I live on a very high traffic lake and one thing I feel like has helped me navigate more safely and effectively in rough water is lowering my hydraulic jackplate so I have more prop in the water. But the biggest thing is like John said, slow down. I’d rather be a few minutes late and make it back to the ramp in one piece than risk getting hurt trying to run fast. One other note, ALWAYS wear your life jacket and make sure your kill switch is hooked to you. If something bad goes wrong this can save your life as well as others in the area.

Thanks for the tips John. Appreciate you taking the time to educate the bass fishing community on boater safety!

Man, I cannot say enough about you making these videos John, I've been coming back for refreshers for a couple years now. What a great resource.

Thanks so much John for making this video it was one I've been asking for and you delivered ❤ i love this series

THANK you John Crews for providing some great tips for any boat operator!!!

Thanks for putting these together John! Good resource for new boaters!

"Let's run that boat down" he says with a smile.🤣

Good videos, I just bought a 19ft Aluminum Vexus with a 115 Merc coming from a 17.ft Tracker with a 50 Merc its a big difference , your video helps and made me realize that I had my motor trimmed too far down last weekend when I hit 2-2.5ft waves.

Thanks for all of your video’s John! You do a great job at covering a broad range of a bass fisherman’s life. You’ve really helped me to become a better fisherman and boater! Thanks much👍

Great video sir, this is probably one of the best videos of boat driving and handling.

Great video John, thanks and keep up the good work!

This video popped up just in time to be a refresher for Memorial Day! Wow, I've never seen so many boats on the water at the same time. Plus, I feel like people drive their boats like they drive their car. The large ski boats and wake board boats were literally doing U-turns and cutting accross the only boat lane to the main lake, at high speeds and very close quarters! I'm pretty sure that your advice to just slow down is what got my family and I through that safely. Thanks for sharing the knowledge!

Thank you, this is some great information!! Safe travels on the water and tight lines sir!! :)

Great videos John. Appreciate ya!

Another good and informative video. Thanks John.

I learned how to drive my bass boat because of him so thank you very much for this types of vedios

#JohnCrews I love taking driving advice from the guy i followed on Grand and witnessed you getting "hang time". Man the lake was ROUGH that day. And cold too. I too am #basscat4life and We can run and runnem good. Be safe out there bud.

This was super helpful. Thanks!!

If u can see around the boat that's putting out a pretty good size wake. I've seen bass boat operators get kinda close and just jump one wake instead of two or three. But always be safe. Winter is coming!! Ahh the occasional boat wake!!! Cant wait!!

Nice video, but you solicited other tips, so here one from an old fart that’s been running bass boats way too fast since 1970. When overtaking a boat don’t get too close before clearing the wake. Get outside their wake as early as you can. I see it all time, folks will run up the smooth water behind a boat and at the last moment attempt to jump the wake. Bad idea! Hope this helps somebody.

Love your videos John !! Must say those shades are 🕶️🔥🔥🔥

Called an oscillating effect which can get out of control, spin the boat around real quick and through you out of the boat. Good information your putting out because I've seen a lot of crazy Bass Boat Drivers doing stupid things on the water just to get to a fishing point fast.

I fish there quite often and in the summer you can get 2-3' wake coming from multiple directions simultaneously. Slowing down with the nose high, like John said, is the only way to get thru it without losing a kidney.

Can’t get enough on how to be safe on water. Thank you.

The best way to navigate waves is experience. Get out there in your boat and hit these waves and learn what your boat lies and don't like. Imo for anyone who has driven a bass boat or 45mph, it's not rocket science knowing you should slow down before hitting big waves. Anyone wanting to learn how to run a boat in big waves, take a trip to Lake Guntersville on the lower end of the lake on a windy day. You'll definitely learn quick.Great video John.

Passing from behind: Slow up match speed with boat in front of you. You want to follow the a crest or high spot of that wake perpendicular and just ease into it till your boat is running on top the Crest of the wake. Then slowly ease over to the other side of that crest. When your clear, Then you can speed up if everything is clear. Again you want to slowly position your boat on that high spot, ride it for a moment, then ease over till you clear the wake. Be safe..

The best piece of advice I can give you is. I don't know if they still do it now or not. But when I was a kid in the late 70's you could take a course through the Coast Guard Auxiliary. Once you became certified your insurance rates would drop dramatically beside the fact you would learn so many things that most people never even talk about. Like you should always run your bilge pump before you hit the ignition switch on your boat just in case you have a fuel leak. It's just something worth looking into. Happy Boating guys! 😊

Love your videos. This comment isn’t related especially to this video but I can’t find anyone really giving fishermen a good look at the trolling motors available now. This new generation trolling motors have been out for a little more than a year but most of the reviews are over a year old. There was so much fanfare when they came on the scene but since then very little. I wish you would consider taking a look at how well they have performed.

