The wind would have had to have been blowing well over 100 mph sustained to produce waves anywhere near the heights claimed. A 45 mph sustained wind over an open area of 20 kilometers would produce waves no larger than 1.86 meters. I'm not saying it wasn't scary or extremely dangerous but there is no possible way the waves were 10 or 13 feet high. I too have been to Falcon and also on Lake Mead in very high winds and waves. Many times I have just driven back to the motel or stayed in the launch area and unfortunately have been caught out in some bad stuff as well. Although it seems like the waves are higher reality is that they are only 4-5 feet MOST of the time.

Follow link to USGS wave height calculator.
http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/staffpages/csherwood/sedx_equations/RunSPMWave.html

Thats a very cool calculator. What is the measurement used for wind speed on there?

NO KIDDING! Everybody was waiting on him to pull a small fish out and it never happened!

Exactly, some of these guys are relentless in their effort to get a point across. Point IS, it was extremely rough and dangerous. Maybe there were 10 ft waves maybe they were 9.5, who cares.

I wonder what some of the guys would have weighed in with calm weather. 41lbs is sick!

If someone would have culled their waves we would know exactly how big the biggest 5 wave stringer was.....

I cant believe how persistent some of you guys are being to prove youve driven bigger and badder water than anyone else on earth and how theres no way the people that drove through it have a clue.....

KatyTXbass - can you tell us what exact specs you put into the wave height calculator to get 1.86 meters?

I tried 45 mph, 20KM and had to decrease the depth to 3.4 meters (11 ft) to get the 1.86 meter wave heights

the water depth is the factor that really makes this equation move - so is Falcon really that shallow? Seems like you get to 3 meter wave heights (ten feet) really quickly (at about 25 ft deep) in all the sample numbers I put in for say half the length of the lake...

45 mph wind
17.7 km run
7.62 meters deep (25 ft)
= 3.09 meter waves (10.13 ft)

I don't have a topo of the lake but really doesn't sound out of the realm of possibilities unless this is a big wade pond (like say Cooper lake)

Ian

I think most of the lake out in the middle is deeper than 45 ft.

Great to hear that everyone made it thru the weekend...

I do have a question about the number of entries???

152 I think was the number of pros fishing... Does the stren try to get 200 (full field) or is there a magic cutoff number.

Thanks for the info...

actually they changed the full feild number to 150 but yea? 152

he is a well rounded fisherman he knows his electronics and he is good deep or shallow so you can always expect him to possibly be up there anywhere he gos. When he pulled out his first fish i told my buddy i bet you 100$ hes got 40. I wish i would have been there but glad to miss such poor conditions like they had on the first day

Nice tool there for wave estimates. Just dont pretend you understand fluid dynamics and take this little calculator as gospel. Knowing the exact wind direction to calculate the exact fetch length is not done (assuming you guessed at it), water temps which affects the water density (which requires a known density to start with) and wind friction forces which tells the wind load applied to the surface across a sustained fetch length is not even remotely calculated in this calculator, much less the angle of impact which directly affects the applied force to the water surface. There is a lot more to calculating waves than taking a guess at wind speed, fetch length and water depth... Also 1.86 meters is over a 6' wave to start with. Other than being there and getting the exact measurements this calculator is a good start but certainly not accurate at all. Bottom line if the wind blew straight down the lake at 45 mph/22.5 meters per second and your fetch was 20m/32km (which is a guess but 30 miles is certain possible) 8 footers are easy, not even accounting for wave mergering and side winds you have no reason to doubt these guys at all;) and I am no expert either, but I did sleep at a holiday inn express last night;)


Having been in 6'-8' waves in Texas, on Grand Lake, and in the mouth of the Potomac River it is very believable to me. I seem to recall a Bassmasters on the Potomac where a few of the Pro's got caught in 12'-13' footers and it was on film, nothing on youtube about it I looked.

I've seen waves hit the Hiway 147 bridge over by Jackson Hill and it was 12ft to the suraface when calm during that tournament at Big Sam.

i have seen it almost be hitting it but it stuck bc i was on the other side needing to get to the other,lol

I've seen waves hit the Hiway 147 bridge over by Jackson Hill and it was 12ft to the suraface when calm during that tournament at Big Sam. [/quote]

i have seen it almost be hitting it but it stuck bc i was on the other side needing to get to the other,lol [/quote]

Fishing Bass Champs on Tawakoni one March (2004?) we had to time the waves at the 2 Mile bridge to keep from hitting the bridge with the nose of the boat. Those had to be 8-10ft waves because you could normally drive a cabin cruiser/ house boat under that bridge with room to spare. But then again that is a funnel area just like the 147 bridge on Big Sam.

If you fish tournaments long enough you will get into some crazy water that you under estimated until you are in the middle of it. The main thing is to remain calm and concentrate on driving to the best of your ability.

thats is the KEY

I have to say Falcon can get scary, OPEC about 4yrs ago 40+ MPH winds the main lake waves were definitely in the 6-9 foot range. Big enough that when you were between the waves you had water about 3-4 feet taller than the top of are heads sitting in a 20 foot Skeeter. The waves were so scary that the boat felt like a surf board going up and down them. Scariest water I have every seen on any South Texas lake under any condition, and I have been on the Big 3 down here with 40+ in tournaments.

148 Bridge???

Sam Rayburn

I"m sure they meant the 147 bridge that crosses Sam

Yep I messed it up should be the 147 Bridge at Broaddus/ Jackson Hill.. Edit...DOH!

Sounds like a normal tournament atmosphere for Texoma or Tawakoni or Rayburn or Falcon or Amistad ot Toeldo Bend every time I go there.
If you are in big waves and in the middle of the trough (running sideways) and if you look up and the waves are 3-4 over your head ...then the waves are 6-8' and you are worried to say the least. If they are bigger then you are scared no matter who you are.

Let me throw this in for perspective.

I fished a BASS tournament out of Alexandria Bay on the St Lawrence / Lake Ontario back in 1986 when Hurricane Gloria hit New York State. It was bad but I wasn't scared.

I fished another BASS event the next year on Okeechobee and we had a storm front blow through with 40 - 50 mph gusts. It was bad but I wasn't scared.

I got caught downlake at Falcon a few years ago with sustained 30 mph north winds. It was BAD and I was SCARED!!!

I am 100% certain that had I been there for the Stren and knew that north wind was coming, I would have been fishing the Valeno or north.

ever looked at how Falcon sits in relation to N and S? It runs almost perfectly N and S. When a front blows in there is nothing to stop the wind and starts rolling immediately. I grew up fishing Falcon and if you don't believe there were 10' waves on that lake this weekend you're badly mistaken. That lake can get scary in a hurry.

Falcon

true that and noce Falcon specimen

Right on, Kevin!

I don't understand why there is so much skeptisism about the actual conditons of Falcon on Thursday or Friday. We have better things to do than exagerate about a tournament. Day 1 of the event was flat out scary... I ran 15 miles south before the 35+ mph winds kicked up and I'm glad I made the decision to stop where I did (instead of going to the dam like I intended). When I came out of the creek I was fishing to head back, there were 6-7 footers staring me in the face. (would have hated to see the size of waves at the dam) I had that Ranger Z521 vertcial a couple of times...if anyone wants to verify the intensity of the conditions, i'll give you my co-angler's number and call him. We went for one heck of a ride! My hats off to the guys who went to the dam and caught em. Glad nobody was fatally injured or hurt during this event.