How to Drive a Bass Boat in Rough Water

https://video.bassmaster.com/detail/vide...e&q=Swindle

Gets discussed here all the time. Here's a short tutorial from GMan that may be of benefit.

Well done. Gman not only talks the talk but walks the walk. I got caught in some bigguns at Rayburn one time. We launched at Twin Dykes and were fishing in 5 fingers. Fortunately the wind was outta the south but it was still a rough ride. My P11 done pretty good.

Good info, that's what I was taught.

Great tips. Thanks for sharing.

Good info. Does it work the same without a jackplate?

Yes same principle

Also when they get too tall to run directly into them or with them, remember you can 45° them and zig zag them. When you approach a wave faster than you should (fixing to spear) remember you can turn hard to run off in the trough.

Also for your consideration, Matt Allen of Tactical Bassin explains running rough water pretty well. I’m still fairly new at driving a boat, and this video helped me a bunch and made me overall more confident in driving a boat when it gets rough.

that is like 10 inch chop, not really rough water in Texas

soft Cali anglers need to wear 2 pair of pampers LOL

Let the Cat lift her nose and run 65.

Well, he admits that in the video. The basics and principles of operating the boat in rough(er) water that he presents I thought were good.

the principles are good, I am just being silly

My advice is don't wear boxers! Very painful experience...

should have had a go pro on my boat saturday and sunday morning at the the ram open on texoma!

Good information. What about when you don't have the option to zig zag, like on Fork where you have to run the boat lane and watch out for other boats. I only have a year of experience operating a boat. I have a ZX200 and while I'm pretty confident it can handle 3-4 footers at Fork I also tend to be overly cautious and sometimes don't run to my spots I like.

In my experience… Just put it to the wood

I'm glad you're confident, but I don't know about "true" 3-4 footers. People say that and those are more like 2 in reality. I've been caught on fork a couple of times after a cold front blew in and it was no fun.

Everything gets bigger after you're off the water haha. You're right, I shouldn't have said 4 footers but 3 footers isn't a stretch on Fork.

Should have saw Friday crossing the Quachita arm lol.

Keep yourself and PARTNER dry

If I can...if I can't the partner gets wet and I stay dry. Boat ownership has its privileges.

Along the same lines...if my partner is afraid the waves are too big I can drop them on the shore or they can grab the oh-s**t handle and get a ride.

Very nice video!

I finally put my hydraulic plate to use a couple weeks ago on Texoma, wow what a difference when you lower that engine in the rough stuff.

Thanks

Drive around like that on Fork and you'll end up being a stump marker!