Rayburn has open water for 15 + miles, Chambers from the dam to the Railroad bridge is over 8 miles, T-bend is just like Rayburn with many miles of open water, Amistad, Falcon are in the same boat. All these lakes have an average depth of 30-50 or more feet where I'm talking about. So there is PLENTY of area, depth, and range for the water to be that high.

I have no idea how big the waves can get on Lewisville but I fish it all the time in a 15.5' Kingfisher. I have been out on days when I probably should have stayed on the old lake Dallas side and hid from the south wind but I went thru the cut anyway. You have to really pay attention to how you drive your boat when you are in a small one with a pretty flat bow. I just take my time and climb them at about a 45 and have never had a problem. There have been days that it was so rough that the only other boat I saw on the lake was Trent Barnes in his big Boston Whaler, we stayed close together that day at Deadmans in case of trouble but we caught a ton of fish when you could let go of the boat long enough to work your reel. I have also gotten to the old dam cut many days and said "NO WAY" I then just stay along the old dam and fish. 4', 6', 8', I have no idea but they get pretty darn big on that lake. I don't think the surfboard idea would work real well. The waves are big enough for sure by the time a 25 - 30 mph south wind pushes them up on the old dam but they tend to be very close together.

If you dont take mike up on his offer..Call me on a 30-40mph wind day..Ill take you to ray roberts..North wind will be better..You can drive my boat its insured...Ill stay on the bank and video tape..You must wear a lifejacket though...

I see guys bouncing across the lake on windy days going like a bat out of well and all you hear from two miles away is BAM BAM BAM BAM. All I can say is they sure make some good boats these days.

Hey, lets not get some folks hurt by blowing smoke at em. Running 45 on 5-6' waves...PLEASE! Whoever asked this question probably needs some experienced advice...not crapola. I like to fish but not enough to wreck a boat or drown because of foolishly going out when the weather is beyond reason. There ain't a fish out there worth getting hurt over. (50 yr old who hopes to see 51)

I don't blame you for thinking how big the waves were but waves build coming up on the bank or shallow water. They become steep and close together and in a cove where there is a narrowing it can make a big difference.

There is a shore break in S California called the Wedge. It is at Newport beach south of LA. I have been there a couple times. When the waves are just barely surfable just down the beach the waves are the Wedge can be as big as 8 feet. The waves break just off the beach and if you don't know what you're doing you can be pounded right onto the sand. A bodysurfing place and with kneeboards I'll bet they do that there too.

Most of the guys running 45 in 5' waves have boats that run really fast, no ones sees that either.
Having spent a little time off the coast of Oregon I would say "BS Buckwheat"

I run across Amistad quite often and have been in the nasty stuff. You do not want to hit the waves head on. Call Bass Pro Shops and order The Bass Pros Season One 2007 DVD. Rick Clunn explains it best.

I'll stick with my OWN boat, I KNOW it can handle 6' water and I know how to handle it in 6' water. And by the way, if you see me doing more than 10 kts in 6' water then I suggest you run as fast as possible towards where I am trying to get to because there is something REALLY bad behind me.

Just call me and tell me when Lewisville or any other lake besides Texoma get's 6' water, I'll go video tape the water just to prove its possible.

I'll still stick with BS on these lakes getting legitimate water that big and aven BIGGER BS on the original post of doing doing anything on that water other than praying to god with a bass boat.

I was on Tawakoni when a strong north wind blew up. I was near the 2 mile bridge and the waves were crashing over the bow of my Ranger. I dont think these were even close to 3ft waves but It put a good scare in me. I hugged the bank all the way back to Holiday Marina and there was not a dry spot on me or the boat.

I already called "bull" on that one ... I just did it in a kinda nice way!

RAyburn is 50 miles long. From just north of the 147 bridge to the dam is 20 miles and another 5 miles to the old hwy 96 roadbed. All this with plenty of 50-60 foot water. the lake lies NW to SE ... the same way we trditionally get our fronts. Also pre-frontal the wind will be out of the SE. 4'-5' are common on those 25mph-30mph days. Rayburn is much bigger than Texoma I believe and TBend dwarfs both. TBend requires a more northerly/southerly wind though.


I read somewhere that the Livingston dam was damaged during Hurricane Rita with 10'-12' waves and 92mph winds.

I have seen 6' on Rayburn plenty of times. 3 weeks ago I had to run 25 miles is 4 footers at the BassNBucks.

It depends on the wind direction on Rayburn, but I can see 8' or more forming there and have heard of it.

First to address driving rough water. When going into large waves it is best to go slow and trim down as not put the bow to highin the air and then have it drop back and spear the next wave. The when running with large waves trim up and go slow enough you have good throttle left to raise the bow if need be to keep it from spearing a wave. Running Parallel or better known as running the troughs is fairly safe if you go at a slow speed as not to jump sideways off of a wave which is not a good thing.

Now on to the wave issue of height of waves. Most of the info you will find is studies based on seas or oceans were the water is typically cooler and much more dense being it is salt water and therefore requires more energy to generate wave height. I have checked with several professor and there is no standardized wave height formula. The info you will find is from actual studies. The other issue about wave weight is oceans waves are mearsued from the water level or middle of the wave to the peak of the wave the trough depth is not included so an 8' wave in the ocean is really on average abut 16' from bottom of the trough to the peak of the wave with the occasoinal rouge wave that will peak about 1/3 higher than any othe wave. It depends on how one might measure the wave height as to what height of wave they are refering to. Most people around here are looking at the wave from the peak to the bottom of the trough to determine height. So it possible that someone calling waves 6 ft are really only running in 3ft waves to another person. Fresh water can reach higher waves heights more easily than salt water because it is less dense. I would love to find a study done on wave height that was done in fresh water but I have yet to find it.

i am measuring waves from the trough to crest.