CLARKS HILL LAKE, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – As boaters soak up the last bits of sun on Labor Day, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources is also out there, watching to make sure everybody stays safe and follows the law.
A holiday weekend means many people might want to be out on the water, but many people say it’s different this year, not only this weekend, but throughout the summer.
Summer is starting to come to a close, and as people soak up the rest of the season, they wonder how many others actually did, too.
“We’ve seen a lot less people out this year than any other year we’ve been. We are fishing on the dock, and it’s been really surprising. We went fishing yesterday and it was, and it was only a couple of boats out on the water yesterday. So it’s been a lot slower this year,” said Dustin Maton, who lives in the CSRA.
It’s felt slower to a lot of people these last few years, but Georgia DNR says they’ve actually seen an increase this Labor Day Weekend compared to last year.
“This year, we’ve seen an increase in new boaters and new boating activity,” said Thomas Ledford, Georgia DNR game warden. “With that increase also comes an influx of inexperienced operators, operators that don’t know the hazards to look for and also that don’t know the rules and laws on the lake.”
He says they are seeing fewer violations, but more BUIs. Before the 4th of July weekend this year, they had already had 10 BUI’s but this weekend there has only been one.
“After the July 4th weekend, the boating activity has slowed down. We’ve seen a decrease, especially from last year, but we have had, on holiday weekends, a significant increase as usual for boating activity,” said Ledford.
More people mean more patrols.
“We’ve definitely increased our patrol factor for holiday weekends. We’re always on the water during holiday weekends. We try to centralize our patrols in certain areas for high-volume boat activity,” said Ledford.
And as lake traffic continues to slow down, people are hopeful for next year; anxiously waiting for parks that have been closed since Hurricane Helene.
“I think it’s made a big impact because even places that we want to go and try to enjoy and fish, they’re still closed, like Petersburg, and late spring evenings where we take our kids swimming, and being closed has made it difficult to get out on the lake this year,” said Maton.
Georgia DNR has a handbook that has the laws and safety regulations for boating.
Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
