A lot of background here so just bear with me.

Saturday, May 10, Joe Pool Lake, north west side, along Lynn Creek (see pic).

I put in with the kayak at the Marina because it’s free there and saves spending $10 to get into Loyd Park. I’ve been planning on getting the Loyd Park annual pass as soon as the economic stimuli arrives, but have been using the Marina until then. Anyway, by the time I put in at the Marina paddle south under the LakeRidge Parkway bridge and skirt the shoreline back to Lynn Creek, it’s about a one mile paddle, no big deal.

I paddled over to my spot back in the trees, set out a few juglines, and then started dropping jigs by trees along the old creek channel. I catch a few small crappie (9.5” Joe Pool Specials) and decide to focus more on the catfish. I chum an area bait three poles, and sit and wait. I catch a dozen or so 1 to 2 pound–ish cats and head over to shore to stretch a bit and throw a lure along the shoreline for a while. Don’t really catch anything of consequence but I do notice that the wind has picked up considerably and the water back out on the main lake looks pretty choppy.

I pack everything up make sure everything is tied to the yak as best as possible and start to head out. I stay about 50-75 yards off shore and away from the main boat lanes. The wind is giving me hell and the waves are crashing into be from my right side sometimes coming over the side of the boat, I wasn’t real happy. I get about 100 yards from the bridge and see a blue and white ski boat south of me headed east to west ( I am headed east). The boat decided to turn north towards me, keeps coming straight towards me, gets about 50-75 feet from me pulls a 180 and basically throws its wake at me and my yak can’t handle a wave that big and fast broadside and it send me rolling, throwing me and pretty much all of my stuff into the water.

Now you may be wondering, maybe he didn’t see me and the turn was a last minute evasive maneuver to avoid a collision? I doubt it because:

• I wear a orange field vest over my PFD
• my paddle has a metal shaft and orange fins and was being waved in the air when it became obvious they were headed my way
• They wear screaming “F*** YOU!!!! EAT OUR WAKE!!!! As they turned and subsequently sped away

Things I lost in the “event”

A swiss army knife I have had since I was 14
The entire days catch (was in a cooler which came open on its way out of the boat)
The cash which was in my shorts pocket (about $15)
My will to get back into the yak any time soon.
Luckily, the two fishing rods which came loose had buoyant handles so I only lost the tackle on them when the lines broke as I was trying to get the tangled mess thrown back into the boat.



I won’t be taking that route anymore. Anytime I paddle at that lake in the near future I will be putting in at a different park on a more isolated portion of the lake so I can avoid the asshats in the power boats entirely. I won’t be making anything resembling an open water paddle alone for a long time, especially not alone.

Now for the special achievement awards:

I’d like to send a big thank you to the bank fisherman who stood up and watched when I started blowing my whistle when the boat was getting real close and continued to watch as I gathered up what I could and made my way to shore. Thanks for bothering the check and see if I was OK. I hope the next guy you watch nearly get run over works for La Migra.

And to the three late-teen/early 20’s guys driving daddy’s boat, I really hope you hit a stump and sank that damn boat about five minutes later, you were headed in the right direction to do so.

I talked to a cop when I got back to the Marina. He tried to get a hold of the game warden but was informed that the warden was occupied with an issue at a different location that he couldn’t get away from.

Most boaters are really nice but there are a few that are total buttholes. Sorry that happened to you, Tree.

I know this is hard to remember, but:
1. Could you make out the make/model of the boat?
2. Was there anything specific about the boat's paint scheme? Two tone, graphics... anything?
3. Was there anything distinctive about the boat? Pylon, open bow?
4. Est. length and driveline? 18' outboard? 22' I/O?

The reason for these questions is you need to file a formal complaint with the TPWD game warden and also with whoever else patrols Joe Pool. I regularly bring my 3 yr old out Kayaking, and something like this happening scares the s*** out of me! The least it will do is increase patrolling in that area of the lake.

all I could tell it was blue/white, not unlike this one.



