Lakes to wake on in NC?
 

Hey folks,
Took next week off work and want to get some wakeboarding in. Gonna be cloudy and low 70's here all week, so thinking about heading down to NC where it looks somewhat sunny and upper 70s and 80 most of the week. Anybody know the best lakes in the raleigh/durham/wake area to go out on. That looks like the shortest drive for me with the best weather forcast. I am open to any other ideas as well. Will be driving down from north east Maryland.

contact Chris at East Coast Wake Park, he will hook you up!

Hyco?

Hyco looks reaaly interseting. Have you been out on it?

Hyco is the most popular!

Falls lake at the bartons creek launch is quiet and usually can find glassy water. Also Sharon Harris down near fuquay varina is a good option as well.

Great information guys, thanks!
Also looking at lake Gaston. Any input on it?

It's Huge!

Tom is right on with Bartons creek ramp on Falls Lake. A few of us are probably headed out there tomorrow afternoon. Provided that its not too windy you can always find glass during the week.

Great!
Thanks to everyone for their input. Will let you all know if I head down!

What boat are you running out there?

I put in at Bartons and everyone is dead on. There are alot of nice areas with glass to be found. Hyco is nice and warm but I'd say stay away from Harris. I've only been there a few times but the water was beat and the launch sucked. I'm out there all the time. Anyone feel free to say hey. Yellow unmarked x9 with an aerial tower

btw anyone confirm on how warm the water is out there. I've been hitting hyco suitless but this will be our first weekend in the water out at falls.

William,

Not sure exactly what the water temp on Falls is, but you don't need a suit or heater top anymore.

Tom,

Sean has the Orange and Gray MB B52.

Water temp on Falls is about 73 degrees right now. Temp may drop a little with rain today but air temp will be 75-80 through the weekend.

yea it was reading like 74 at the intake and 69 at 50 so figured something was up with the readings. I'll take 73 over the 63 degree bare ballin I did a month ago at harris. I can't believe all the girls rode in that crap without a suit

I have a secret lake here in NC. Glass every single day with perfect runs and NO other boats....Too bad I'm never telling any of you where it is

But you HAVE to go ride at the East Coast Wake Park. Everyone needs to go ride there. Its wakeboard paradise

nice to see a lot folks on here repping the barton's creek put in. I'm in a bright yellow centurion with Air Warrior graphics. If you see me, say what's up.

I'm gonna try and get out there Saturday sometime

I usually use the NC State real-time monitoring for my water temps: http://www.ncsu.edu/wq/RTRM/dp14/dp14cc.html

Harris is a decent lake, but yea the ramp BLOWS ... A lot of wakeboarders out there though. I have some friends down there that kill it out on Harris.

^yea I've been using the ncsu deal forever but the readings were all over the place the other day. Think I've seen your boat out there some. I'm usually camped out at a cove by the dam tower or that stretch right around the first or second left coming out of bartons.

I have never seen a ramp as crappy as harris.

We went up there on a sunday and the wind was a killer. Not sure if its just amplified out there b/c of no cover but it was a p.i.t.a to retrieve people with boats blowing all over the place and the water was pure chop. we cruised up and down all over and couldn't find a shred of decent water. Might have just been pissy since the suits were left in north raleigh and my cahona's were raw dawgin some 60 degree water all day

Hahaha, Benj, I guess we are jsut going to have to hide out and follow you to your secret spot, lol. although, Im pretty sure I know where you are talking about :) I cant wait to get a ride behind that new MXZ of yours.

Forrest! what up!? Definitely good to see some Raleigh people representing. We should probably keep it a secret how glassy Falls can get on the week days!

Tom .. I have to work Saturday morning but was hoping to head out when I get off. Definitely say hello. Like Forrest said its an orange MB!

Forrest.. you able to ride this weekend?


Here is a shot from Monday afternoon on John's Mastercraft....

tried to get a buddy out there today but no dice...wind was blowing hard anyway... Hopefully I'll find someone to go out with on saturday, it's supposed to be nice out

we'll be out saturday around noon or 1. Just gonna do some light riding. Look out for the yellow Turdle

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...61758282_n.jpg

We're on Kerr pretty much every weekend. Falls is the same distance for us but Kerr is a much better lake IMO. It's not the most popular lake due to no houses right on the water like Gaston and location maybe? But it is one of the nicest lakes in the state. Huge, tons of coves with glass, and very clean water.

Kerr is great! I wish it was as close to me as Falls is. Friend of mine has a house on the western end of the lake in NC and I have been up to ride a few times. The clear water is nice. I am used to the murky stuff since thats all we had back in MD.

