Largest inland water waves seen/experienced !!!

[nofishfisherman]

Not sure how big my biggest waves where. I know they were bigger then out 14 foot boat could handle. I'll guess 4-5 feet, but they looked and felt alot bigger. It happened on Island Lake in Duluth during a severe thunderstorm.

it had been windy all day so they waves were pretty uncomfortable in our 14 feet aluminum rental boat with less then a 9 HP motor. We stayed tucked out of the wind most of the day which didn't allow us to see the storm coming in.

We were told once we got to shore after the storm the winds had hit 70 mph on the lake.

Our boat was way under powered to handle the waves and wind. We were totally helpless and just held on. We started by going into the wind and waves so we could try to fight the waves better but we didn't have the power and a big gust of wind picked up the front of the boat where I was sitting and spun the boat 180 degrees so that we were going with the wind.

We ended up more or less surfing, the waves threw us up onto a beach where a house was. The home owners came out and helped pull us in and took us inside to dry off and wait out the storm.

The only way our boat stayed up right that day was becuase of a higher power I am sure of it. I never want to be in a situation like that again. Its one thing to have a boat out on in big waves that is big enough and powerful enough to fight the waves, it is something totally different to be totally helpless and at the mercy of what the wind and waves want to do with you.

One contributing factor of these waves was that they didn't build slowly and become rollers. They came on instantly and were breaking all around us and the frequency of the waves was amazing. It wasn't where you would go down the back side of the wave and then ride through the trough and then climb to the top of the next wave. The waves were so close together that it felt like there were times when the boat had a wave under the middle of it but the front and back end were out of the water, or the front and back end had a wave under it but the the middle wasn't supported. And then the really fun times were the wave seemed to just break underneath you and just drop you several feet back down to the water.

[Random guy]

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Jon, I remember that day on leech. I was happy to be standing on the south shore just watching the show. Driving on the road was even hard with trees falling all over. Those were the largest waves I have seen come into shore.

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It was ugly that day, once things settled down and we where able to come out of the hiding hole behind Pelican it was search and rescue the rest of the day, lots of folks flopped over boats that day, most of them tied to docks, one 19 foot fish n ski was upside down in its own boat lift. Crazy weather.

[primetime49]

Best waves we ever took on were during Grannys Marathon weekend in Duluth probaly mid 90's.Wife and myself went out the Canal Park boat landing with a 20 foot Center console with a 29 inch bracket holding a 3.4 litre Mercury Cosworth big block with lots of torque and horsepower.The sandy Wisconson shoreline side kept us puttzing along several miles up shoreline.When we decided to crooss towards Duluth and go thru where and the lift bridge were we encountered something pretty cool.It was very windy but the waves were not a 4 or five 5 wave like I expected but a major surf type wave several hundred feet between them.Like a tide.We dodged back and forth with these still couple miles out when I realized that we were now in a great deal of danger.We could not ride or go against or go over tide wave to head back to east side where we entered Superior from so decided to go east to west and back and fro and knew at one point we had to decend this wall of water.Had never been in a predicament like this and naturally figured that when we got closer to Duluth the regular waves would start and this boat could handle riding maybe 5 or 6 footers we expected when getting closer.As we got near the 2 concrete breaker walls ,say 2000 yards out I had my wife driving the boat as I pondered our fate,I did not expect anything good to come of this as I helped her put on a better life preserver and put one on myself.When it was time to go south and over the wake instead of back nad forth east and west I simply asked her to get into the wave,which I figured was goona just chew us up.Never hinted to her that we were gonners,she simply put boat into edge of wave.I ran throttle and thank God this boat under power road the wave down.We went thru safely and went and loaded up.We went back to town parked at motel and walked down to grannys for a stiff one.They had shut down parking acrross the street because of pounding water.We sat upstairs and no other boat came or went that day.I never told her that I was thinking we were done because she really liked the ride that day,and I figured she would never go back.We take the kids up to Superior alot and will never let them know that the story mom tells about surfing the boat was crazy.By the way if you ever saw the white 20 footer with the Cosworth you would remember it was called PSALMS 107.Read the verse scripture starting at Psalm 107 vs23 thru vs31 and I still think this ride was planned from above.

