Lake Austin - Reopen?

As many of you may already know, Lake Austin was closed to watercraft over the last couple of weeks due to flooding and the resulting floating debris. From the best I can tell, the ban was lifted Thursday afternoon (9/16).

Has anyone been on the lake since then? Are most of the boats our there running full speed? Are you planning to head out there this weekend?

I am trying to decide whether it is still risky or if the lake has had plenty of time to clear over the last couple of weeks. I am assuming the ban was overly cautious, so it should be ok, but then again they suggest to only move at "idle" speed? Is this just a CYA suggestion. I don;t want to be the one idiot that hits a log.

I was just at Hula Hut a couple hours ago and saw a few wakeboats out there. No one was being pulled but two of them had the ropes dangling from the tower. I saw no debris in the water, the water was a little more stained than usual. I can't see Lake Austin getting alot of debris other than twigs and trash...not big logs. However, due to the shoreline being man-made material in most areas I can see the concern because the debris can't float onto the shore and beach itself. I use Lake Belton (60 miles north of Austin) and when we get a flood, we have to worry about entire trees floating in the lake and cedar tree stumps (which can punch a hole into any hull). Good luck, it looked fine from what I could see. Take a slow test cruise of your intended path before you board and I think you'll be good

Thanks for the update. We have some friends in town and we could head to pace bend, but I have not done it before and hate to hit a new ramp and try something new with people in town - oh well, better than a log in the hull...LOL.

More debris is coming down the rivers. I was on the Colorado this weekend, and there was a lot of debris in certain places (logs, branches, etc...). It will take a few weeks for it to wash down. It's ridable but keep an eye in the direction your headed.

I'm sure it's not your first rodeo, but figure I put it out there. Nearly every spring we deal with flash floods that send debris in the lake for weeks. I always drive the path we'll be riding for at least a pass or two, and everyone is on log/debris watch duty. My thought is the boat and wakes will hopefully turn something up for at least a split second that may be hiding just under the surface, and makes me feel a bit better when out there riding