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lreddmann.
Can someone tell me anything about this card for lorance gps , its for sale on BoatLanes.com? We are going on the first of Oct. for vac. Never been on Lake Fork before, will the boatlanes chip help??? Thanks jms
The boat lanes are marked very well on fork and you wont have any problems… IF you run the lanes (Bouys are marked clearly). When you want to go int the creek arms just idle and trim your motor up just in case. It takes a little longer than running like a bat out of you know where but it is the safe thing to do if you dont know the lake well… Spend that money on a guide the first day to get you started in the right direction then enjoy the rest of the week on your own. Mike
Lake Fork can be brutal if you dont take your time getting around outside the marked lanes. It eats boats, though is not bad if you use a brain and take it easy.
Thanks , Ill go slow, just thought the BoatLanes gps chip might be a plus….jms
The boat lanes chip for Lake Fork is a must have if you have never been on that lake and is even good for someone like me that fishes it 2-4 times a month for the last 5 years. It not only marks the 3 major boat lanes it also marks several that the guides use that are not marked by buoys or on a map. Besides, the marked buoys most of the time are not in the right place because of the wind and general neglect that they usually get. Plus at low light, it is hard to see the buoys unless you are familiar with the lake. Now with this being said, you still need to be really careful because Lake Fork is a flooded forest and there are trees just inches from the surface in 40 foot of water all over the lake so take your time and slow to an idle when you are not sure where you are. I would highly suggest that chip for anyone who fishes that lake regardless of how much experience they have. Lance Vick is a long time guide on Fork and did a great job marking the actual lanes. An example of how the buoys can move happened a couple of years ago when I was heading into Birch Creek on Fork. I was following the buoys and I had a guide wave me down, so I turned around thinking he needed some help but he only wanted to let me know of a stump I was going to hit a couple of buoys down from where we were. He told me where the stump was so I idled ahead and 15 feet to the right of the buoy was an easily 4 foot in diameter stump just 6 inches under the surface in 30 foot of water. Now I have been burning down this lane for years and never noticed that the buoy had moved but it had and was a death trap for someone. They finally got that stumped marked and had the Sabine River Authority come out and move the buoy back to the actual lane, but this type of stuff happens all the time over the years. Now, they just moved and replaced any broken buoys this Spring/Summer so the lake should be good right now, but in a couple of years they slowly move and get way off where they should be, so the chip will never move and always keep you in the actual lanes.Last edited by TexCaboCat on September 14th, 2008, 4:40 am, edited 2 times in total.God Bless, Stephen
Lance Vick is a guide on lake Fork and has spend numerous hours developing this chip to help new and old boaters have a good and safe expierence on Lake Fork. I have no personal expierence using the chip but I can tell you I have expierenced a number of stump thuds learning my way around the lake and it would have been helpful I would think to have a map guide like this in the begining. The boat lanes a pretty well marked but I have found as the lake gets lower you have to use more caution as I have thumped a stump or two that I normally dont hit using the same lane, so the best advice is to idle into fishing areas off the marked lanes and you will be just fine!
The lanes are marked but when I was there (May 08) there was actually a buoy marker floating that came off of its anchor For every stump you can see, there are 50 you cannot! As soon as I was off of the boat lane I was on the trolling motor just to be safe. I was so scared that I was going to screw up my boat and with the exta attention and respect I gve the lake, I was fine. I wish I would have had the boat lanes card. I would buy it and when you are done, either keep it for another day or sell it at a reduced price. I would get it! That lake can get on your last nerve worrying about your boat!
Well i ordered the chip, just as a aid….thanks all….jms
Be careful, ol D gives me a hard time about me being scared to put my boat in the AR River. I have seen the bottom of some boats that look ruff. I dont fish a lot of tournaments, so once I get out of the bouys, I take it real easy. Always wanted to go to Fork. Good luck.
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