GL: fishermen and wakes

[Ron Rogers]

You are slowing down for another boat, not a fisherman. You have to evaluate 
the boat. Is it a low-freeboard Jon boat, or a low-freeboard bass boat with 
a guy standing up, or is it a Grady White or Whaler with decent freeboard 
and some weight to it?

You don't want to endanger anybody so you always leave the least wake 
possible for a given situation. How far out does your wake go? That's the 
limit of your concern. Some planing boats give the least wake either when 
going at top speed or idle. Everything else leaves a big wake. Regardless, 
if you must pass close aboard, you must drop to a no wake idle for safety 
reasons.

Passing close at high speed is a danger to all.

Ron Rogers

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alex Cooke" <alexcooke@comcast.net>


| I've been following the thread about wakes.  We run a 42' Tiara with tons 
of
| power and it throws a pretty good wake at cruise (25 kts) and a larger 
wake
| at 12 kts.  We try to give everyone a slow pass.  We've been cruising the
| Tennessee River for the last month and a half and are getting ready to 
head
| down the Tenn-Tom.  My question for the list concerns slowing down for the
| fishermen.  How close to us do they need to be before I bring it down off
| plane, 100 yards, 200 yards, 300 yards, etc.?  There is probably no iron
| clad number but I want to be considerate without becoming a trawler 
anytime
| a fisherman is within sight.  There has got to be some guide for what is
| reasonable and considerate.