Best Georgia lakes for ski boats?

[WaterBullDawg1980]

Wanted to throw this out there for the boaters familiar with our lakes here in Georgia.

Any personal preference?

I have always been on Lanier due to it being the closest to my home, (About 25 minutes East of downtown Atlanta) but am growing tired of the hurricane season type water conditions during summer months. :( My LSV bounces around like a 6 year old after eating a mess of chocolate and drinking a gallon of Coke.

I have been to Sinclair, Oconee and Hartwell and the water is generally smooth for even an 18 footer. The only drawback is they are each about an hour and fifteen minutes away while Lanier is only about 30 minutes away. Lanier is simply too hard to find a good spot to ski/wakeboard. To top it all off, there are a good many boaters on it that have not familiarized themsleves with simple boating rules and I spend too much of my time trying to avoid an accident.

Good parts about Lanier include the many different places you are able to pull up to a dock to fill up on gas and eat. Plus, when taking out friends its sometimes nice to have the ever famous "Cocktail Cove" to visit for an hour or so. Although, that can be another headache all by itself. And lastly, I believe Lake Lanier may take better care of its camping sites etc due it being the main tourist lake in Georgia due to its proximity to Atlanta.

Hartwell always seems to be nice and laid back which is more my style.

Haven't been on Sinclair or Oconee enough to know much about it. I have had one person tell me that Sinclair can be a bit dangerous and is not very clean. But this is pretty much the only person that has given me an opinion on it, so who knows. Also I should add that what I have seen of Sinclair was gorgeous, but only seen a very small part of the lake for one weekend.

I have wanted to check out Allatoona as I have heard it is a goregous lake.

Thoughts? Or feel free to chime in if your own lake is worth me packing it up and driving to visit!

[moombadaze]

Been to Lanier for vacation 3 seperate times for about 5 days each visit. Love the lake and camping areas. We had smooth water all the time except for one day. Now most times we were there was during the middle of the week and really didnt see other boaters out and about. Now I will say we were there on a saturday for the Atlanta Moomba Jamboree and that day it was rough! That was about the only time I wished I had a bigger boat. Kaneboats was with us in his boat (outback ls) and he took some water over the bow-Im sure he will give his take.

Been to Sinclair one time and really like that lake a lot. Water was smooth during the week and on the weekend it was not bad at all--would not want to ski a course thou. Didnt think sinclair was dirty by any means. Funny thing with that lake is the water level rises every evening and drops every morning about a foot. Wolfeman131 and Saltyoaster live on this lake and im sure they will give you there take on it also. Wish I had a place there.

Havent been to any other lakes in georgia but allways willing to try when time permits.

Dont forget there is going to be a minijam on sinclair july 10th---great fun and great people to meet. Not an official skierschoise event-just a bunch of crazy Moomba Maniacs/owners hanging out. Were coming up from florida and theres some comeing from as far away as Wisconsin.

[OrangeOutback20]

I liked Lake Burton the few times we been but it does get busy on holiday weekends. We usally end up down on jackson and I can almost always find some good water. Anything close to ATL like Lanier and Alltoona are always Packed. Oconee has a lot of submerged trees sinclair is pretty clean unless there has been heavy rain latly branches and brush get washed with the runoff. The same goes for jackson after heavy rain.

[WaterBullDawg1980]

Moombadaze:
You are right on about Lanier. During the week it is rarely that bad, but come holidays and weekends I feel the same way you do. It is literally the only times I wish I had a larger boat.

I need to get out to Sinclair come spring. It really isnt that bad of hike and I have a close buddy who has a home there and has always been pestering me to come out with him. I cannot recall what exactly is down there that makes the water level rise and fall like that, but I believe it is some powerplant or water treatment facility as I have passed right by it many times on my way to Savannah and Hilton Head. I have heard the fishing there is awesome as well. Something to do with changes in the water temp due to whatever facility is on the lake pumping warm water into it. Maybe I should put a trolling motor on the LSV and try it out. :)

I have already decided that the wife, babies and myself are going to the minijam. Cannot wait! Quick question on that. Is this an overnight thing? And if so, are you all planning to stay somewhere on the lake?

[wolfeman131]

Hey Dawg & Orange -

We must all live pretty closer to one another. I'm in the Grayson/Snellville area and my lake house is on the east side of Sinclair in the Island Creek area. We looked at lakes within 3 hrs of Atlanta and I loved Burton & Hiawassee, but you better have thick skin (colder mountain water) and big bucks to live on those lakes. Lanier & Hartwell were nice, but I had prior experience with Army Corp controlled lakes and didn't want to hassle with that again. I bet anyone on those lakes that didn't have a deep water dock during the drought would agree with me.

