Water Depth

[truetexan84]

What is the recomended water depth for wakesurfing. I know that the shallower the water the smaller the wake will be. If the water is too deep will that effect it also?

[Razzman]

Only 6-8' Ed? Our lake currently is well over 200' in most areas and it's around 80' right off the ramp.

[mmandley]

The lakes we goto vary from 15 to 200 also. The most common area we surf in is 50 to 100 near the edges to stay out of the wind.

I was with Newty back in May and when we went from 50ft to 10ft his wave got all small and weak looking.

I think the depth you need in the lake relates to the amount of ballast you run in the boat.

Newty runs a ton of ballast so it would explain why he needs deeper water.

[zegm]

Like Ed states there isn't hardly any deep water here in Florida. Our lake averages between 8 and 12 feet deep and up the creeks that feed the lake we have seen 19 to 20 feet Max!
Even when I go out fishing in the Gulf of Mexico I have to go 70 miles to hit the continental shelf from Panama City. I have gone 60 miles before it hit 300 feet deep! Within site of the beach which is 15 or so miles it is around 100 feet deep!

[kaneboats]

Wonder if that's why my surf wake looks decent most of the time. The Flint River where we run averages about 20-28 ft deep. From riding with Moombadaze I think if you have over about 10 the wake is fine but if it gets under about 6 you definitely feel it flatten.

[sandm]

man, I freak when the depth gets below 7ft. our lake drops to well over 200ft in most spots just 40ft from the bank.
the spring lake we ride is 20-25ft and I cringe a little in it....

[truetexan84]

just got back from the lake. we were surfing in about 20-25 feet of water today. the wave looked awesome. it also helped that we were running about 2,000lbs of friends and 1,000lbs of ballast. the wave was huge!!!

[mmandley]

man, I freak when the depth gets below 7ft. our lake drops to well over 200ft in most spots just 40ft from the bank.
the spring lake we ride is 20-25ft and I cringe a little in it....

Im the same way, if i see the bottom of the lake i tend to move to deeper waters LOL.

Question, how shallow can the water be before i have to worry about the Prop hitting bottom?

Yesterday at the local Hagg lake, there was tons of boat hording the docks and i had to take a spot in the front near the shore, when i was getting the boat to turn around, the water was down to 3ft. I was getting a bit worried. I shut the boat off and used a collapsible pole to shove away from the shore.

[sandm]

I have brushed bottom with 3ft showing on the depth. fortunately was not running.
try to find deeper water docks after that.
smart move to shut her down. never know where there's a buried rock...

[kaneboats]

[QUOTE=mmandley;68573]Im the same way, if i see the bottom of the lake i tend to move to deeper waters LOL.
QUOTE]

If you see the bottom of the lake in FL it's too late.