WAKE on metro lakes

I would just like to post my frustration with the amount of disrespect fisherman get on the lakes these days by recreational boaters. In particular the ” wake boarders”, these guys get within 15 yards of your boat throwing 4′ tight rollers at you when you are in the middle of the lake or 10 yards off the bank. I feel like these guys are seeking us bass guys out because they know there is a good chance they can swamp the front deck if they get close enough. Where is the law enforcement on the lake these days? I can get yelled at for going to fast in a ” no wake zone” yet these idiots can drive 10 yards off the bank throwing 4′ wake and thats ok???

I remember lake home owners in the metro throwing an absolute fit over shoreline erosion from ” fisherman” running to closer to the bank. Now I see these same idiots driving their Mamba wake boat along the bank and they think its the greatest thing in the world!

What can a guy do to make a difference in this attitude towards the fisherman and the lakes themselves. Between thisand the milfoil spraying and harvesting they are going to turn every metor lake into swimming pool! Am I alone in being absolutely outraged by this?

The hardest part about wakeboarders and jet skies is I can never tell how far to lead them with the AR.

Jk

Toss a foot long muskie lure their way. They’ll understand in the ER.

Muskie fishing at its best..lol probably could end up with a better hook percentage then really targeting them.

Keep the TIP number in your cell phone.

1-800-652-9093

I fish and I wake board so I can go both way on this one. I do keep my distance when boarding cuz it would urine me off too to get hit by waved. But I also hate it when the fishermen / women sit and fish right in the middle of the channel to get onto the other side of the lake!!!

I’ll probably get chew for this post but oh well.

Not from me life!

I have been on both sides also and some of us just need to let it go.

Try the Croix on a weekend no wakes anywhere!

It is still better than working so enjoy the open water while you can. Happy fishing guys.

well last friday, I took a guy from work and my 2 boys to a lake that we are working on a house at. the lake is lake johana. they have speed limits on that lake and certain times you can go that fast. I was siting probably no more than 15 yards outside a set of docks when this wake boat came whizzing by for the 12th time, nowing that I have kids in the boat, he was I bet 15 to 20 feet away and that caused my youngest, zach to fall face first intot he water, he isn’t good at rolling over onto his back, he layed there struggling to get his face out of the water, good thing I had a guy in the back of the boat that droped my pole and grabbed bobber out of the water and into the boat. about 3 minuets later, that same boat was ripping around the corner, I picked up the only rod that I had rigged with more than 1 hook on it and I looked right at him, he turned out into the middle of the lake and after that, I didn’t see him or the boat along shore. now I don’t care if they board and ski and stuff like that, but the next time my kids hit the water due to that, I will chase them down and slap em. hopefully then someone other than me will see what they are doing and turn them in. but as far as I can tell, it is the people that have property on the lakes that think they own every squar inch of the water. lake johana is only a 200 acre lake, by the time your boat was planned out and running top end, you need to shut it down. makes no sense to me, but getting tired of it.

shane

I was out bass fishing on a metro lake last night with my brother and his freind and we were in a small 14′ lund and the people in the wakebboard boats were coming within 10 yards of us. at one point I thought that the boat was going to flip

Grab their boat license right it down and call the Sherriff or Tip.

will they do anything to the other boater or is it a we can’t do nothing because we have not seen them do anything. I mean I was when my son went in, not becuase he was in the water, but the fact the waves where so bad he went from his knees into the water, that was just wrong IMO. anyway, I am just curious if they will do anything to them boats or just ignore the report.

shane

i know all about your problem. wether bass or panfishing, or muskies on small lakes, theres always some duma## setting a huge wake on you, 2-4 feet high water skiing or wake boarding. ive bean very tempted to throw a huge swimwizz(muskie bait) at them. and one of these days i will. those retards cant understand that some people enjoy being on the water and catching fish- of any class or size to impress there kids- mine is a sweet 2 year old, and is now scared of being thrown into the water because of what she calls a (big no-no) wave. you water sport people should stay on minnetonka and other skiing lakes!!!!!!!

