Labor Day is in the rear view mirror now, but just because summer is figuratively finished, doesn't mean the traffic on Lake Lanier will die down any time soon.
Mark McKinnon, spokesman for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, said the good weather over the last several weeks is expected to continue as fall approaches.
"The weather is still warm, so there still will be a lot of folks out over the next few weekends until the weather gets cool," McKinnon said. "Then, you'll mainly see your fishermen out."
He said it's easy to become complacent once summer crowds taper off, but the lake is no place to let your guard down.
"If you're out on these lakes, just be very careful," McKinnon said. "Wear your life jackets - be sure your kids wear life jackets - of course, the law says if they're under 13, they must be wearing them in a moving vessel."
McKinnon said no matter the time of year, DNR rangers will continue to be vigilant when it comes to ticketing those who are boating and drinking. He pointed out that BUIs were the biggest problem over this past Labor Day weekend; rangers issued a total of 18 citations, eight of those in Lake Lanier.
"We do have a saying that a drunk driver becomes a drunk boater and a drunk boater becomes a drunk driver, so we don't want you driving and drinking and we don't want you boating and drinking," McKinnon said.
He said the one injury reported on Lake Lanier during the Labor Day holiday - in the area of Port Royale - was the result of boating and drinking.
