Phoenix area wakeboarders

Are there any Phoenix area wakeboarders out there? I am interested in what the season is for wakeboarding there. I am particularly interested in Lake Pleasant. What are the daytime temps like in winter, and is the lake too cold during the winter. Any input would help.
Thanks,
Moto96s

only been to pleasant once and once was enough. Year round riding is possible.how cold are you willing to ride in?

http://www.1440cablefactory.com/plan...ours-and-rates

Parks not even open yet, I think ground hasn't even been broken either

I wakeboard year round here. Last weekend was the first weekend this winter I wasn't at the lake and that was only due to Christmas shopping. Some of my friends wear a drysuit and I wear an O'Neill Psycho II with a pair of wetsuit shorts and a thin wetsuit top underneath. On overcast and really cold days I have a thin scuba cap that keeps my ears warm. Winter is the best time in AZ because almost no-one else is on the lake!

water is nice in the winter, all you need is heater top on a sunny day. Pleasant is about only good in the winter , water temps if i guessed 50-55. i haven t been out this winter, cause of kids sports!!!

Ummm, I'll ride in 55 degree water if the air temp is in the 70s and sunny. Tell me more about Lake Pleasant you guys. Is it too crowded on the weekends in spring/summer, is that why the negative comments?
If so, is it also crowded on weekdays? I have the same problem here. If I am not done on the river by 11am, on a weekend, all the crazies come out.
I am hoping to retire someplace warm some day, where I can wakeboard most of the year. My wife says she will not move to Florida. So I am currently looking in the Suprise, Arizona, because it is close to lake Pleasant. Like I said, I wake on week days most of the time rather than weekends, but am I looking in the wrong area/Lake????
Moto96s

Ya, my wife won't move to florida either, I sure am going to miss her!

If you have the dough you can retire in carefree/cave creek and be close to Bartlett. now that is a good lake! Check out east Mesa and be close to saguaro, that's where I live, 15-20 minutes to the ramp.

Originally Posted by joshugan

I wakeboard year round here. Last weekend was the first weekend this winter I wasn't at the lake and that was only due to Christmas shopping. Some of my friends wear a drysuit and I wear an O'Neill Psycho II with a pair of wetsuit shorts and a thin wetsuit top underneath. On overcast and really cold days I have a thin scuba cap that keeps my ears warm. Winter is the best time in AZ because almost no-one else is on the lake!

Josh i'm digging the swim cap everytime I see you guys riding out there. I wear a Helmet during those cloudy cold days to cover my ears from the wind chill and protect my forehead from that brain freeze feeling

Hey thanks guys, that's the kind of info I need. Don't have alot of dough, but these days there are inexpensive homes almost everywhere if you look. I am headed out that way Jan 2 and will definately check out lake Barrtlett! I did look at the Carefree area for homes I think and they were mostly all out of my range.
Any body else? Is Lake pleasant OK during the week or just bad overall?

The issue with pleasant is that it's big and open, no real protection from winds, power Turners and other peoples rollers. Take a look from bing maps. Id write more but my I try to post and some how it logs me out and everything i've Written is gone. Third attempt trying to post here....

if you can go weekdays , this is your best bet but still is hit or miss at pleasant due to wind....... weekends well 4am - 6 am is your best bet and thats the only good water you will get imo at pleasant

The only place that has some protection from winds is two cow cove. Not very long but that's your best bet. I know you said weekdays but fyi if you go on a weekend you would have to share that cove with people tying up and partyn back there as well.

Another thing to look at is the number of lakes our valley has and where they are. Looking at google maps the only ridable lakes are pleasant, Bartlett, saguaro, canyon, Apache, and Roosevelt. (didn't list horseshoe cuz it's a pain to get to plus half the time the water level is to low to even get a boat in there.)

As you see where they are, there are 4 to the east valley, 1 to the NE valley and 1 for the northwest valley(pretty much for the west valley for that matter) so when you consider where people are gonna go when it comes to water you have pleasant supplying/nearest for Westside residents. pleasant is also the easiest assessable lake in the entire valley because of how close it is to freeways and major roads. So that's another downside because the average Joe will go to what's close and easy to get to.

Hey thanks guys, great information! Does water level become an issue at Bartlett?Do summers go by when you can't wake at all due to drought in any Lake in the area?

Water levels are only real issues for horseshoe and Bartlett. Water levels can get as low as 40% at Bartlett which means they close the second launch ramp, lake gets smaller and possibly so low that first ramp isn't safe to use so we launch from the dirt. Plus side to it is that it deters people from going there and you have even more wind protection. The negative is everything I listed plus the fact if people still show less water area to share so it can get cramped plus watch for those islands! But they mark em all. Note: this is the best weekday lake in the valley!

Water levels are controlled by SRP (energy company) in the valley. So they take water from all the reservoirs to supply the valley. the reservoirs are fed from the north and a good summer water level depends on a better than normal snow Fall up north so when it melts it all ends up here. So sometimes srp will drain to much out of Bartlett for the demand or possibly a miss calculation in snow fall predictions. In return, the first lake to go is horseshoe which is connected to Bartlett and then maintains Bartletts survival for the summer plus the valleys needs.

The four far east valley lakes are all connectEd and are maintained (water level wise) very well. if srp needs to drain a lake in that chain it gonna be Roosevelt. But it's soo big that it's not a big concern cuz theres still plenty of water area that every one/anyone can do there thing. The other three in that chain will barely fluctuate when this called for.

