Ramp Tips

[DTro]

Let’s share some tips here for making those busy ramps as efficient as possible this summer (especially this and holiday weekends).

It seems like every boat/trailer combo has it’s quirks and or sweet spots. Once you learn about those, you are pretty much prepared for most anything. So if you are unfamiliar with a new boat/trailer try to go somewhere to practice before hitting a busy ramp.

Also it’s a good idea for a rider to either step aside, or ask the boat owner before helping out. It’s a nice gesture for a partner to jump right in winching or driving or backing or whatever, but in some cases the driver can actually do things faster themselves, or at least point out specific things that can be done to help. Let the Captain be the Captain.

If you see someone having problems, don’t holler or scream. Maybe you could politely ask to help.

Most of all relax and don’t let the stress get to you.

It’s ray of light when there is a busy ramp and everyone is on the same page.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

Always be sure to have the clip attached to your boat when entering and exiting the water. Its a bad day when a boat is sitting trailerless on dry land.

[Grant Pearson]

good call in posting this. One thing that Sandmannd and I do is I'll start unhooking the boat while he's putting things like bait, rods, etc. into the boat. Then, he backs it in while I sit and get it going once in the water. Then, if the ramp is really busy, I can back off and wait for him w/o using up a dock space. Once he's ready, just motor up and pick him up and you're ready to go!

[davesfriend]

Same here, allways try to have someone else who knows the ins and outs of your boat. Saves alot of time.

[shizzy]

my two friends an I have it down to a science. we can have the boat in the water and the truck off the launch in about 1 minute. We get the boat ready to slide off the trailer while we are waiting inline, one guy sits in the boat ready to fire it up and back out, the other guy runs the truck in and out and the third (usually me) takes care of anything else that needs two hands.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Great post DTRO.

1. Show patience.

2. If you see a guy having problems, offer your assistance. Who knows, you may have sped things up for everyone and made a new fishing buddy.

3. Get everything ready, (unstrap gunwail, rods in boat, cooler in boat, PLUG IN BOAT) before you back up to the ramp.

4. Either give your partner a set of truck keys, or have a spare stashed somewhere just in case.

5. Make sure your spare boat key is in your tackle box, or somewhere you can get to it when the main key goes overboard.

6. Most importantly, be patient. Yelling, cussing, screaming, unwanted comments, etc, accomplish nothing but get everyone frustrated.

7. It actually helps to slow down and think things out a bit instead of trying to rush it through.

[Sandmannd]

 Originally Posted By: boilerguy

Great post DTRO.

1. Show patience.

2. If you see a guy having problems, offer your assistance. Who knows, you may have sped things up for everyone and made a new fishing buddy.

3. Get everything ready, (unstrap gunwail, rods in boat, cooler in boat, PLUG IN BOAT) before you back up to the ramp.

4. Either give your partner a set of truck keys, or have a spare stashed somewhere just in case.

5. Make sure your spare boat key is in your tackle box, or somewhere you can get to it when the main key goes overboard.

6. Most importantly, be patient. Yelling, cussing, screaming, unwanted comments, etc, accomplish nothing but get everyone frustrated.

7. It actually helps to slow down and think things out a bit instead of trying to rush it through.

I agree, give others a hand. It's great to have someone else along who knows how the boat works. Speeds it up a lot.

[morelnmusky]

I agree with you dtro SOMETIMES the help of a buddy is a pain in the neck I often ask (when they are pushing and pulling this way and that) HOW IN THE HECK DO YOU THINK I GOT ON AND OFF THE TRAILER LAST NIGHT WHEN I WAS ALONE!!!! Two things I do are always ask the people infront of AND behind me if they would like any help. And I always let the people going on the lake use the ramp before me if I am leaving it seems we are more impatient when we going to fish then when we are leaving the lake.

[croixflats]

Already been stated worth signaling out.

Do not leave vehicle and trailer on launch while your loading boat. Load before you launch or after you park. Drop off boat and exit as soon as possible.

When taking boat out. Park away from ramp when tying down and checking boat and trailer for invasive species

[Pherris]

Ahh the public accesss season is once again upon us. All good advice shared and appriciated. Thouht I would share an experiance I witnessed about 2 weeks ago on prior. I dropped my brother off to get the trailer so we could get off the lake. We were at the Sand Point acess. There are 2 ramps and one of them had a trailer backind in but no boat or boat owner in site. There were 3-4 guys in line to launch and and me and one other guy waiting to get off. Well as i idled around waiting for my trailer to have its turn to be backed in a couple of guys dropped in and finally after 15 min I got loaded. Meanwhile the jeep and trailer were still occupying one of the ramps and still no boat owner in site. I figured he/she was using the bathroom. As I am putting the strpas on and getting everthing buttoned up I notice that the bathrooms are open. So I am wondering where the person that owns the trailer and vehicle is. I then hear some guys discussing the issue. One off the guys had been waiting about 20 minutes because he could only use the ramp that was being used as a parking spot for someone. Another guy that was waiting to load checked the vehicle and the keys were in it. So this guy asks the guy waiting to use that ramp if he knows whats goin in and his reply was "some guy launched his boat about 15 min earlier and just took off towards upper prior." Well a guy in line decided that he would just move the truck since the keys were in the ignition and that is what he did. I found it interesting and figured that it was either a lake owner who planned a quick drop or someone had boat trouble or this is just another way to get someone else to park the truck. No idea what the final outcome was but the truck and trailer got parked. Just something I had not seen before and thought I would share. Good Fishing!!

[Iambjm]

They should have moved the vehicle, parked it and locked the keys in it!

