Early mornings in Crystal bay are amazing. The lake level is down, on the North Shore you'll need to look at the coast guard launch near Tahoe City or on the Nevada Side you'll have to go to Sand Harbor.
The fee increase is due to the gestapo known as the TRPA, while I agree with what they're trying to prevent, making people pay to have their boats inspected is just wrong...
http://www.trpa.org/default.aspx?tabindex=1&tabid=351 My parents live on the north shore now (Kings Beach), if you need any more info, let me know...