[Black_Bay]

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I like the topic, I think a lot of people tend to over exagerate the waves when they are telling stories. I like the example someone had of watching the depth finder to get a "measurement".

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Yea the same thing happens when you ask a guy about old girlfriends. They seem to get better and better looking as time goes on.

[Scott K]

jon,

I was there on leech that week,we stayed at silver hook resort in east side of portage bay, by sugar point, we were trolling the west side of portage bay near 2 points, listning to the weather forcast, how bad it was in walker, then it started to get a little breezy, and dark, but we were nailing them, and didnt want to go, but we did leave, although not soon enough, we got in the middle of portage bay and it started to rain, mind you I had a old 30 hp motor on my boat. It wasnt very fast, I had waves coming over the back of my boat, couldnt even see shore in any direction, figured now would be a good time to take life jackets out of the storage compartment, and put them on. Then it started to hail, big hail and it down pored, I couldnt tell you wich direction I was going so I just neutralized it and we each grabed a minow bucket and was bailing water out of my 16' boat. The wind was so bad when we would be on top of the swells, the wind seemed like it would lift the boat off the water and throw us in to the next wave. It finally started to clear up a bit and we headed back to silver hook, to find part of the roof of our cabin was torn off, and the door was ripped off. When we pulled into the bay that the resort had for their guests almost all the boats that were tied on the docks were in the water with the backs of the boat under water, on our way home we had to cut some trees off the road to pass with the truck and boat. As for how high the waves were I had no idea, they were way to high, I thought we were goners! All I know is as good as the fish were biting, it wasnt worth going through what we went through. Then the sun came out and it was awsome fishing the east side of the lake for the rest of our trip! Some of the resorts were talking on the radio of how the water got sucked out of their harbors and what was 4-6' now was empty and the fish were flopping on the bottom of their marina. Im a little more cautious now when it comes to the weather!

[setterguy]

Jon - was that the day the tornado hit walker? I was out with Landerville that day in his big boat and we did tie ourselves to the side of the boat so we could keep casting...we ended up taking refuge on an island, the one Miles Lord owns and ended up having a cup of coffee with his son until the weather broke. We caught to big fish that day though....

[The Grebe]

Been in some big stuff that dried my tongue out, on several occassions.

Once on Minnetonka in a 12 foot canoe, nephew in the front, holding on to the gunwales, stiff as a board and knuckles as white as flour!

When we were on the crest, the 1 1/2 horse motor was out of the water and it seemed like we were teeter tottering...when we were down in the trough, you could see the rollers 2 feet over your head!

Didn't bother me much aside from the possibility of losing some gear, but my nephew can't swim and at the time, it wasn't required that we had to have any life jackets with us.

My younger brother and another guy were in an 8 or 10 foot Jon boat, off to the side of and behind us and the only time you could see em was when he rolled over the crest.

Got caught out on Leech once and had the same situation...bigger boat, same results.

Mille Lacs several times....waves braeking over the bow and at other times, the boat rolling up so high on the upswell that it seemed like we were gonna flip over!

I'd have to say that at the max, the big waves were 4' with a 5 footer thrown in there once in a while...just to keep the undies bunched up!

[CFRay]

Rainy Lake, with a guide out of Island View, 1988, 26' cabin type alum. boat. Winds came up in the afternoon, headed back with waves breaking and spray coming over the cockpit canopy. I recall seeing a Weber kettle float by, coolers, and a propane tank. A houseboat must have had its deck cleaned off. The waves were 6'-7'. The guide thought better of the situation and took us into a bay to wait out the storm.