Tom I am hoping to make it out Saturday. Gotta work in the morning and shooting for afternoon. You got a crew together?

BTW... that is a clean looking mastercraft pictured above! nice!

^thanks man. Actually boat is starting to come along alil. It was completely beat to hell when I got it last year, didn't run for about 3 months, and when it did had more issues than an anorexic chick in the cheesecake factory. Got some decent work into this winter and hoping for a trouble free year *knock on wood*

No crew for saturday yet

That 209 was for sale for a while ... I remember it being advertised with a few known issues. Was it worse than what the ad said?

Tom if you are talking about last fall that was me selling it.If you are talking about last winter that was the previous owner (whom I'd like to shoot). If you are talking about last year it was wayyyyyyyyyyy worse than he described. He had it listed high, couldn't get it to start, and when he did it barely ran. Got a smokin deal on it though. I actually pointed out EVERYTHING that was wrong with it. it wasn't as bad as I made it sound. Actually got quite a few offers. Was just fed up with the boat at the time, was tired of working on it more than using it, and wanted a v drive. Decided to pour some cash into it this winter and get her in better shape. New hcld's, stargazer, some upholstry work, working on the wetsand now, led's, new amps, and so on and so on to get a completely clean bill of health. Still needs some more upholstry work but shes way nicer now. I listed it for what I had into it and got about 10 offers in that first month for not much less or for list price. Just couldn't sign the paper

well, I remember that EXACT picture from the listing ... Glad to see you kept it and fixed it up. Maybe we can be yellow boat buddies lol. My Elite V is all yellow as well.

you guys making it out sat? I am shooting for early afternoon and hope to stay out until the glass shows up!

i'm still tentative...turns out my buddies are pretty busy. Waiting to hear on my last resort buddy. Wouldn't mind being a "third" if I can't find anyone.

Tom.. if you cant find someone hit me up.. email comes right to my phone. I just got in from work..

cant seem to PM you.. try me at sparkyg17@gmail.com

I'm about an hour south of Raleigh on a private lake called Carolina Lakes. I'm off work for 3 weeks or so, if any of you guys ever want to come down and ride during the week, let me know adam1680@gmail.com .. Always looking for people to ride

adam... that sounds pretty cool where abouts is this?

Just south of Sanford on 87. It's a 500 acre private lake and I'm pretty much the only boat out there on the weekdays.

looks nice. Is it bad on a day with wind? looks like it is a bit open. Will have to come check it out!

It's wooded on one side and open on the other. When it's really windy, it can get a bit choppy. There's also a smaller "ski" lake that we go to when the main lake is choppy, but that can get dizzying after awhile. You get about 2 jumps before you have to turn around.. Just not quite as much fun. Anyhow, shoot me an email whenever you (or whoever) wants to come ride.

Falls & Hyco are the 2 worst lakes i've ever rode on. Never go there ever! :D

blah blah blah...As John pointed out to you earlier today its not other wake boarding boats that make the water bad ;) ......MOST of the time....suppose if they are surfing it does..

Ive got my own 45 acre lake outside of Benson. Its not huge but i'm the only boat so it's always descent water. Its one big circle with two long straightaways. Always looking for people to come ride with me. It's hard to get a good group together that enjoys the water, you would think having a descent boat would cause people to knock down my door, but that's not the case.

Had 2 people surfing up a narrow glass spot this weekend. Thought I was going to lose it. Sean think I saw your boat out there this weekend too. Pretty sure you passed us at the marathon and were throwing in right before us. Water was beyond great this weekend and to anyone who spotted the shenanigans that happened on my boat this weekend they have been rectified, beaten, and banned for life.

Yeah man i am pretty sure we passed you! Forrest was with me and we were both like yeah that has to be the yellow MC. That bimini stands out for sure...its sweet. We did not have much lucking finding great water on Saturday. Gona try for later this week. I am not sure we spotted the shenanigans...what went down?!

Figured that was yall. That boat sticks out big time. Great looking ride and the color combo is pimp


That stretch on the 1st turn on the left pass the bridge was pretty nice all day. had 2 people surfing up through the tight turns which was a pita and left light rollers all day but was pretty good water especially further back. The bimini is hood rich. Covers up pretty much 70% of the back. Sucked for this weekend but its great for summer.