There are some sections of Sinclair that can get muddy and stay that way for a few days after heavy rains as it's a man-made lake fed by many small creeks and streams. Thankfully we had a great real estate agent who talked us into a little further drive for much better water. Sinclair is often cited as the cleanest lake in GA.

The water changes as GA Power pumps water back and forth between Sinclair and Occonee as well as letting it out of the Sinclair Dam. The fishing is fantastic and there is a lot of activity around the powerplant (no water treatment facility - that crap is in the Chattahoochee River).

We'll be around for the mini-Jam all weekend so you can plan an overnight or make it a day trip. Whatever works for you and the family. There are a few campgrounds around the lake, you can primitive camp on an island, rent a house or get a room at one of the local hotels. I'll post up some more info as we get closer or send me a PM.

[WaterBullDawg1980]

Yep. I could be right next door to you Wolfe and Orange. I live in Grayson. I bet all 3 of us are not 5 minutes from each other. We should have a Moomba convoy to Sinclair! :)

Good info on Sinclair. I will absolutely be making Sinclair this season. Hopefully will get to do some early morning fishing as well!

I may have to hit up a close friend of mine. They actually have 2 homes on Sinclair. One is named after their business. Tax reasons I am sure. You ever see a Malibu out there and it is probably him. I believe it is a red VLX.

Not sure if the wife would do the primitive campsite. May look into renting a house for a 3 day weekend.

Going to be goooood times!

[kaneboats]

Have to agree with Daze-- loved Lanier on a weekday but not on the weekend. Sinclair is beautiful and we really enjoyed it. Looking forward to doing it again.

[germa001]

A lot of people from the Atlanta area head to Alabama to do their boating. Our lake is full of Georgians. As a matter of fact our neighbors at the lake live 2 minutes from Lanier but bought their lake house in Alabama to get away from all the boat traffic. Personally I like Oconee also. You do have to watch out for submerged objects though.

[MOOMBA_97]

Lake Blackshear in Cordele is one of the best. Eufala is good too. That could go either GA or AL I guess.


Monty

[OrangeOutback20]

Yep. I could be right next door to you Wolfe and Orange. I live in Grayson. I bet all 3 of us are not 5 minutes from each other. We should have a Moomba convoy to Sinclair! :)

Good info on Sinclair. I will absolutely be making Sinclair this season. Hopefully will get to do some early morning fishing as well!

I may have to hit up a close friend of mine. They actually have 2 homes on Sinclair. One is named after their business. Tax reasons I am sure. You ever see a Malibu out there and it is probably him. I believe it is a red VLX.

Not sure if the wife would do the primitive campsite. May look into renting a house for a 3 day weekend.

Going to be goooood times!
I'm in Loganville so maybe 10 minuites away. With today being 65 I tried to get someone to go out but no takers.

[WaterBullDawg1980]

I'm in Loganville so maybe 10 minuites away. With today being 65 I tried to get someone to go out but no takers.

What side of Loganville are you on Orange? I bet you do not live more than 5 minutes from my home! I'm telling you, its going to be a Moomba convoy out of Gwinnett County come Spring!

[kaneboats]

I tried to get someone to go out but no takers.

That is the biggest problem, isn't it? When I first moved here there was a nice March day when it was about 74 and the water was around 68. My brothers went in the boat but would not get in the water. They thought I was nuts when I jumped in the gator-infested Wakulla River with my ski. To me it was a nice summer day.

[OrangeOutback20]

What side of Loganville are you on Orange? I bet you do not live more than 5 minutes from my home! I'm telling you, its going to be a Moomba convoy out of Gwinnett County come Spring!

I'm off 81 and Claude Brewer and we need to go out sometime come spring time.

[WaterBullDawg1980]

I'm off 81 and Claude Brewer and we need to go out sometime come spring time.

Absolutely! I live right off Hwy 20. You are practically my neighbor!

Come spring we will for sure get together. A buddy of mine has an 06 LSV that will come out with us as well. Goooood times.

[WaterBullDawg1980]

Lake Blackshear in Cordele is one of the best. Eufala is good too. That could go either GA or AL I guess.


Monty

I dont know the first thing about Lake Blackshear. For some reason I thought it was in the Mountains. Well, what us Georgians call mountains. :)

[WaterBullDawg1980]

The one thing I like about Lake Lanier is that it is fairly deep. I havent had many problems worrying about running something over like I have on Hartwell for example.

I actually had someone tell me yesterday that Lake Lanier was the cleanest lake in the state. Thats funny bc I have never thought of Lake Sidney Lanier as clean.

ah well...At least it is close.

[kaneboats]

Lake Blackshear in Cordele is one of the best. Eufala is good too. That could go either GA or AL I guess.

I need to get to both of these lakes this year. They aren't too far away and would be lots of fun. Hmmm. Lake Blackshear is technically part of the Flint River. Maybe we could have the Flint River Mini-Jam III there this year?