[JDM]

I have been in legitimate 15+ footers in Alaska, but in the ocean it is different. The waves have more of a rolling motion and you go up and down, seeing nothing but water all around you. We were in 18 foot Zodiaks. Very humbling. My uncles, who fish there all the time, thought nothing of it.

For MN, my biggest waves have been on Mille Lacs and were only around 4 to 5 feet and were managable. They are not pleasant to fish, but it can be done. I have also seen similiar waves on Leech. I really slow it down when it is like that. I am amazed by the guys who insist on going 30 MPH into and over those waves, just beating their boats and themselves to a pulp. I do agree with some of you who say that many people turn 4 footers into 6 or 7 footers. Waves like that can happen though. I have seen them and those are the days I don't fish. At any sign of weather that can cause something like that, I get off of the lake.

[Random guy]

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Jon - was that the day the tornado hit walker?

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Some say it did and some say it didn't. I never did get a good report on that, just stories. I do know that was wind like no other, and it came up in a few minutes. We went from casting topwaters to life jackets and full throttle up waves as fast as we could throw the rods down hang on. It was beyond crazy, I never seen that before and have yet to see it again.

[eyepatrol]

In-land waters? I'd have to say Rainy Lake. They were somewhere between 3' - 4' high I'd guess.

My dad, years and years ago, was on URL with my other uncles. He was out fishing when suddenly the wind whipped up and the way he described it to me was this: He was driving the 16' aluminum tiller boat and when he looked at my uncle in the front of the boat, he was looking UP at him, at nearly a 45 degree angle. No thank you I say!

[Scott K]

What we expierenced was straight line winds, but a few miles down the roud at battle point they said tornado.

[mattkimk]

2 years ago my wife and I were on Birch Lake in Babitt and the waves were only about 3-4 feet. Not too bad but what made them worse was that there was a fire and the big yellow water scoop planes were coming in against the waves to scoop water. We were in the middle of the main lake in my 14 foot lund, which is not very deep and not wide at all. Had a 18 horse motor that was not running well to begin with. That plane hit the water about a hundred yards from us and the effect of hitting 3-4 foot waves in the oppisite direction was pretty scary for a moment. We of course had the life jackets on and I lied to my wife but I was kinda scared that we were gonna flip about 5 seconds after the plane hit the water.

On the flip side, we were camped in a back bay near the Stony river and the eyes were hitting pretty good in there and waves were only about 1-2 feet. Campers across from us had a 17 foot boat and the guy told me he was too scared to go out fishing.

I am getting a bigger boat for the this reasson. I want to be able to fish Mille lacs on the flats and I am just too catious to take the 14 footer out. Buddy has told me that he has seen 10 and 12 footers out on the flats in storms, but that is what natural selection is all about.

[Orlip]

Not sure the size of the waves but in 79 or 80 cant remember for sure I was on the Mississippi south of Prescott on a friends houseboat when a Tornado hit. We were anchored on shore at the time and my friends dad thought it would be safer to get on shore and lay down.

Well after the blowing sand nearly tore me into pieces I looked up and the 42' boat was on shore with her 1 1/2" nylon anchor ropes snapped. I had heard that a windmeter on shore near us broke at 100.

Dont want to live that one again.

[EBass]

This is a great thread! I enjoyed reading everyones posts.

[Bobby Bass]

Many years ago fishing with the wife came out of a protective bay into the main lake. Mile away from the resort and we were faced with 4-5 foot rollers. After watching for awhile it was not getting any better. Put the wife in the bow and I caught the first of three rollers. Riding on the top of the first roller we were making good time as we rolled down the lake high and dry. Little knuckle grabbing by the wife as she from her vantage point on the bow and over looking the trough of the wave was maybe 8-9 feet. We were doing fine till the wife shifted her position and we slid off the back of the first wave to have the second wave crash over the stern. We barely bounced up in time to have the third wave lift us up and slide under us. We were almost at the resort and the wife bailed as I nursed us to the dock. Never been out in water like that since. Don't matter how far I have driven to fish if mother nature wants to put on a water show I will stand on shore and watch.

