Or the yachts on EM or Texoma?

I would never run by anyone on plane within 50' anyway. That's close! You can practically flip 50'.

There seems to be an attitude here of-if its legal I'm going to do it even if its unsafe. How much time does it take to slow down-one minute, two? I just don't see why you wouldn't err on the side of caution and take a minute away from your fishing time to avoid a possible problem.

It's simply a matter of geography. When you are on a relatively small lake closest to the third largest city in the country, the "superbowl" of bass fishing is going on, and the temps are in the 80's, you simply cant do the things you can do at a lake like Rayburn, Texoma or Amistad. You either adapt or you pay the price with either your life or a hit to the pocketbook. Rest assured you are NEVER to far from a game warden, Sheriff, or Constable when you are on that lake. They are there because the citizens of Lake Conroe and Montgomery County demand their presence, just like they do on I-45 between Spring and Conroe (One of the highest death rates in the country on this stretch of road). Like Fouz said earlier, there is rarely a spring or summer weekend that goes by on that lake without some "incident" or death occurring. Most of us "locals" know this and have changed our driving habits.

I like to to run wide open as much as anyone, but that just does not happen on Conroe unless its early morning or late afternoon and especially not around that bridge. First of all, the darned thing is LOW!!! I have come within inches of having my butt seat ripped off my boat at idle speeds in a very bad chop and have heard of them being ripped off from other anglers. That's the first reason I am gonna slow down at that bridge!! Second, there are always tons of folks tied up and fishing on the bridge, so I am gonna respect them as well. Third, there are boats that run parallel to the bridge at high speeds, you coming under at anything more than an idle speed only increases the chances of a collision with one of them.

I am sorry the "troll" left a bad taste in your mouth when it comes to Conroe. Could he have handled it a little better? Probably so. But ultimately, it was you who brought about the meeting, not him!! You are free to make choices, you are not free to choose the consequences of those choices nor the type of person you will be dealing with if you make a poor choice. Learn from it and move on. Best of luck to you.

I think this video may end this argument as to the legality of running those bridges on Conroe. Would you run this bridge in these conditions? Wind and waves like this are not the exception on Conroe. They're the rule.

https://www.bassmaster.com/video/greg-hackney-battles-big-wind-conroe-classic

You're correct. My mistake.

(IMHO, seems like this should apply to all motor operated vessels.)

Did you and Reid have any tickle fights while on the water this weekend?

The video Fouz posted says it all about butt seats being ripped off.

Regardless of whether it is legal or not it is illegal to cause damage to someone elses property with your boat wake.

2 bee'z be careful on the bridges. I didn't realize this until a few years back, but the pilings that have a cross bar up top also have a cross bar under water. The ones I am talking about are the ones that run N-S. I think that all of them have the cross bar E-W



The only areas that I run on plane are where it says MAIN SPAN. I have seen people run the areas that have the cross member and I tighten up a little each time that I see it (even at idle).

Bottom line is if law enforcement deems that you were operating a boat in an unsafe manner or creating an unsafe situation that may endanger someone in any way, shape, or form, whatever you were doing then becomes illegal. This is regardless of whether or not there is a sign or law on the books about running at speed under or along a bridge. Reckless endangerment is very much against the law and boaters all too often seem to misunderstand this.

And someone is trying to run on pad through that? Makes you pucker at just faster than idle!

This is exactly my thought when reading this post.