I think I would have remembered if it was a Bayliner though, I only saw the side of it fore a second or two as I was going over. I don't recall seeing a name, kind of had other things on my mind at the time.



[This message has been edited by Tree Hugger (edited 5/12/2008 11:35a).]

That sucks man. Why do people have to be a**holes?

My dad and I were fishing on Lake McQueeny one time in our bass boat. We were stationary, about 20 feet from the bank fishing the bank and boat docks. Some guy comes by in a ski boat pulling his teenage son on a slalom. The a88hole kid comes right at us, and cuts back about 10 feet from our boat, completely spraying us.

Next time try to get the TX ID Hull Number. They are LEGALLY liable for what their wake does. You could sue them for damages. They are also in criminal violation of boating laws by getting closer than 100 feet to you, and by making a dangerous wake, and had you been fishing they might be in criminal violation for interfering with legal fishing, which I believe might be a FELONY in some cases.

Id be pissed. Keep a cheap waterproof disposable camera handy.


I had the same problem this weekend. I was kayak fishing on conroe near the dam, and there was NOTHING within 800 yards of me, boat wise, the lake was wide open (for once) at that time...and several idiots in a big I/O powerboat decided to run along the dam and buzz me at about 70 feet. Fortunately I have a very stable kayak and lots of paddle experience. Why they had to come bother me by semi-circling me at 70 feet when the whole rest of that area of the lake was empty of watercraft is beyond me. It is like they are COMPELLED to show people in smaller cheaper boats how cool their big expensive boat is by buzzing other people. Maybe it is a way of psychologically justifying the giant home equity loan they used to pay for the boat....

I haven't been paddling that long, which is another reason why I stick closer to the shoreline. sadly, the more time I spend in my yak, the less stable it seems. I bought a cheap used one to get out on the water and see how I like it.

Powerboaters and Personal Watercraft operators can be really obnoxious.

Sorry to see that it happened. I think if you could have got the registration numbers....they would not do it again.

On the flip side....kayaks are very hard to see in certain situations. There are lots of kayaks fishing in the Lighthouse Lakes. All sorts of shallow draft boats and my airboat run thru the narrow winding cuts that go from lake to lake. If you loiter or fish on the outside of those cuts you stand a chance to get planted. Those that have attached the bright orange fishing pole type flags are easy to spot.

True, it does help to make yourself visible, but boaters are usually higher up where they should be able to see a kayak anyways..he who is underway takes responsibility for the results of his actions while underway...

Sometimes powerboaters forget there is no "right" to be moving at any given speed, or to stay on plane. If the circumstances demand you slow down to no-wake speed or steerage, then so be it. I understand when running shallow, that can be a problem, but again, you are responsible for what your boat or wake does...

As someone who owns 2 powerboats and 2 yaks, I'm well aware of all the issues both sides face...

All parties have a responsibilty for their actions. My point is that a kayaker needs to be careful of blind spots. I sit up very high in the airboat.....much higher than a shallow draft boat...and you can not see a kayak on the other side of a curve unless they have a flag. These trails were cut so you can run from lake to lake.

Can you see the kayak around the curve on the left?

I don't think this was a case of them not seeing me. Look at the red line in the pic in the original post. I think it is more of a case of some stupid kids just wanting to screw with someone.

sunchaser...what if it were a floating log instead of a kayak? If you cannot avoid, you took the turn too fast or to close...but it does make sense to make yourself visible as a kayaker for safety's sake.

[This message has been edited by MouthBQ98 (edited 5/12/2008 2:32p).]

Treehugger...totally different point than your weekend. No defense for that.

Mouth....If the log/kayak is out in the middle of one of these cut thrus that are ten feet or so wide, the log/kayak is going to get hit sooner or later.

If the log/kayak has a flag on it making it visible it probably won't get hit.

Our kayaks have flags.