tactical bassin rough water video

just watched this video from matt, really enjoyed it. Wanted to hear your opinions on this subject, been bass fishing all my life but always as the co-angler. Hopefully before Im 30, ill be able to own my own bass boat. But wanted to hear some opinions on rough water and safe driving. My favorite lake is Ray Rob and it can get choppy!

I got my first bass boat last Friday, a 2017 Legend v20. I went out on Lake Travis Saturday at around 2pm. It was a disaster. It was super super windy. 20MPH+ winds and had the easter weekend crowd on it.

To make matters worse I didn't yet understand trim/tilt and the waves were just brutal. I got beat to [censored] over the next 3 hours. It was not a fun day. I left with the worst headache of my life and I had caught 1 fish. a half pound Guad.

I would love some rough water tips. I actually googled it that night when I got home and watched the video you linked which is nice, but the water I was on was about 3x rougher.

Guys, my son and I are in the process of making a rough water video, shot on Cedar Creek Lake,, this lake is big and can get extremely rough,

With over 30 years of boating experience, I will show you how to run the big water when it is blowing. We will use an 18 ft. Bass Cat Boat. The first thing you need to do, when facing these conditions is don't panic, Once you lean some basic skills how to run the conditions, you will gain more and more confidence, and how to get back safely.

Stay tuned.

The only problem with the video you linked, its not rough... Lets get video of the run in from Texas Team Trail on Rayburn this year... It got rough that day.

Another tidbit about why this isn't as helpful to us... we have trees in our lakes that affect direction one can run. Some of the concepts will help, but face it, in Texas when the wind picks up from the south or north, you're going to get wet!

Sorry but that's not rough. Rough is when you are praying that you make it back.

+1 Been there a few times. I know what really helped me learn to drive besides getting stuck out there in bad waves was going out when it's not too rough but pretty choppy. When there was about 1-1/2 or 2ft waves. Those aren't enough to make me too uncomfortable. I just went out and for about 2 hours I drove all over. I tried different speeds, different trim angles, hitting waves at different angles, just all kinds of stuff. At the end I really felt a lot better at knowing how a boat would react and how to make the smoothest ride I could. Now I know when it gets tough I can get back in. It still can get rough enough for that pucker factor to get on up there and you still have to respect and know how fast it can go bad. The biggest part is planning your trip. Launch close to where you want to be

When it gets real bad its best hunker down and wait until it passes. If you absolutely have to get back to the ramp for whatever reason, strap down, put a PFD on, grab a soda and then idle on out. Sometimes its just too rough (read: dangerous) to run on pad.

Only way to learn to drive in big water is doing it. No amount of videos will teach you.

Pick a day it's blowing 20+ and go spend 3-4 hours driving in it. Do that 5-10 times or so and you should be able to get the hang of it

I kinda understand that the video isnt rough, i know clear lake can get rough like our lakes though. Point of me asking was to learn tips of the trade haha. One thing that always changes is landscape. Cant wait until Im a boat owner and I get to run that 20 mph straigh south wind on ray rob!

that's just runnin in a light chop.

Yep, that's not bad waves. The roughest water I've personally seen (other than the ocean) in order:

Lake Ontario - 30 mph NW wind - 5 to 6 footers
Lake Okeechobee - 30 mph N wind - 4 to 5 footers
Lake Falcon at full pool - 30 mph SE wind - 3 to 4 footers
Lake Amistad at full pool - 40 mph NW wind - 4 to 5 footers

The only one I really got scared about was Lake Ontario. We were coming back in slowly and doing OK until we met a big ship going the other direction. He was throwing off a 7 - 8 foot wake that was crossing the wind driven waves at an angle. When we hit that it was like being in a washing machine. We were on top of a wave when the ship wake hit us. It spun us around and we nose dived into the trough. The first 7 or 8 feet of the boat went under and just as it popped back up the second wake hit us from behind and just rolled over the boat. Fortunately for us, the engine didn't die so we were able to idle along with the waves until the bilge pumps finally caught up.

T-Bend with the wind blowing 35mph out of the North. Never Never again!!! Roller coaster's have nothing on that lake. my2cents

In the video he says running into the wind is best. Maybe I'm crazy but when it gets really rough the ride seems a lot better running downwind. The waves aren't as sharp.
The important thing, especially when learning, is not to get to far into something your not comfortable with if you can help it. If your stuck with really rough water dont be an idiot and try to go on speed. Go slow and look at each wave and swell individually untill you get a feel for how the boat handles it and the angles of approach that work best for you. Take small bites at a time to test what speeds are safe.
You can get into more trouble in really rough water without power, tyed up, beaching or launching. Bass boats aren't built for taking big waves in the stern.

