Denied entrance to Lake Skinner

Hi guys,

I know some of you have fished Skinner before so I went there yesterday and they wouldn't let me in because my Pro Angler 14 is a sit on top kayak. Is this a new rule? Was told this by 3 different people. I emailed Rincon and asked what their position is and am waiting for a reply. Will let you know but a pretty stupid policy.

Thanks

Rick

Thanks, Matt..

Regards......

From the Lake Skinner Website:

Lake Skinner is managed by the Municipal Water District and the source of local domestic water supply; therefore, body contact with the lake is prohibited.

-Boats must be at least 12 feet long, 42 inches wide and have 12 inches of freeboard at idle speed. Multi-hulled boats must have solid and fixed decking.

-Kayaks must be at least 10 feet long, non-bailing, and with seating for all passengers inside the boat. Sit-on-top kayaks are not allowed.

"Non-bailing" would be sit inside with no scuppers or drive well.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

You did not state it was a Municipal Water supply. I am surprised that they even allow boating on it, much less watercraft powered by petroleum products. I also see that fishing with live bait and even cut mackerel is allowed - but you can not touch the water.. wow. Municipal Water supplies here are usually fenced with no access to anyone. Other than that, we have no private waters - anyone may travel or fish on or from any watercourse.

Regards.....

If that lake was built upon a moving waterway (stream, river, creek, etc.) then Federal Law grants you access to it regardless of any state, county or municipal statute or regulation.

Launch your boat, take the ticket and go to court. Appeal to the Federal level and all will be well and you'll have free reign to continue fishing it in your non motorized kayak.

Water supply or not, neither states nor municipalities may regulate or prohibit non motorized vessels from access to any navigable moving waterway, or one built upon such a waterway.

Hi Tom,
I googled it and it IS a flowage lake created in 1973. If, as you say,there is no authority to stop SOT kayakers and rcmach1 has got the time, perhaps it ought to be tested. It sounds very strange especially with the rental of motorboats on the lake. Perhaps Hobie ought to test this for ALL waterways. As there is no such thing as BAD publicity.

Regards...

Interesting, I wonder how widespread this is? (Trying to prevent ANY body contact because it's a municipal water supply.) And what their reasoning is?

Here (OKC, OK) they don't allow swimming but haven't said anything about us "falling in" - er, practicing our reentry skills! On a windy day the sailboarders are out. I get thoroughly drenched playing in the waves on my Outback. I've seen plenty of cats on their sides with the riders swimming around getting it back upright.

Other communities don't even restrict swimming. Though in many of our lakes everything you wear into the water is likely to come out a reddish-brown...

The muni supplies all use some pretty nice filtration / treatment plants, since the water in most of the lakes is never very clean to begin with (only a handful in the state actually have "clear" water you can see more than a few inches into) and can occasionally get downright nasty after a long hot summer with no fresh inflow.

Actually, that's more often the motivator to keep out of the water - not that the city doesn't want us in it, rather WE don't WANT to be in it!

.

If you really want to fish Lake Skinner, run down to your local Mart Mart and buy a $300 SINK kayak. That'll be a whole lot cheaper than the tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees you'd spend testing the law in courts.

_________________
Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult
Pro Angler-14 owner