[moombadaze]

link to the park--campsite right on the lake

http://www.gastateparks.org/net/go/parks.aspx?LocationID=29&s=0.0.1.5

http://www.gastateparks.org/net/go/parks.aspx?show=map&LocationID=29&s=0.0.1.5

[kaneboats]

Campsites right on the water. Just what we like. This isn't any farther for you than coming over my way. Labor Day weekend? Sooner?

[colepop]

Sinclair is awesome! I have been skiing here for over 20 years. It is clean, big and full of small coves to ski in. Most of our skiing is during the week after work. I can ski for 4 hours easily.

Traffic picks up on the weekends but not too bad. Not like Lanier. 4th of July is packed. Sunday afternoon is great when all the out of town people load up and head out. That is local time on the lake.....

Can't wait for the jam in July!! Look for an older outback green/white with tower and big grins from my 2 kids wakeboarding..

[cbboarder]

I'm a newbie to the board as well as a new 2009 outback v owner who lives in GA. By the way bought the Outback v at this years boat show. In any event, was in the market for a lake home last spring that involved a lot of research. We started at lanier, then Sinclair followed by Hartwell, Keowee, Blue Ridge and Chatuge. We ended up buying a place at Nottely and never looked back. The place is fantastic, never busy and has awesome mountain views. I want to say 75% shoreline is state or national parks. I live in Forsyth Co. and it's 64 miles door to door. The only drawback (and i don't personally consider it one) is that it's a TVA lake and is drawn down 10 to 12 ft every winter.

Okay, back to my Outback V. It's white on White with platinum interior. If you went to the show it was the one on the show room floor. It has stereo pkg A, logo cover, Gravity III ballast, wakeplate, tower, kenwood stereo, appearance package, perfect pass, board racks, wet sounds XST-60 tower speakers, depth finder and 5-year extended warranty. I'm having slight (very slight) buyers remorse only because I'm not sure if a got the best deal. Can anyone give some feedback on how much I should have paid?

Thanks!

[Doodie]

Colepop is rt on the money. I have been skiing on Sinclair for oh a little longer than him, but he is correct about the during the week and the weekend. I have never considered it dirty. It gets muddy looking in the late fall, winter time, but by the time you are ready to come out of your wetsuit, it's looking better!

[wolfeman131]

That's kinda funny that "you have never considered it dirty" but your username is "Doodie." :)

Hope to see you out our mini-Jam on July 10. I'll get some more info posted as we get closer to the date. Lookin' for a BIG turnout this year!

[wolfeman131]

I'm a newbie to the board as well as a new 2009 outback v owner who lives in GA. By the way bought the Outback v at this years boat show.

Welcome to the Moomba fam. I was in your boat! Nice, nice ride. They were working good deals at the show, so I bet you did fine. Once you get out on the lake, any buyer's remorse will soon be forgotten.

Maybe you can trailer down to Sinclair for our mini-Jam on July 10?

[Doodie]

Funny Wolfman :) my grandfather nicked-name me that when I was just a small kid! Unfortunately, I will have to show up on a jet ski, but I will plan on being there!

[cbboarder]

Thanks for the invite, I'll have to mark the calander.

[cbboarder]

Mine is a 2009 as well. Paid little over $39,000.00 OTD.

[kaneboats]

Drew, this thing is getting bigger and bigger. Better make sure our friends at Atlanta Marine are aware of it. Congrats! to the new owners. See you in July if not sooner.

[moombadaze]

Just as long as the date and location doesnt change.:D

[kaneboats]

Already put in at work, right?

[moombadaze]

Already put in at work, right?


yep, and working on something else.:):)

[wolfeman131]

Drew, this thing is getting bigger and bigger. Better make sure our friends at Atlanta Marine are aware of it. Congrats! to the new owners. See you in July if not sooner.

The entire staff at Atlanta Marine has been invited and Kurt & Lisa have already confirmed that they will be there. So, I'm 1/2 way there to this being an "official" jam.

And, I have something in the works myself . . . :p

[WaterBullDawg1980]

The entire staff at Atlanta Marine has been invited and Kurt & Lisa have already confirmed that they will be there. So, I'm 1/2 way there to this being an "official" jam.

And, I have something in the works myself . . . :p

Man, all this talk about it is making me itchy to hook her up and drag her to the lake.

I can't wait!

:cool:

[sanity]

I used to live in Smyrna and my home lake was Allatoona. I have a buddy with a lake house on Lanier, so sometimes we'd take the boat up there and park it for a long weekend. However, I always enjoyed Allatoona better since it has less traffic.

One lake that I visited, but not with the boat, is Carter's Lake. Had I stayed in that area another summer I would definitely have taken the boat up there for a few weekends. It is a pretty large lake with very little traffic.