[BoxMN]

Biggest for us was on LOTW in about '99 or so. North Wind and storms kept even the PWT and charter boats in the protection of 4 mile bay before getting to the lake. It calmed down on Sat coming out of the south and everybody started heading out, and so did we.

We went up past zippel bay area, and were having a blast, catching lots of fish and watching the waves gradually, slowly get bigger again. We decided to start sliding back south when the wind shifted back from the north. Holy cow. We learned a lot about driving in big water that day!

Out TP175 had the 150efi go almost completely under from trailing waves several times, and we took water over the bow several times, even though this boat usually doesn't ever come close to spearing waves. We did have 4 in the boat, so that didn't help much. We got plenty wet. We never were scared of dying, as we had PFDs on and the wind was blowing toward shore, and we weren't that far from it as we headed back to the river.

Not sure how big the waves were, but they were big enough!!! Wow. Some of the pros who went farther had some rough driving, thats for sure.

Was out in Mille Lacs speariing waves before in 17' boats, but never as bad as LOTW that day! Fun times

[TurnUpTheFishing]

Some of you guys are nuts for going out in weather like that! Im guessing the biggest waves Ive been in were 3'. Maybe they were bigger, maybe smaller I guess Ill never know. But I know I wouldnt want to be in any bigger ones especially in my 14' boat!

I used to have a cabin on Big Point (Mille Lacs) and dont ever remember seeing 8-10' waves. Im sure they look bigger when you're scared and in the middle of them though.

[Random guy]

I think a lot of it is the wave crest height from normal water level may only be 5-6 feet, but that water has to come from somewhere. You have a trough created by the water creating the crest, water affected by gravity can not "lift" or separate it displaces. So five feet of water above the normal water level at crest means it had to remove five feet of water from the trough to create the crest. Just like a kid playing in the sandbox, to push up a pile of sand for the Tonka truck he had to remove the sand from around the base to make the pile, and the Tonka truck must go into the 3" hole before climbing up the 3" pile or 6" of vertical lift. Only difference is the water moving with force and trying to drown you. So what looks like a 4' wave from shore "could" be a hole 8' down from the the top of the crests depending on how you look at it.

Now get somewhere nasty such as the area between Otter Tail point and Stony point on Leech that can have waves coming from three directions at once with the right conditions, now you are in trouble.

[kslipsinker]

LOW about 5 years ago, I was out in the Gap with 40 MPH wind. We stayed in the protection of Pine Island, but one fool came by us and attempted to go out on the lake. He stood his boat straight up when he hit the first big wave, that I would estimate at at least 10' high. I am suprised he was able to turn and get back in without rolling.

On the way back in, we had the full snap on cover on my brothers 18' Tyee. One wave came over the front and washed completely over the boat. It felt like we were in a submarine. That cover paided for itself that day!

[MuskieSlayer]

Here is a good link to calculate wave height based on wind speed, depth, and fetch (distance traveled by the wave).

http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/staffpages/csherwood/sedx_equations/RunSPMWave.html

To convert your units into metric, go to:

http://www.digitaldutch.com/unitconverter/

I'm in agreement with many here that there may be just a little bit of exaggeration on wave heights (Besides the Superior and Bering Sea posts). Take an estimate of a stretch of open water on Mille Lacs (let's say 33ft deep over 20 miles, omitting reefs, etc. which would reduce wave height), you would need almost 74mph sustained winds across the long part of the lake to produce 10 footers. And at some point the wind will overpower the wave and the wave will break. I know they look big, but the physics don't lie. And yes, that is the height from the trough to the crest.

[eyehead]

Would have to be last summer on Mille lacs. We went out to try and catch a musky after dark. There were prolly 4-5ft rollers and we got beached twice on the weathwood access. It was october and it was freezing a#$ cold out. So everytime we got beached my bro had to rollup his pants, take one for the team and push us out . Wish I would of had a video camera to replay it all.But the biggest rollers ive seen on a lake besides the great lakes was defienitly a couple years ago when we were duck hunting in Devil's Lake. The wave's were pretty much going over the road it was crazy.

