Do small or medium lakes get rough water?

[H20Rat]

Re: Do small or medium lakes get rough water?

Just curious if the 8900 acre lake I will be boating is likely to ever get too choppy to boat on? I have a 17.5ft bowrider and ive heard my lake can get windy, but its not a huge lake and I cant imagine it ever getting crazy. What do you all think? Lake in question is Cave run in KY.

The lake i boat on is ~8000 aces, and it has sunk bowriders that size... Of course, we have days where it is 50+mph wind, so that helps a little!

Once it gets really choppy, you will want to reduce speed and keep the front end up in the air. You also want to be VERY careful about getting sideways in the waves. Straight into them, or straight to your back. Tack back and forth like a sailboat to get to your destination, but don't run parallel to the waves.

What is more of a problem is how to moor the boat overnight in storm conditions. Many a boat has been sunk at the dock, pontoons have been lifted up and end up upside down on the shoreline. I personally will load up if there are storm conditions predicted.

 

[LippCJ7]

Re: Do small or medium lakes get rough water?

I personally will load up if there are storm conditions predicted.

I completely agree with this, and I do the same especially overnight

 

[infideltarget]

Re: Do small or medium lakes get rough water?

ANY water can get choppy. Period. My grandparents' 4 acre pond has had whitecaps. Heck, for that matter, our swimming pool has had breakers in it from a good thunderstorm.

 

[LippCJ7]

Re: Do small or medium lakes get rough water?

My SIL made white caps in a swimming pool doing a cannon ball.........once....


Sorry

 

[infideltarget]

Re: Do small or medium lakes get rough water?

Hehe...

My wife and I can make waves in the hot tub big enough to surf...but I somehow don't think that is what the OP was referring to.

Threadjack complete. You may continue with the regular scheduled programming now.

 

[QC]

Re: Do small or medium lakes get rough water?

Straight into them, or straight to your back.

Actually, the safest way to handle large wakes/waves that could swamp you is at a 45 degree angle. This way you are less likely to stuff the bow into the next one and it is at a steep enough angle that you are less likely for the bow to slide down and end up broached . . .

 

[mommicked]

Re: Do small or medium lakes get rough water?

Ive and a friend experienced what Silvertip mentioned earlier on Roanoke Rapids lake,long straight shores and necks down near the dam.We were trying to castnet shad at 4am to beat the crowd at the river launch.The water was relatively calm at the ramp but rough as a squall in the open water.We were both almost pitched into the cold water near the Hydro/E dams intake,in my buds 17' bass boat.Beyond stupid I know:redface:.We agreed not to do that again w the wind from the west blowin.There were others who watched us leave the ramp and when we brought back our catch some were going to try themselves.we told them not too and gave some of our bait to some of them.We saw some launching as we left.Others said theyd wait till daylight

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Do small or medium lakes get rough water?

Actually, the safest way to handle large wakes/waves that could swamp you is at a 45 degree angle. This way you are less likely to stuff the bow into the next one and it is at a steep enough angle that you are less likely for the bow to slide down and end up broached . . .

In a conventional boat, yep... I was thinking my old tri-hull, which I had been caught a couple times in big waves. Hitting the waves at 45 degree angles caused that thing to get really wet, really quickly, because of the more or less square front end. At 45 degrees, the boat would roll away from the first wave but when the stern went over the wave and down the back side, it would stuff the oncoming corner of the boat right into the next wave.

 

[RZR2007]

Re: Do small or medium lakes get rough water?

I live on the Gulf of Mexico, and have seen many a boat on the bottom, I've been caught in a few squalls, best bet is to pay CLOSE attention to the weather, know the waters your in, have a plan if you get caught by surprise, a boat can be replaced, a life can't!

 

[dingbat]

Re: Do small or medium lakes get rough water?

Depends on the definition of rough and if you have the right boat for the conditions.

To me, rough is a measure of frequency, not height. I've fished in four foot seas that would'nt spill your drink. I've fished in one foot seas where you couldn't keep your feet under you. We had to crawl to the back of the boat on your hands and knees to get the lines back in.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Do small or medium lakes get rough water?

To me, rough is a measure of frequency, not height.

in one foot seas where you couldn't keep your feet under you.

that would apply to me.
you guys all sound like ya got it pretty good. big lake wise. poor me, i'm confined to a 2k sq. acre lake. but it does get rough when the wind starts blowing. like yesterday for instance.

it was up to sustained 25 mph winds gust to 39. pretty fun. but not for the faint of heart. + it made fun while docking.. even in a secluded bay i missed twice at the dock. third times a charm, hopped off my bow and it was all i could muster (solo boating) to pull the boat back into the dock. wind was blowing my boat off the dock and into the beach. ya get one chance or bad things can happen.
yesterday was actually kinda hohum. i've been out in sustained 30 mph winds too. one time it was calm at night, beached my boat and went to sleep tied up to a tree. woke up to being beached sideways, every breaker pushing me further on the beach. my bad. had to have 4 adults to push me off the beach the next day. about 10 hrs of being pounded sideways into the beach. what a drag. that won't happen again.
so imho, yep. small lakes can get big enough to not want to go boating on.
last summer, ne. largest lake. lake machonoagy had some 6'ers that made the news clear over here in eastern ne. that'd keep me off the lake on that day...
yesterdays waves were maybe 1+ footers. + an occasional larger one. close spaced like usual but fairly consistent in direction which imho is a big plus.. random direction waves are a bummer..

oh, and i agree w/ qc.... 45* angle approach is best attack for most waves.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Do small or medium lakes get rough water?

To me, rough is a measure of frequency, not height. I've fished in four foot seas that would'nt spill your drink. I've fished in one foot seas where you couldn't keep your feet under you. We had to crawl to the back of the boat on your hands and knees to get the lines back in.

Bingo- I boat primarily in Long Island's Great South Bay, which has an average depth of something like 8 feet. A sustained 20-knot easterly or westerly wind can turn it into a nasty, pounding roller coaster. At 30 knots even the big boys head for the dock. In my experience, the passengers (and pilot!) will usually cry 'uncle' before the boat is in any danger.

I recommend a hand-held VHF tuned to NOAA weather, and pay attention to what's going on around you. If you look to the horizon and think 'I don't like the looks of that', then it's time to head in whether or not it actually turns into something bad. Conditions can go from uncomfortable to dangerous quickly, particularly in a small boat.

My .02