
The Boone Lake Cut-Through forms an island. Â The island is TVA property and we get a lot of folks that camp out on that island. Â There’s actually rumored to be a bear on the island, so if you’re camping over there, keep your food up in a tree.
Find Point 18
We’re at Point 18 on the Watauga Side of the river on Boone Lake. Â You can see that that sign is green and it is on our right, so we’re going downstream. Â To get to the Cut-Through look for Point 18.
The Cut-Through is a narrow passage; it’s about 15 feet wide. Â For most boats, it’s passable. Â Anything under 30 feet that doesn’t draw more than 3 feet, should be able to go through here when the lake is all the way up.
Watch Out For The Hidden Rock
But there is one tricky spot. Â There is a hidden rock, that catches a lot of props and a lot of bottoms of a lot of boats. Â The idea when entering the Cut-Through is when you get into the “no return” point, if you’ll give your horn a couple of beeps to let folks know that you’re coming through.
On a bow rider like we have today, we’re drawing about 4 feet of water. Â I’m going to bring my trim up to about a quarter on this boat. Â On another boat it might be a little more. Â Depth gauge right now is showing about 8.5 feet.
As we go through, you’ll see this rock on our right. Â The rock you want to miss is right down below here. Â As you look over the edge you can see the dirt over the top of that rock. Â Now we’re at about 3.7 feet at the shallowest point.
Careful In A Bow Rider – Trim Your Motor
Approaching the Cut-Through from the upstream side, when you’re coming through this way, you just have to know that rock’s on the other side of the boat. Â I try to stay about 2 feet off of that rock and it leaves you plenty of room on the other side.
If you’re in a pontoon boat, it’s really a no-brainer. Â You can leave the trim all the way down as you come through. Â We’ve got one guy over at our dock at Rockingham Marina who swears he’s water-ski’d through this slot. Â I would not recommend that — pretty dangerous little feat. Â If the water is down even a couple of feet, I wouldn’t bring a bow rider through, I’d go around the island.
The Cut-Through is so popular because it cuts about 2 miles off your trip. Â It also makes you miss Rockingham Marina which has the best hamburgers on the lake, so you might want to skip the Cut-Through and go by Rockingham Marina and get a cheeseburger and come ice cream.
Navigated The Cut-Through? Leave A Comment!
Have you navigated through the Cut-Through? Let us know what boat you were in and how it went in the comments.
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