still surf with some chop, but it is in no way the same as calm water. If it is, you need to surf more.

TOTALLY agree. It’s SO much better when it’s smooth. Hard to put it into words, but it just is.


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[scottb7]

Last night I "got lucky". It was pretty quiet on the lake so got a quick wakeboard run in. It was a nice drill type run. I had the 5,000 pound boat, with just a little ballast on port side. (You know because Nautique is the only mfgr, that can't make a boat run flat thru the water).

There were a few pontoons out, and couple fisherman, a skier, a mother in a kayak with a small child.

We stayed away from everyone best we could, but I can see every single one of them having to adjust their path, or direction to minimize my wake on them.

So help me understand this quote "As someone who wakesurfs and on a very busy lake we try not go out before 9 to be considerate but at the end of the day your hobby does not trump mine - no matter how much you feel your entitled."

Us wake boarders and surfers are messing up the calm water of fisherman, and paddleboarders, pontoons...They are not messing up our water. So who is it that feels entitled?

IT IS US

My point is that I have to admit to myself that I am the douche messing up the water for everyone else out there...

EVERY SINGLE PERSON OUT THERE WAS AFFECTED BY ME. NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.

Entitled: "believing oneself to be inherently deserving of privileges."

We are the entitled ones. We are the ones believing we deserve the privilege of bouncing people around. When they in fact do not do this to us. We believe paying for the boat, and keeping away 150 feet or following some set of rules makes it ok.

EVERY SINGLE PERSON OUT THERE WAS AFFECTED BY ME. NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.

[Adrenaline1]

Some good points have been made here so far. It is a choice to move to an "all sports lake" though. In my area anyway, there are lakes that are no wake and electric motor only lakes. I think knowing the rules and following them is key. Be respectful of others, take turns, etc. Many people do not know the rules or care about the rules and I think they are the ones who are really ruining the lakes at least in my area. I find there are people who respect others in the world and others who do not respect others whether they are on a lake or not.

[Kenv]

Oh come on...really. Entitled is not the correct word to use in this case. It just doesn't fit everyone. Case in point. When I finish surfing and head back to the dock and go out in the kayaks ...no way was or am I "entitled" when I was out there 30 minutes ago in my surf boat. You're just using the word wrong in this case.

[NautiqueJeff]

- no boats over 21 feet in length (pontoons are allowed up to 28')

.....we're bringing a Sport Nautique (JUST under the length requirement).

Is this a Sport Nautique 200? I don't think any other Sport Nautique is under 21'.

[bandit628]

I was out on a public 800 acre lake Wednesday night. Only about 200 is marked skiable. Had been boarding for about an hour. We had a fishing boat follow directly behind us and zigzag. I'm confident this was done just to piss me off. I slowed down stopped for about 10 minutes. Then proceeded to board again.

Really frustrated me because of the safety aspect. I understand i make a wake but I try to give others room. If you want to fish go to the non ski zone.


Also helped out a stranger tow there broken down boat down when I first got there. Got back to the truck and found a note with $20. So there are courteous people out there.

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[XBIGPUN66]

We were out today. We set up for surfing and were running our line just fine and after our rider had fallen I was just picking her up and what do I see but an older x24 pro tube edition come zig zagging right towards us and right in our line about 50- 75 feet away with his two little guys on the tube. He gave us a friendly wave. Clueless. I would think a guy who owns a wake boat should understand why that is not cool. He had boards in the racks. I guess he does not understand courtesy or safety.

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[mooneywa]

"Pro Tube Edition" - LOL

The world has shown that having the best and nicest doesn't ensure competence. I'm sure you've seen the lady putting on lipstick or the guy banging out a text at 95mph in their 911 Turbo. And I've seen what some foreign operators of the F-15 can('t) do. But generally speaking, I feel less likely that I'll get in a bad situation with a nice wake boat than I do with a guy who pulled his Bayliner out from under the tarp that has been covering it for the last 3 years.

[DocPhil]

This thread is so full of "GET OFF MY LAWN!" guys its hilarious.

[functionoverfashion]

Is this a Sport Nautique 200? I don't think any other Sport Nautique is under 21'.

I guess they don't count the swim deck. If the registered length is 21' then it's 21' for their purposes, or so it seems.

There weren't a lot of Nautiques in general, far more MasterCrafts. Interestingly, there were quite a few X2's which are 20' so maybe someone would come up to the Sport with a tape measure one day and tell us to GTFO. It's not like it stands out next to an X2 though.

I know a few people (not friends of mine) who got into pissing matches with their mooring fields on our lake (in NH) where the max length was 20' or something. Because what about outboards that stick out, or swim decks, etc. etc.

[LakesideRec]

The City of Prior Lake in MN where I live has jurisdiction to add surface water usage regulations for the lake of the same name.

At the request of a small minority of lakeshore owners, the City organized a working group to consider and make recommendations regarding restrictions on large wake making. They considered an outright ban as well as various lesser restrictions such as 600 feet or 300 feet from shore. However, when the findings were presented for considertaion, any restrictiuons were overwhelmingly opposed by the majority of other lakeshore owners who owned their lakeshore specifically to have access to a recreational lake. It was also proposed that as a fallback, some specific coves be declared no wake zones to favor specific lakeshore owners (NIMBY), but the attorneys shot that down on equal protection grounds.

As a sitting City Councilor at the time, the only plan that seemed reasonable to me was time or day based restrictions. For example "No Wake Wednesdays" for the entire lake. That would allow those who desire calm water a time to enjoy the lake the way they want and others who want to rip it to feel less selfish since the would not be monopolizing the lake everyday.

We ended up not adding any significant restrictions beyond the already in place 150’ no wake zone near shore which I think is a State requirement in MN lakes.

[GMLIII]

At the request of some lakeshore owners, the City of Prior Lake in MN where I live considered adding regulations banning large wake making altogether as well as various lesser restrictions such as 600’ of 300’ from shore. They were overwhelmingly opposed by most residents. It was also proposed that some specific coves be declared no wake zones by some NIMBY lakeshore owners, but the attorneys shot that down on equal protection grounds.

As a sitting City Councilor at the time, the only plan that seemed reasonable to me was time or day based restrictions. For example “No Waie Wednesdays” for the entire lake. That would allow those who desire calm water a time to enjoy the lake the way they want and others who want to rip it to feel less selfish since the would not be monopolizing the lake everyday.

We ended up not adding any significant restrictions beyond the already in place 150’ no wake zone near shore which I think is a State requirement in MN lakes.

To note on the Nautique Boat Owners site on Facebook there is a proposed legislative bill that will explore the effects of wakeboat waves on shorelines throughout the state of NH. I believe that post was created today 8/13/19.