A Lot less boats on the Lake this Year

[eavega]

Re: A Lot less boats on the Lake this Year

Our lake is down close to 9 feet, and some of the ramps have become unusable. I have noticed a lot less trailers in the parking lots, but so many folks keep their boats at the various marinas that the lake still gets fairly congested on weekends and holidays. Now we are going to start with the fall fishermen as the temps start dropping and we get closer to the turnover. I'm sure the lake will be fairly hopping with fishermen since the lower lake levels tend to keep the fish more concentrated around the remaining deep pockets and submerged structure.

Rgds

 

[MWBoatFan]

Re: A Lot less boats on the Lake this Year

Here in the KC area I have noticed a steady increase in boating activity over the past 18-24 months. I have also noticed a heavy increase in "action" in the boat market, lots more boats being bought and sold around these parts. I am even seeing boats on car lots which I had almost never seen prior to the past 2 years.

 

[emoney]

Re: A Lot less boats on the Lake this Year

I think a lot of it has to do with perspective, especially for those reporting that activity is "up". It's probably "up" compared to last year or the year before, but I'd imagine still "down" when looking at pre-2006 numbers. And, like others have said, region recovery plays a huge factor. We don't contend with "low/high" water levels down here on the Gulf, but it does seem to be a little light in traffic, although it's not as easy to gauge in the Gulf. There's been a couple of weekends I've gone out my channel to be the only boat around for a couple of miles, and other days that it seems like they're everywhere. There's still a lot of folks out of work or working "below" what they'd consider normal and yes, boating is always trumped by eating.

Hopefully the recovery continues, as I can't see it being a drop in interest in boating, just a lack of disposable cash to finance the hobby.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: A Lot less boats on the Lake this Year

And, like others have said, region recovery plays a huge factor.

That is a good point, unemployment around here is generally a lot lower than the national average. With it being past labor day the activity here will die quickly. Most non fishing types see that as the last weekend of the summer and start storing boats, we see it as the start of wetsuit season. We'll be out until late october as long as there is no freak snow before then.

 

[Rkrough]

Re: A Lot less boats on the Lake this Year

I'm on the Erie Canal, transient boats traveling the canal are way down this year. A few less pleasure power boats this year also.The growth is in kayakers, there are a lot more of them this year and I have met quite a few transiting the entire length of the canal.

 

[Swegner]

Re: A Lot less boats on the Lake this Year

My first post here, but I couldnt resist. I live in the Bullhead City, AZ/Laughlin, NV area. We have lake mohave and the colorado river, best of both worlds. All summer long, every weekend this place gets loaded with out of town boats. This past labor day was no exception. We are still seeing lots and lots of boaters. So I think it may be regional.

 

[T_Herrod]

Re: A Lot less boats on the Lake this Year

With our lake currently sitting at 23" below it's normal level boat traffic has dropped off some but there are still plenty of boats out there. And the repair shops are busy replacing lower units that get removed by the numerous VERY low spots.

 

[briangcc]

Re: A Lot less boats on the Lake this Year

I noticed below normal traffic as well...well when I'm out that is. My time is spent taking care of my 4mo old son Tyler on the weekends while my wife works and I work 2 jobs during the week leaving very little time for boating.

In comparison, last year my wife and I were out just about every other weekend. Just different set of priorities. Next year will probably see us ramp up our boating (and car cruise) activities as Tyler will be a year older and hopefully a little more manageable on trips.

 

[babbot]

Re: A Lot less boats on the Lake this Year

My observation was that during the week if I went out in the afternoon/evening after work it was busyier than last year but weekends seem to be a tiny bit slower. Probably all evens out.

 

[JimMH]

Re: A Lot less boats on the Lake this Year

I have noticed a drop on Lake Hartwell this year, Largest lake in the Southeast. I usually go to other lakes in the area, Lake Russell is the most underused lake in the Southeast. Always full and very little traffic due to the no dock policy of the ACoE. The Mountain lakes also were noticably less crowded when we went to Lake Burton and Lake Chatuge. I would think that a combination of several things attributed to this. High gas prices, the total cost of living is up groceries are up significantly over last year and people are still not spending money due to the higher overal cost of living. Now with $9.00 corn you will see an even bigger jump in food prices, this was driven by the drought in the mid-west and the Governments stupid corn ethanol mandate. It takes two gallons of Diesel to make one gallon of corn ethanol, not to mention the water and electricity it takes doesn't make much sense. Sorry didn't mean to vent.