I love smith mountain lake, great small mouth fishing

I'm used to 3'-6' seas in the gulf, but the lakes can actually be worse, since the waves in the gulf are consistent so you're always on guard but in lakes, the wakes from boats can appear suddenly, and after you have become relaxed and less cautious.

WELL DONE ON THE VID

Found my self on lake Cumberland at 2pm on a Saturday during a poker run coming past one of the big marinas on my 98 ranger, about broke the damn thing in half lol

Trim up to the point that "your" wake is coming out around your steering wheel or seats. Great control of the boat at that point.

I say if you need to go that fast leave earlier and if you say well I’m in a tournament and we can’t leave at a certain time go slower you can still win

Hello from Charlottesville VA! What about hitting waves/wakes straight on? ty.

Going back to weigh in leaving from lower end to bridge, going through s curves on a Saturday at 2 ish you'll get plenty of practice from s curves to bridge, if you live on sml you know what I mean lol.

There's a video out of a good crash of a university of Florida bass team was on the plate running aired out and they came up on some parallel wakes and because he didn't kick the motor down a little bit going thru those wakes it walked sideways on the prop at over 60mph and spun out throwing both of them out of the boat into some cold water. Thank god no one got hurt. I always make sure.i have some more boat in the water to eliminate any chance of walking sideways and spinning out. Like these boys did.. Either back off the power a little or drop the nose a little till you get thru them .. Then let it rip again.

My uncle built a 10 bedroom house on Smith Mountain Lake VA back in the mid 80’s it was amazing and sure worth Millions today! Paul Craven

Im a new boater. Had a big cruiser coming toward me. I didnt know what to do so i slowed down and the wave hit hard. And broke my trolling motor. I probably was trimmed all the way down. I didn't know any better.

What do you think the normal speed for going over a decent wake is like in the beginning of the video? Around 30ish? I have a 19 foot skeeter and I definitely have to be careful with how fast I am going and how much trim so the trolling motor isn't banging around and I'm not coming out of the seat

Need more of these videos

Yeah guy ive was wondering because ive was on my bass boat and ive was getting to turn my boat and the side waves where making my boat like it felt scary like ive was going to turn the boat how do ive get a turn my boat without almost sinking it

So when you on plan crossing another boat passing in front of you, best thing is to slow down the boat half trimmed down will lift up the front and let the front of the lifted hull cut thru

Hi, i live on a narrow river with container ships that pass every 20 minutes. The wakes can reach 4 to 6 feet and they are widely separated, should i use the same method mentioned in this video?

As far as inland rivers, I've never seen boat wakes like those behind barges on the Mississippi River. Somehow, combined with the current, they can 'stick' in place for what seems like 15 minutes.

You should have waited till a weekend with a little wind and went on the main channel and showed how to navigate wave coving from every direction. Tour ride was to easy for SML. Show some reel waves on the lake.

yes

Ive learned if you guys drive a mod v or john boat. If you chop tge throttle as your hitting waves its smoother than just plowing thru them.

So when you go through boat wake do you trim down a bit?

Why is the framerate so low in the intro? You had me thinking my PC was about to crash.

I have an older 98 triton fish and ski. It has a regular key not like the slip over key like a jet ski. Not sure if that would come out of the ignition. What do you do about that?

Is your kill switch cord hanging on the throttle while giving boat handling tips 😂

If you really want to teach people how to drive a bass boat go to Lake of the ozarks on labor day weekend.

John, do you use your Vesselview, to help with the trim and rpm? That way you could be more consistent than a analog guage.

I thought you should pass on the left because of the prop spin?

Buying a cushion for a $80k+ boat should not be a thing. Every single boat manufacturer needs to go with pedestal seating like Vexus has done with their VX series of boats, that way either AirWave or WavePro suspension seat pedestals can be installed.

Hard truth, no fishing boat needs to be running that fast or anywhere near it.

I've had some bad experiences hitting boat wakes in bass boats

I honestly believe that unless you're in a contest/competition you shouldn't need to run over 45-50 mph but that's just my arrogant opinion.

I’m local to sml how bout that lol

I hate the water pushers

Don't forget to watch out for the 5 foot rollers from the assholes wakeboarding. They may be long gone but their rollers remain going across the water.

How about teaching bass boats that have a 200 horsepower motor not to go full speed in a 100 foot wide spot beside kayaks

nothing is more annoying then wake boats

that graph is taller than you are....btw. Serious visual impediment.

bad Bad BAD Professional Boater Person not knowing the what-cha-ma-call-it's on your boat (I say this like I know what they are)