There was some pretty awful driving out of my boat. Either I was just dropping line b/c they'd fly 8mph past engaging or 8mph under and on each of my runs the girls decided the music of choice was britney spears full blast. Think everyone in a 3 mile stretch got to listen to that crap for 15 minutes. Nothing like getting pulled at 29 while watching 3 girls dance around in the boat like 12 year olds.

haha ... I taught a friend of mine to drive the boat on saturday and had to keep yelling at him for going to fast on the pickup ... He was literally ripping the handle out of my hand. Good times.

I had a good stretch of water for a while but every now and then a few wake boats would come through on their way to a tie-up and completely F up the spot. Seriously, it was like they were running full ballast on the way to their tie-up. Bastards. I was down by towards the dam side of the lake on the left hand fork.

Anyways, finally go the new-to-me boat dialed in on speed and started hitting consistent wake-to-wakes behind it, so I am pumped. Gave a guy drifting around near us a little show. By that I mean I took a HARD fall on a toe-side jump right next to him. Hope he enjoyed my misery LOL.

That area by the damn is nice but its such a short run. I'm just starting to progress into w2w's etc so I'm a pita for going down quickly. I am completely lost on the full ballast and surfing in the coves and cuts though. Absolutely no reason for it but I'm sure people were cussing us all day too. Really want to see if I can find some other areas besides those 2. That dam area is a saving grace during summer since it doesn't seem as many people know about it. I was however jealous of the towboatus guy. I have never seen so many people towed in my life.

having three girls dancing around on your boat doesn't seem like such a bad problem to have!!!! ;) My boat is mostly filled with dudes and we spend our time riding. I have not been down to the cove by the damn yet but usually you can get some good water back there. I like the area on the other side of the bridge when its not busy because it is narrow and usually nice and smooth...

I have noticed that with the water level being high right now it seems to not dissipate the boat wakes as well.... just an observation but the high water level is definitely a good thing.

I hear you on not having a good drive. I ride with john and forrest all the time and they can both pull a boarder damn well. I am real hesitant to even ride otherwise..

thanks for the props on the boat colors. I ordered it that way back in 06 and if i ever upgrade to another I am going with the same colors for sure.

you know I was kind of thinking that might be the issue. That whole area past the bridge was slow rollers for like 20-30min at a time. Not enough to be bad but just alil annoying. Def looked like a different landscape out there this year. Saw 2 people go way right of the the buoy on the way out and I was waiting for disaster to happen but evidently its put on some good depth there.

2 of the girls are married and dance like 12 year old girls. There was nothing in the boat this weekend that really made me want to stay in the boat haha. Right now I'd trade some fat buddies in for the 100lb married women. Either that or I need to buck up and buy some more ballast

It's a short run by the Dam definitely, but i didn't want my new driver to have to deal with that narrow section.

The high levels are nice for a few reasons, but it's a pain when I bring the dog out because he can't find any shallow water to swim to and wade in so he's constantly trying to get back into the boat.

anyone who goes way right of that buoy has clearly never seen the pile o rock that sticks out when the level is low! you will never catch me over there. Having a prop re-turned is no fun!

I have heard that spot has claimed the life of a Malibu in the past ... Maybe not totalled it, not sure on the details, but I heard the dude ****ed up the boat pretty badly.

Saw a moomba bite it hard last year. It wasn't catastrophic but he was in the market for a new shaft/prop. They really need a warning system out there besides a poorly laid out buoy. Thats a boat eater and every boat goes past that area. I don't know of anywhere else out there that is a real "danger" besides the dam/beach area and the point out in that area though.

which dam/beach area are you talking about? The one up by 98?

If you go out to the dam past the corp station and take the right towards barefoot cove there are 2 areas right there that get shallow quick! One being the point and the other being closer to the dam/beach.

for reference if you came out of bartons and stayed straight til you can't go any further youll pass the station and then the dam. If you take a right at the point in front of the dam theres a lil stretch right there that has good water 90% of the time. Its a good place to hang out if you are surfing since you can hit open water in 2 seconds. The wake run is short though and every jackleg with a 30' boat or jet ski hangs out in front of the dam during summer

I mainly go to Harris, but will be hitting Falls a bunch at the Bartons dock. Also probably a couple trips to always flat water up in RoxVegas!!! Sean, holla.

Dawn what up! ... what is this RoxVegas you speak of?

SEAN!!!! and Forrest!!! wasssup! Roxboro...Mayo Lake. always butta!!!

Heading out around 2 to ride today. All yellow centurion. Can't miss us, say what's up.

Tom... I am headed out as well.. Hope the wind dies down I will look for you and say whats up!

I've prob got 2 weeks til I'm back out there but will invade sat/sun of that week. Heading to Hyco for memorial day