Op-Ed: Anglers vs. wake boats
December 30, 2024 | By Peter Shea
Anglers take note: Waterbury Reservoir and nine other Vermont lakes have individually petitioned the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources to ban wakesports and/or wake boats — 500-horsepower behemoth vessels that create artificial wakes for behind-the-boat surfing.
The decision now rests with the Department of Environmental Conservation to ban wake boats because of their harm to fish habitat and the danger these massive craft pose to anglers and other traditional users of public water.
Wake boats are a bane for all who fish and others who enjoy a day on a lake. Wake boats produce monster waves that can damage shorelines and lake bottoms by taking on tons of water ballast to submerge the stern, plowing up four-plus foot waves for “ropeless wake surfing.” Good fun for the few who can afford the $100,000-plus price tag, but bad news for other users of public waterways, especially those who enjoy a day fishing.
For anglers, wake boats create a collision of recreation interests: 4-foot waves versus the angler, who is customarily a tranquil presence on the water. Large wakes pose a safety threat to small craft (kayaks, canoes, small trolling skiffs). Who wants to go fishing when you are rocked by huge waves? When wake boats commence operation, most other waterbody users – anglers included – retreat.
Wake boats hurt angling interests on two fronts. First, they are an environmental disaster and, second, they interfere with anglers’ enjoyment of their sport.
A wake boat's propulsion makes a powerful downward thrust documented to stir the bottom to a depth of at least 26 feet. These depths are the nursery of all that lives in our lakes and ponds. This disrupts the shoals where native lake trout spawn. This disturbs lake-bottom sediment. These shallows are the nursery for juvenile fish, the home of aquatic grasses, mayflies, dragonflies and other bugs vital to the food chain. Wake boats upset this fragile habitat. They harm our fish.
These mega-crafts promote pollution. Soft lake bottoms contain nutrient-rich materials deposited over the ages. When stirred up, these nutrients contribute to algae blooms. Large wakes strike shorelines and cause erosion, contrary to the 2014 Shoreline Protection Act passed by our legislature to protect shorelines and water quality. The Department of Environmental Conservation employs an army of scientists and spends tens of millions of dollars attempting to reduce water-borne phosphorus levels. Yet it permits the power sports industry with its wake boats to stir up lake bottoms and promote pollution — all at taxpayer expense.
Many critics, including me, welcome their ban on all Vermont inland waters. Why have we come to decide between “bad” and “really bad”? A ban will likely come years from now, well after the environmental damage has occurred.
In the meantime, and second best, we hope the Department of Environmental Conservation will respond favorably to the wakesports ban proposed for Waterbury Reservoir and the other nine lakes (Caspian, Echo, Great Averill, Little Averill, Fairlee, Shadow, Parker, Willoughby and Joe's Pond) whose stakeholders have petitioned for such a ban.
Angler and award-winning veteran Vermont outdoors author Peter Shea lives in Burlington.