[prov1900]

Anyone else's heart pounding when you read these stories? I posted once on this, but here is the story that explains my racing heart. In 2004, we were staying on Kabetogama in September. Me, wife, dog, and infant son. Woke up in the morning and the waves were probably in the three foot category. Wasn't horrible, but waited to go fishing. Weather didn't mention much about wind. By noon, the waves had seemingly doubled in height and my boat started to take a pounding. Went down to the dock to try to "re-secure" it as some ropes busted. By this time the reported 70 mph straight line winds hit. I was doing all I could to stay on dock just to tie the boat, along with the fact that it was pouring rain. My wife came down to help, but nearly fell in the water. Told her to get back to the cabin. The resort owner came down to help and he was literally swept off the dock into the lake by a wave. We got the boat tied down and got the heck back to the cabin. It was a very long day as the winds didn't die down till after midnight. It was very humbling and sickening to watch the wind pound the heck out of the boat. I really thought that the next morning the boat would either be washed up on shore or just plain gone. The cleats were bent upward if that tells you anything, but the ropes/knots held. I sustained 7K worth of damage. The docks were trashed. On the bright side, it did get me a new boat! Learned that a weather radio is extremely important. Now I monitor that thing really closely and if there is a hint of big wind, I get pretty skittish and either get back home and/or get the boat off the lake period. I couldn't imagine having my family out in that stuff. If we would have been out on the lake when that hit, it would have been a really, really bad deal. Best case we could have took shelter somewhere, but in the pouring rain and cold nights it would have been a long one. I also learned that I pack my boat with the necessary gear to survive something like that if need be. This is a great thread by the way.

[mille lacs muskie bum]

I have bobber fished in honest to god 8-10 footers on mille lacs. also i was coming off the lake with my pontoon and swamped the whole front of the boat.

[knoppers]

lake superoir

[Bobb-o]

anyone else thinking aboot the edmund fitzgerald song while reading these?

[Smeds]

Lac Seul last June. We had run from Lac Seul lodge about 25 miles in two boats to fish Sunlight/Broad lakes. Fished most of the day in a pretty stiff wind, but these two lakes are small, didn't really have any waves over 2'. Came out of the mouth of Altimeter Creek to a coffee colored cauldron, and we weren't directly out in the wind yet! We pulled behind an island, donned rainsuits & lifejackets and headed out. We made it about 200 yards past the island out into the full gale before better sense took hold, and we turned around ... water was coming over the bow on every crest! We ended up running back into Broad Lake and waited till dusk for it to lay down. This area of Lac Seul has some stretches of open water that will rival any body of water ... waves were probably 5-6 footers. I've been in bigger seas between Grand Marais & Isle Royal on Lake Superior, as well as the Apostle Islands, but those were in much bigger boats. I think the estimated size of a wave is directly proportionate to the size of your boat! I know this ... 5-6 footers is no place for a 17' resort tiller.

[The Grebe]

Very first thing that came to mind!

[Fish&Fowl]

Working for Voyageur's a couple summers ago we were out on Rainy with a sustained 50mph west wind and when we got near Brule Narrows, where we exited the protected inside channel, I'm sure the waves were 10 ft. or better. Another park boat with our not-so-smart co-worker was ahead of us and went out a ways before deciding he better turn around. He was in a 23 ft. Monarch and it would completely disappear in between waves.

We watched him from the protection of the channel, I honestly didn't think Rainy could get that big and still probably wouldn't believe it if I hadn't been there. Very cool experience!

[swamptiger]

A buddy of mine works on the boats in the Great Lakes. He said there is a long walkway in the hold of the boats, and when the water gets rough, the boat flexs enough so you can't see from one end of the walkway to the other....