Bought my first Bass boat a couple of weeks ago. Took it out last weekend and it did fine. My question is how windy is too windy. Our smaller lakes here that usually don't white-cap, were white-capping today. I could only imagine how the bigger lakes were. How do you expierenced boaters determine if its too windy and unsafe.....Thanks......Kevin

That's a question that only time on the water for you will answer. If you have doubts, simply don't go. Over the course of a season you'll know your limits with that boat.

Kevin-Everyone will have their on idea,alot will depend on the size of your boat 14ft to 21ft,mine has to do with saftey,can I get to where Im wanting to fish safely can I fish out of the white caps,wind direction comes in play,how much open water I must cross,for me 20 mph wind is a NO go.If your fishing tourneys you may have to push that a little most all of us have done it!

ALWAYS err on the side of caution. ESPECIALLY as a new boat owner. I don't have any statistics, but I'd bet a big percentage of boating accidents are simply a result of inexperience. If you have a buddy that's experienced, get him out a time or two when it's windy and just do some driving. Every boat handles a little differently and every situation is different. Each body of water handles wind differently too.
Knowing how your boat performs and how to "attack" waves from the correct angles is very important. It is surprisingly easy to get into big trouble very quickly, so be careful. If in doubt, stay where you're at and wait for better conditions or slowly idle to safer water. I have a relatively small boat by today's standards (18' 4" w/175 HP Merc) and there have been plenty of times I've just put the nose of the boat up in the air and just plowed back across the lake about 5 MPH. It burns a lot of gas but doesn't beat up the boat and no chance of getting swamped.

take it easy,..safety first. loading with caps in a crosswind can be very dangerous,..

There is normally somewhere you can go and get out of the wind, you may be restricted to a smaller area but sometimes thats not so bad since you work an area more thoroughly

If it sloshes your coffee out of the cup turn around.

if the wind is over 15 to 20 miles an hour I wont go ,,unless its a tournamnet.

Yeah 15 to 20 mph and i wont be fishing also. Learned my lesson by going on the water when it was to windy!!! I was fishing choke and when we startd fishing it was alright but the wind got to gusting to 20 or 25mph on the way back and that is a ride i will never forget!!! Just think about safty and what ur boat can handle, when in doubt just dont go trust me ive seen ppl sink there boats before and its not a pretty site.

If you are on a lake with several ramps pick one on the same side the wind is blowing from and stay out of it. If that is not an option then stay home until it is safe to lanch.

If you are in a Tournament that will not allow trailering then use your own common sense to determin whether you can fish safely. If not then Take The Zero and live to fish another day. There is no shame in accepting your own limitations in favor of safety.


Bazz

Thanks everyone. Just gonna bank fish today. It's 6am and the wind is already blowing here. I'll try it again tomorrow. Thanks again for your advice...........Kevin

Too windy is what it was on Belton when that front came through Thursday.

me and my wife laugh but this is our formula,..if the wx report says the wind will be 15 to 20,...we just add that together, and that's what it feels like on the lake,..

Same here. I don't mess with the wind.

wind doesnt bother me, but rough waves do. i tend to fish in protected pockets, by loading the boat and moving to different ramps on the lake. summer, and late fall- i like fishing in the wind because it pushes bait into certain areas- and with that comes the hungry fish that like crankbaits