I think what some of us fishing the popular waters should be doing is bringing a video camera along on our outings. I know m camera will zoom in to get boat numbers. A complaint is only a complaint unless ther is proof, or the authorities actually see it happen.

I wont suggest throwing a lure at anyone.. sinking a hook into an idiot is only going to encourage violence, or land you in jail regardless of how close they obviously were to get hooked on a cast.

All I can say is, keep making complaints and eventually something will happen. Only PWC’s curently have a law on how far away they must stay from another craft… while a 40′ Bayliner can run 20′ away from you legaly.

A camera is what its going to take to get immediate actions taken if the other boat is operateing wrecklessly and the authorities dont see it.

Personally.. I think there should be more boating laws with the increased amount of traffic on all lakes… and there should be some type of license(like drivers license) that has to be obtained to operate a boat. There should be something stating how close boaters must stay from others, especially those participating in water sports.

I enjoy both sports as well. Even when I am wakeboarding we get angry at the other wakeboarders. I still do not think a boat pulling a wakeboarder is going to get that close to another boat. They would be riding at least 55’ behind the boat. If they are actually 15 yards (45 feet) away they are way to close and put the rider in danger. You can always go talk to them and tell that nicely that they are driving too close to boats. We have been talked to by a few boats in the past. Most of them are skiers that do not like us throwing rollers down the course they are skiing.

Occasionally we get fisher people that like to pull up and start fishing in the line we have been riding. I would think they would have noticed we had been riding that shoreline for hours. Most of the time after a couple passes they move since I would not want to keep getting pounded by our wake.

Like most of us I have been on the receiving end of the wakes as well. It is not fun battling the large rollers. We just need to all get along. The boats are only going to get bigger, heavier and throw bigger wakes.

Am I the only one who sees a problem with these guys running a ” bank”. Does anybody pay attention to the 150 feet from shore law anymore? Why do waakeboarders, skiers, jet skis have to get so DA*# close to shore I will never see why we should have to put up with these guys thinking its ok to throw 4 foot rollers around like tis nothing and we should just accept it. I strongly believe that this will have to come to an end before there is nothing left to our lakes

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Occasionally we get fisher people that like to pull up and start fishing in the line we have been riding. I would think they would have noticed we had been riding that shoreline for hours. Most of the time after a couple passes they move since I would not want to keep getting pounded by our wake.

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Metromuskie-
I thought this quote of yours was interesting to the fact that it seems to state exactly what the initial poster was frustrated with and that is that wake boarders/skiers feel that the lake is more theirs and just because they where fishing down a ‘line you where riding’, it doesn’t give them the right to continue doing it if it jeopardizes the safety of fisherman.

I don’t think fisherman are not blame either by this because I have been blown up or past by too close by fellow fisherman but it just seems like the issue is more prevalent with the younger wakeboard/skiers that ‘feel’ the lake is more theirs.

I agree with how busy the lakes are these days, I think there should more restrictions/rules on lakes to at least make people think more about other people out there. Just my 2 cents.

I’ve had several instances here in the Metro and fishermen will always come out on the bottom. The TIP line is a joke. Call it on weekends and nobody will answer and during the week, maybe they’ll get back to you, hours later.

I’ve had the Sheriff’s deputies in Ramsey county tell me that the shoreline owners own the lake out to the middle. He called it an “easment”. When I informed him that the case, “Johnson vs. Seafort” said that wasn’t the case, I was threatened with disorderly conduct and told to leave the lake or go to jail. I’ve heard from others that were told the same thing.

Also, I’ve noticed a trend in Ramsey county especially, where the shoreline owners are putting in bigger and bigger swimming areas that are off limits to fishermen. State regs call for a 50 by 50 area, yet the local sheriff won’t enforce the laws.