You gotta give the man props though, unlike some of these video freaks, he does wear his PFD and kill switch when the big motor is running. I've been in some rough water on a lot of Texas lakes fishing tournaments but the only time I feared for my life was going to a weigh in at Twin Dykes from Harvey creek. A brutal storm blew in that actually spewed a tornado and seem to come from out of nowhere. We made it but said a lot of prayers. There were quite a few guys who just beached their boats and if I had it to do over again I would have beached mine. No time to risk your life when you're dodging 4-5 ft. waves.

Take my little boat (17ft) out in a 20-25mph wind.....you will feel like your in the Bearing Sea. ...then get in a real boat(20+ft) and you will feel like your on a cruise ship.

I could take a nap in a 20ft boat in those waves. Honest.

GETTIN' DEEP IN HERE.

I've been afraid twice in a boat.

1. Sam Rayburn late duck season. We were running 3-5'ers in a 16' flatbottom.

2. Was a storm on Sam Rayburn in a Thursday Evening Tournament. Winds Kicked up to 40-50mph storms as it was getting dark. Not being able to see the waves in the rain/dark made it hairy.


TTT wasn't that bad. Just took a little driving.

Been in rough water twice .
first time , I was really young , my uncle lived on the west coast and had a 14 foot Boston Whaler . He rigged down riggers on it to salmon fish in the pacific ocean . He took me out when I was thirteen , no life jackets , he didn't know how to swim and we where on 10 foot swells at about 7-10 seconds apart , 10 miles out . I was to young to realize how stupid this was and I was to sea sick to care .
Second time , I was in the California Delta , late fall and a huge northern storm blowing in . We had to fight 4-5 footers in one of main channels , with the wind and the driver had zero experience . Took an hour to reach the dock . Scarred me to death and my wife was pregnant with my first kid (mikereils5er) , wasn't sure I was going to see his birth .

Grew up fishing tournaments in western new York on Lake Erie and other northern lakes. When the lake would get ugly we would do the "Lake Erie Crawl", get your nose up and work it back as best you can..more than likely not on the pad. Since moving to and all through the south, I've found rough water and rogue waves that demand respect. If I had to choose, I would def rather go into the waves rather than with the waves. Keeping the motor trimmed just so you have throttle authority and the means to get your nose up is what I try and do if I'm going to attempt to run the big water.

Maybe it's the boat. Mine is a much smoother and dry ride driving into the wind with the bow down. With the wind, it's going to get a little rough and you're going to get wet.

Sshhhhhhh!

I've driven in really rough water on Erie, Okechobee, and KY Lake for many years and thought I knew how to handle it. That is until I rode for three days a couple of weeks ago as a Marshal with 3 different Elite Pros at Toledo Bend. Those guys are good! The ones I was with, Jeff Kriet, Jordan Lee and Mark Davis taught me more than I could ever imagine about driving in rough water. I was very impressed with their driving skills, not to mention how much I learned about different fishing techniques. Multiple lessons I will never forget.

Steez I thought you loved fishing that boat on the lower end of JP in a 25mph south wind???

PM Sent

I do now......ULTREX!!! Makes me have bug uns again. Like when I was 20. Spot lock and a mustang and I'm ready.

Those waves looked like a good day in Texas. I applaud what he was trying to accomplish with the video.

I remember a 3am run on the cali delta in flip flops with Matt, caught em but froze my toes running against the tide.

Yeah, I thought it was funny. I never even saw a whitecap.

May be the boat. Or it may be me slowing down when my back starts getting jarred.
Water like in the video isnt much of a problem any way you go. A 20-30 mph wind in open water on most of the big lakes around here is a crawl for me.

Do y'all usually keep the jackplate as low as it will go to make sure the prop has a good bite? Just starting to run some Rayburn and Toledo bend. Thx

Mine a smooth ride until it starts getting into the high 20s and then it is a crawl for me too. I got into some really bad stuff a couple weeks ago and the waves were too big for me. Slow crawl with the bow going straight up into the air to where it looked like it was going to flip over backwards. There were some White knuckles on that ride.

I do the same in the nasty stuff. Nose up and slow. Slightly off plane. Kills fuel mileage but dry and safe.

It's almost a fine line of staying on top off them and being smoother, and oh dang these suckers or rolling! I better take it easy

pretty informative information.. will have to remember when i buy my boat soon