I use to live in little elm
and when the wind was just right blowing from the dam up to the 720 bridge it would make some of the biggest waves i've seen on a lake

now for how tall they were i dont know i didnt get out a tape measure and swim out there but they got pretty big.

the roughest i was out there in my bass cat we has 30 mph substained winds and gust up to 60 i would drive up a wave and gun it as i got to the top to hop my bow onto the upper part of the next one then i drive up it. didnt get any water in the boat
doing it this way

From the first page.....hmmmmm. I must be clairvoyant.

Lewisville will get 6-8's if the wind is straight out of the west, north, or south. Up by the 720 Bridge, Down at the new Dam, and the 121 cut.

Last spring, when we had those 60 MPH straight line winds, waves were anywhere from 8-10 footers.

I judge by the base of the trough, to the crest of the wave.

Most of the time, 20-30 mph winds won't produce more than 4's with an occasional 5 footer.

Best way to run rough water is to tack on it. Just like a sail boat does. You can't run head on into them for very long without taking the risk of dropping between them and eating one over the bow. (Just ask Mike Keenan! )

If you have good open water, and tack them, you can get on top of one wave, and ride it all the way across the lake. Turn and start the other way, and catch the next one and ride it as far as you can. Even if you fall down between them, you are cutting them at such and angle, you don't take one over the bow.

It take longer to get where you are going. But you'll be nice and dry when you get there.

I'm running an 18'6 Triton, and wouldn't hesitate taking it out in 3-4's. But, I'm going to respect the boat and it's abilities, and use the boat and make it work for me, vs. force the boat through waves.

The stronger and higher the waves, the more you will have to tack. But, this is a very, very effective way of handling your boat in extreme weather. Plus it doesn't beat the poop out of your equipment, less stress cracks, ect.

I have lived on Lewisville Lake going on 52 years. Been boating and fishing it all but about 10 years of that. I have never seen any 8 footers out there. I suppose in a strong storm it is possible. The biggest I have seen would be about 6 foot and you aint gonna be doing no 45 MPH in a bass boat with 6 footers. If you are, sell your boat quicky, you have no business piloting one.

Like several others I am very skeptical about 8 footers on a lke in Texas. I drive over Hubbard almost every day and have never seen anything close to 8'. I have also been on some lakes in bad weather. I used to crew on sailboat races on Texoma and those quys race no matter the weather. I will say that I have seen 4-5 footers tops. I was on Texoma in a 38' sailboat in a big storm and a trooper spotted 3 funnels from the dam. Even in this storm 4-5' tops.

Cottonwood Marina was hit by the 60 MPH winds last year, and the western boathouse was destroyed, and the waves were so big, it sunk 3, 40 foot class boats there last year.

On a day like today with the wind blowing 20 and gusting to 35, even at the new dam, there will be 3's and 4's.

Straight line winds are the extreme ends of the spectrum. Call the Villages Marina on Lake Palistine and ask them about the waves that went over the 8 foot levee and crushed one boathouse. They had 72 mph winds that day, and waves reported to be 12-14. The date of that storm was 2-23-03. I was on the lake that particular day, and it swamped my 20 foot Champion.

Keep it slow when your running the rough stuff...Doesnt matter if your boats 17' or 21', 5-6 ft waves are gonna toss you around pretty good. Its best to keep it slow and if the waves are small enough, keep it trimmed down a little bit..But once you get into the big ones you gotta keep it trimmed up and "hop" from one wave to another..Also, I've never seen 8 fters on our lakes but I think its totally possible. Probably never happens very often but in the big storms that produce straight line winds, they could get that big. I've taken some over the bow in a storm on Ray Hubbard that were every bit of 6'..

Good post Mr.Bristow on how to run em when they are HUGE! Hawke showed me how to do that on Texoma one day near the dam when a front blew 30 mph N winds on us. We had to tack in order to keep from spearing waves in a 21 ft Skeeter! For those that say 8ft waves dont happen in Texas, take a trip to Rayburn or Texoma when the wind is sustained at 30+ out of the North or Northwest. You cant tell how big they are from a bridge or a bank overlooking the lake either, get in a boat and you wont be able to see land in any direction when you are in the trough.... thats a roller boys!

Any of you guys fish the Media Team event on Texoma last March? That was the same day Cottonwood Marina was damaged on Lake Lewisville.

Also try Amistad with a wind out of the east or west. You can see 8 footers.

Buckle it down- Stab it down- Mat it down

I'll stick with my original post... Y'all are the men that make women doubt any measurement men give them.

Short of a tornado, there isn't enough water surface for winds to push an 8' wave on 99% of the lakes around here, and in most cases the water isn't deep enough to sustain an 8 foot wave.

As for 3 40' class boats being sank, tell us the entire story, what come lose and punctured their hulls?

In most cases in a marina boats are sank by other boats not being secured properly, from docks coming apart and dock pilings spearing the hulls etc... Rarely do the winds and the waves actually cause the sinking.

The media tourney was in feb. last year on texoma with sustained winds around 50mph with gust to 72mph. And yes Mr. Thompson there was 8 foot waves about 40 foot apart. I watched an 18 foot triton almost flip over backwards trying to take off into them. I parked my 20 foot skeeter and came back for it the morning.

As I stated Texoma is about the ONLY lake with the ability for them to be generated on.

Acording to one web book I just found it takes a 3km straight line stretch of water for the winds to affect to generate a 1m (3ft) wave. Than would mean to get your 8' waves you would need at least 8km of straight line water to get 8' That water would have to be a minimum of 16' deep along the entire 8km in order for that 8' wave NOT to break. AND there could be NO obstructions to the wind such as land, bridges etc...

The 3 boats that sunk were swamped and took on water. I worked with the insurance company on two of them once they were recovered.

There are a few lakes, with certain parts of the lake that if the right winds come from the right directions, especially on the deeper lakes, waves can be over 6-8 feet. It isn't a normal circumstance, but I've spent a lot of time behind the wheel in extreme water conditions. One time was leaving the dam at Richland Chambers with a western wind blowing down the lake at 30-40. There were solid 8's there, and even at the dog leg, going to Oak cove, it was still 5-6's.

Rayburn, T-Bend, Texoma, and several others can and will have waves with the RIGHT circumstances over 6-8 foot.

Shoot me your phone number and I'll call and take you out in one of those days. It may open your eyes.