This is what happened to me at a launch last year:

Waiting to launch, one guy behind me, one launching, the guy behind me sees I am a woman and comes up and says "I can back your boat in for you" I said "that's okay, I can do it myself, but thank you for offering" his response "well, then I am going to go before you because I can launch faster" and he pulled around me and went ahead and launched before me. I sat there flabbergasted, as he pulled away I yelled at him "I hope you forgot to put your plug in" He gave me a one finger wave. I have been backing trailers up for 20 years and and I am quite good at it.

[croixflats]

If I experienced something like That lambjm it probably would fester in me for a while and ruin part of my outing.

I'm sorry you had to encounter one of those guys out there felt superior to you and probably to the people behind him. If He was in a hurry at least he could have tied your boat off while you parked rather than be a smuck.That would have saved him time.

That was a big risk on his part do something like that.

[Joe's Kid]

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[LoonASea]

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Randy

[Eric Wettschreck]

Guys and gals, let's keep the thread on topic. This thread is about tips at the ramp, not tips for retaliation.

Thanks.

[ZOOM]

Get your stuff ready before you are ready to launch.I've waited more than a few times for people putting poles,coolers and tackle boxes in there boat while sitting at the ramp.I even waited one time for a guy to take the cover off his boat wile backed up to the ramp.This is all stuff that cold be done before "GO TIME". I always try to keep my launch time to a minimum by prepareing before I get to the ramp. Still its cool we get to talk about this subject finally. WINTER IS OVER!!!!!!!!! I love the ice but bring on summer.

[riverrat56]

Good tips, I think everything is about covered, but a little check list I have;

Things to do before the boat gets backed in:

Rods, tackle bag, cooler, bait are in boat.

Unhook trailer lights.

Prime fuel line bulb, helps for a quick start

Hook rope to front eye, unhook saftey chain

Unstrap trailer tie downs

Plug

Things to do while unloading:

Back trailer in deep enough

Unhook winch

Push/drive off trailer (depending if I have someone driving truck)

Tie up to dock or idle around waiting for partner

Loading is just the oposite, and make sure to pull out of launch area when unloading boat/draining water ect.

Also if you unhook your trailer lights be sure to hook them back up.

[Iambjm]

Patience is the most important tip, but no one has covered about parking your rig. Many times at ramps we have seen vehicles that are parked kittywompus or diagonally leaving less room for others, or as once happened to us actually blocking us so we had to jockey around to get out. I actually wanted to leave a nasty note but the hubby said "forget it, if he is ignorant enough to do that to us in the first place do you think he will read and learn from the note".

[Neighbor_guy]

If you are fishing alone, like I do most of the time. Go quick. If there is a dock move your boat to a non launching side or beach it as not to take up space while you are parking your rig.

If you are launching watch for people trying to get back in. Just because you slept in and diddnt get to the lake untill 10:30 or 11:00 doesent mean there arent people who have been on the water since 4:30 and are looking to go home. They are in line for the ramp too.

[NCLaker]

... Loading is just the oposite, and make sure to pull out of launch area when unloading boat/draining water ect.

Also if you unhook your trailer lights be sure to hook them back up.

When loading up and leaving, make sure all your water gets drained (live & bait wells, boat plug, etc) & thoroughly check over boat & trailer to remove lake weeds or other invasive stuff that may be clinging to the boat or trailer. We don't want these things being unintentionally tranferred to other lakes.

I have seen people pulling out at night that don't make any attempt to do this ... not sure if it is because the forgot their flashlight, or just don't care. This was at WBL where they have Eurasion Milfoil!!

[polarsusd81]

Here is one I saw a week ago that got me worked up.

Let's say you go to the lake to launch your boat pre-opener just to make sure everything is working right. Don't leave your truck parked in the ramp (especially the single shooter the guy used) while testing everything out on the lake.

A guy a week ago Sunday did that on a metro lake and tooled around the lake for 30 minutes, not always in view of the access either. Just left the trailer in the water with the truck sitting on the ramp while he went out and tested his boat. No consideration. If I would have been driving the boat I was in, I may have went over and parked on his trailer, just for fun.

[HuntFishDude]

Neighbor Guy, You touched on something I wanted to talk about... I fish alone sometimes and it can be tricky to unload/load a boat by yourself. So if you are in line and you see someone by themselves, offer them a hand, everything will go faster and you will get where you want to be faster. Thanks for your help the next solo trip I have on a busy launch...

[Sandmannd]

Always help others, or at least offer. Make sure you get in and out as quick as you can. If you are new, do what you can to move it in and out quick, but at the same time take time enough to do it right. Everyone has been there before. I'm only going on my 3rd year and just now getting it down to get it on and off pretty quickly. Biggest things is to get everything in the boat and ready hit the water before you back down the ramp and do the opposite coming off as others have stated.

[Musky_Madness]

If it's cold or rainy out and you need to get ready, do it before you are putting the boat in the water. The rest of the line doesn't need to watch you put on your rain gear and boots and all that jazz. Be prepared and ready to go. Also, if you like to take your boat cover to the lake access with you...take it off before you line up to put your boat in. Don't wait until you are sitting on the concrete bunks to unsnap the 50 snaps on your boat cover one at a time while we all watch and then roll it up and pack it away crease by crease. Or when pulling out, don't stop on the concrete bunks to towel off you boat...you can do that in the lot!

[RussC]

One thing to keep in mind is if you're going with a couple guys, have the guy with experience in backing a trailer back the truck down the ramp. I went with a couple buds one time and assumed my one friend knew how to back up a trailer...well lets just say I was wrong. There were a lot of unhappy people waiting while he attempted to back down the ramp. Another good reason to practice launching your boat before you head out to that busy day on the lake.