In the last two years, I’ve been harassed by water skiers, canoeists and kayakers like never before. One incident a few weeks ago had a canoe type paddle between me and shore on the river. When I called out to him, he swore at me and gave me the finger. Words were exchanged and he actually came at me, threatening to throw me out of my gd bassboat. I fired up the old 250 and aimed it at him, or I do believe he’d have tried to climb in with me. When I called the sheriff, I was told the river wasn’t in his jurisdiction and to call the freakin Coast Guard!

It’s time we fisher types got organized and started working at the legislative level or we are going to be run off of the lakes.

You ride close to shore because the water is the calmest there. I am sure I have been closer than 150’ before. I do not think 150’ is all that far away from shore. I know Prior has buoys out at the 150’ mark and they are pretty close to shore.

Dan – I guess I should have worked on my wording. I know we do not own the lake. We keep our distance from boats that are fishing. Typically the few boats that come near us to fish go right up by shore.

Wakeboarding is a big industry now. I too get annoyed by all the wakeboarding boats on the lake. When I started we used to be the only ones on a lake riding. Now there are at least three boats.

I recommend you don’t resort to violence.
Have your digital camera available, write down the boat numbers, and call 911….state they are threatening your life, if they are doing so. You’ll get a response……

Also,
Don’t go anchor up or start trolling on an area that the wakeboarder is using…….

It is all about respect on the water.

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It is all about respect on the water.

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Gary said it, but I sometimes feel that the ones that think they own the lake have none for anyone on the lake or even the lake shore owners. if my kid falls into the water again due to someone that needs to be busting 2 to 4 foot rollers in 4FOW I will have something to say to them, just like I do when i have cars pass my house doing 30 or more instead of 10. this is getting crazy and it will take a horrific accident to get someone to open thier eyes and finally try to step in and do something about it, by then it will be too late.

now that is my opinion.

shane

metromusky… 150′ is too close to shore!

I dont care how long you have been wakeboarding… It tears up the shoreline and promotes erosion.. fisherman or not, it DOES damage to the lake. Throwing huge wakes through the shallows also rips up weeds.. or speeds up the process of spreading undesireable weeds.

I dont think this discrepancy would be taking place as often if those practicing watersports would use larger lakes in general… many more complaints are going to come from a small lake with 2 miles of shoreline and 3 skiers(etc) than would come from a 2000+ acre lake with 12 wakeboarders.

I believe the origional lake in question was one of these smaller lakes. Metromusky made the comment for *fishermen not to set up in their path*… well, with only 2 miles of shoreline, and a boat traveling close to 30 mph… how long between laps on that small lake at 150′ from shore?

Less than 5 minutes.

Damn! That’s Bad!! You’re a better man than me. I probably would have chased the guy down and beat him near death.

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well last friday, I took a guy from work and my 2 boys to a lake that we are working on a house at. the lake is lake johana. they have speed limits on that lake and certain times you can go that fast. I was siting probably no more than 15 yards outside a set of docks when this wake boat came whizzing by for the 12th time, nowing that I have kids in the boat, he was I bet 15 to 20 feet away and that caused my youngest, zach to fall face first intot he water, he isn’t good at rolling over onto his back, he layed there struggling to get his face out of the water, good thing I had a guy in the back of the boat that droped my pole and grabbed bobber out of the water and into the boat. about 3 minuets later, that same boat was ripping around the corner, I picked up the only rod that I had rigged with more than 1 hook on it and I looked right at him, he turned out into the middle of the lake and after that, I didn’t see him or the boat along shore. now I don’t care if they board and ski and stuff like that, but the next time my kids hit the water due to that, I will chase them down and slap em. hopefully then someone other than me will see what they are doing and turn them in. but as far as I can tell, it is the people that have property on the lakes that think they own every squar inch of the water. lake johana is only a 200 acre lake, by the time your boat was planned out and running top end, you need to shut it down. makes no sense to me, but getting tired of it.

shane

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