Willard...Good News - Bad News

[Fritzfishin]

Fish deer creek from shore enough and eventually you'll hook into a trophy $100,000 Mastercraft boat... someday my boat will come!! So far just a few cheap wakesetters and malibus ive had to release while shore fishing....

[Therapist]

I agree with everything said about the power squadron !! My best experience was on Deer Creek some years back. Was fishing below the railroad, just before it turns to go towards Midway. I was on the point, throwing a big Buzz bait, back along the shore. I was about 25 ft off shore, working the big rocks there. A boat, pulling a skier was coming toward me. I was highly visible, the Big Red Skeeter, but for some reason the skier was going to go between me and the shore, with the boat going outside me, pulling the ski rope OVER me and my boat ( leaning against a pole seat, two windshields, it was not going to be pretty. The only thing I could do was bounce the buzz bait off the windshield of the boat. That startled the girl driving, she swerved out into the lake, the skier dropped off about 15 ft in front of me. He tried to swim out to the boat, but I would cut him off. She kept trying to pick him up and I would hit the windshield with my buzz bait. This went on for about 15 minutes when I finally let her pick him up. About 30 minutes after that, here came the ranger. I explained what had gone on and he left to find the other boat. They were very upset with me at the ramp, be cause they got a ticket for unsafe boating and not staying 50 yds from another craft. There is justice sometimes !!

[Tin-Can]

I've had several near miss, and incidents on Willard where power squadron boaters have come way too close to me (a lot closer than 150 ft) at speeds well above "No Wake". Fortunately I've not had any swamping episodes (so far). But I was witness to one episode that didn't really effect me, but came pretty darn close to swamping a fellow BFT friend.
Just inside the buoy line at the south marina, a gentleman was fishing from his "Banana Yak" (those of you who remember that yellow kayak, will know of whom I speak). A woman in a 23ft. wakeboard boat, all by herself in the boat, came full speed across the south channel outlet, heading east to west and couldn't have been more than 100ft out from the Banana Yak. I was down just shy of the feed lot, and couldn't see if there had been and harm caused to the kayaker, but I knew who it was. So I pulled in my lines, and headed to the channel outlet buoy area as fast as my little 15 hp OB would go. About the time I got 100 yards off the outside buoy, and slowed down so I wouldn't cause any wake, and noticed that the offending airhead with more boat than brains had turned around and was heading back toward the buoy line, at full throttle. I figured she was going to head in to the marina and would slow down to make the right turn. NOPE, she blew thru the No Wake zone less than 40 to 50 yards off of the rock wall and about 100 ft. off my starboard side. I had positioned my boat between the channel outlet and the affected yellow kayak in an attempt to mitigate the wave action on the kayak. I wasn't totally successful, but it helped. Neither of us got swamped. That was one trip I was REAL glad that I had left my .45 at home, cuz I don't think I would have been able to resist putting some holes below water line of that boat.

[TubeDude]

I agree with everything said about the power squadron !!  My best experience was on Deer Creek some years back.  Was fishing below the railroad, just before it turns to go towards Midway.  I was on the point, throwing a big Buzz bait, back along the shore.  I was about 25 ft off shore, working the big rocks there.  A boat, pulling a skier was coming toward me.  I was highly visible,  the Big Red Skeeter,  but for some reason the skier was going to go between me and the shore, with the boat going outside me, pulling the ski rope OVER me and my boat ( leaning against a pole seat, two windshields,  it was not going to be pretty.  The only thing I could do was bounce the buzz bait off the windshield of the boat.  That startled the girl driving, she swerved  out  into the lake,  the skier dropped off about 15 ft in front of me.  He tried to swim out to the boat, but I would cut him off.  She kept trying to pick him up and I would hit the windshield with my buzz bait.  This went on for about 15 minutes when I finally let her pick him up.  About 30 minutes after that, here came the ranger.  I explained what had gone on and he left to find the other boat.  They were very upset with me at the ramp, be cause they got a ticket for unsafe boating and not staying 50 yds from another craft.  There is justice sometimes !!

Rick has some good "mitigating" tales of errant boating types too.  And I'm sure you remember my saga of the wrist rocket on Willard.  Have also employed it well not only in Utah but Arizona too.  Brainless behavior is not unique to Utah, even if it seems like we have an exclusive on it. 

These days I am a little more subdued in my responses.  Whenever a boat is approaching within the proximity level...at speed...I make a big show of bringing up my camera to record the bow numbers.  Amazing how many suddenly conscious boaters either shut down the speed or veer away when they see the camera.  But I had one dude holler "is that supposed to scare me?  To which I replied "Nope.  Just wanted a new cover picture for this months edition of "A**H**** on the water."