Depends on the lake. Clearlake for example has some very shallow areas with docks everywhere and rock piles etc along with deep water. Shasta and oroville are deep. Local home lake has a little of everything. Its pretty easy to keep a boat nice and avoid anything hazardous if you are careful. Have learned all the bad spots over the years lol. In the winter when i flows are high lakes like oroville and shasta have a major floating debris problem.