Thanks DC, will definately check out those areas when I go out.

How long you gonna be out here? Shopping for houses or visiting family/friends?

Checking out the area and shopping for houses. Be out Jan 2 through the 7th.

I might go riding that Monday (Jan. 2nd) it would be saguaro if I end up going.i'm sure you pressed on time but if you wanna ride hit me up

Hey, that's fantastic man! I really appreciate the offer!. . Ummm, you should know I am old and slow, and kind of wake at a very low level. Just do wake to wake 180s as my best trick. But if you are OK with that, I will definately try to give you a shout.

as long as I don't need to teach you how to get up on a wakeboard. That's good enough for me. Pretty sure the Wifey said its cool to lake it next Monday at saguaro. Went out today and it was awesome air up there was 62° water was 59°.

Sounds great! I'll get the gas for the day if we go. I'll give a shout back as we get closer, and see if you are still planning on going out.
I am also finding a lot of homes for sale in the Mesa area. I am going to be busy looking around, but I will definately take a day off to ride!

Dang sounds Luke you're gonna be everywhere in the valley looking at homes! You driving here our flying then getting a rental?

Saguaro is my favorite, year round riding with a thick wetsuit. Weekends on lakes in phoenix during the summer are like power turn festivals. I have seen some scary stuff happen on weekends. It is ridiculous unless you get on the water at 4am and leave by 6am.
I think I heard once that Arizona has the most watercraft per capita? I have never seen anything to document it...but it sure seems that way on the weekends!

Originally Posted by ilikebeaverandboats

Saguaro is my favorite, year round riding with a thick wetsuit. Weekends on lakes in phoenix during the summer are like power turn festivals. I have seen some scary stuff happen on weekends. It is ridiculous unless you get on the water at 4am and leave by 6am.
I think I heard once that Arizona has the most watercraft per capita? I have never seen anything to document it...but it sure seems that way on the weekends!

Leave it to beaver to give away my secret to getting good weekend water in the summer! Haha, yeah for the low amount of lakes we have, that statement sure does seem true!

Moto, I've ridden at Pleasant a few time on the weekdays and always had good experiences there. Unless there's something else you really want to be close to in the Valley I'd personally buy a place close to Saguaro and the road to Canyon/Apache. You then have that whole chain of Saguaro, Canyon, Apache and Roosevelt (although you cannot boat from one lake to another, fyi).

Curt, I'm glad you like my sweet riding hat. It's always good to see fellow die hards out there! (Kinda funny that we ride the same board too.)

Curt, flying out and getting a rental. Started looking on realtor.com after your post and found a number of homes to look at in Mesa as well.
Josh B, thanks for the info. When you say the Valley, do you mean closer to downtown phoenix? And it sounds like north and east mesa would be a good spot to be close to that road, yes?, Any other areas to suggest?
Hey, is arizonia a spotter state? And do they enforce it(sounds like they have to on the weekends)
Also sounds like I better bring my full suit. Sounds like my spring suit will be pushing it with the lake at 59

Originally Posted by joshugan

Moto, I've ridden at Pleasant a few time on the weekdays and always had good experiences there. Unless there's something else you really want to be close to in the Valley I'd personally buy a place close to Saguaro and the road to Canyon/Apache. You then have that whole chain of Saguaro, Canyon, Apache and Roosevelt (although you cannot boat from one lake to another, fyi).

Curt, I'm glad you like my sweet riding hat. It's always good to see fellow die hards out there! (Kinda funny that we ride the same board too.)

its an awesome board all around! Which bindings do you ride with?

Ya bring a full suit for Monday. what size foot and board are you? And what time are too gonna be flying in? Yes, Arizona lakes have spotter laws, but I don't think they're strictly enforced, unless you have alcohol on the boat. Also you bringing family or just you and wife? When you say north or east Mesa where in particular is that? Once again bring up google maps and you can see the accessible highways to the east valley lakes. And when we say valley that means the Phoenix metropolises. Think when josh said valley, there should have been a period or comma after the word valley. As it changes the meaning of his sentence.

Josh, Looks like 88 runs up toward all the lakes, and now Apache Junction is starting to look interesting along with east Mesa like Curt was saying.
Curt, I am a size 11 boot and normally ride a 143 board now. If it really looks like we will be able to hook up and go out I will probably try and bring out my new Harley. I know it's gonna cost me to take it on the plane, but I really like it and want to get time on it if I can. If it looks like it will be really expensive to bring, will beg to borrow board from you if you have one.

We are for sure going on Monday. the forecast for that day says sunny also so weather is also good. I have an eztra Ronix 1 size... 142 I think plus some xL neoprene bindings that are a couple years old. That's worse case scenario if you need to borrow a board. Might be able to get my friends O'Brien Valhalla 143 with 2011O'Brien format bindings size 11-12

Sounds good. Let me know where to meet you and when on Monday. If you know the address of the ramp at the lake i'll punch it into my GPS and meet you there, if that is good.

http://www.saguarolakemarina.com/maps.html
14011 N. Bush Hwy
Mesa, AZ.
your welcome to even meet at my place if you want. All the lakes (except pleasant) are under operation by the US forest service of the Tonto national forest. So parking at lakes is $9 I think. Have an annual pass so I don't remember the exact cost. Shoot me an email dcfuego68@aol.com or text 602 eight 2 eight 72 four six