Ramp courtesy

[Ozarkie]

1. Before you pull onto the ramp have your gear stowed in the boat,

have the tiedown straps removed.

Plug installed.

Winch unhooked.

2. Don't block the ramp other people want to put in/pull out of the water too.

Their time is just as important as you think yours is.

The world don't revolve around you.

3. Park clear of the ramp.

there is a whole parking lot in most cases.

Someone may be handicapped and want to fish too.

4. Loading your boat.

Once on the trailer move to the far side of the parking area to stow your gear.

5. Dirt or gravel bar launching.

You may be there first but that is not ANY EXCUSE for leaving your trailer in the water.

Once again others are entitled to use the same area on public waters.

6. Slow down

You dont need to power launch or load. NO WAKE means just that NO WAKE.

It does not mean go slow and still throw a wake, that is NO WAKE!!

Someone loading onto the courtesy boat may not be as athletic as you.

Older people need a bit more time to get in and out of a boat, knees and hips dont work like

they use to.

7. Dont clean your fish at the ramp!!

This is bad PR for us who fish!! Like the bad hunter, bad fishermen leave trash and fish remains

for everyone to see or smell. Not good for the bunny huggers whining!!

8. Treat everyone at the ramp like you think you should be treated.

You never know when you will need a two off the lake!!

9. Dont block ramp access.

that means get to heck out of the way, not everyone can back a trailer in those tight spaces.

10. See all the above and dont think for one minute people are not watching you.

They see the bad things lure packages on the ground worm cans blown around.

11. Pickup your trash!!

If the dumpster is overloaded dont add your crap to it, take it home.

Once again people seem to think the world revolves around them, its time to start policing ourselves if we want to continue fishing. The Bunny Huggers are out to stop us and now is the time to be proactive in making our sport look better.

Ozarkie

[motocross269]

Great post..The only thing I don't do is unhook my winch strap until my trailer is in the water.  I have a ranger with bunker trailer and I am sure it would be fine, but the ramps I use are steep and I am probably just being paranoid.

[Ranger364]

Amen,

I get tired of drunk fishermen/skiers hawgn up the ramp. If you're to wasted to back a trailer then you should not be on the lake!! >

[Cajun1977]

  Quote

Great post..The only thing I don't do is unhook my winch strap until my trailer is in the water. I have a ranger with bunker trailer and I am sure it would be fine, but the ramps I use are steep and I am probably just being paranoid.

ditto   dont unhook till in the water

[MALTESE FALCON]

Welcome Ozarkie,

Very good post. I could write a book about all the clowns I've seen at the boat ramps.

Falcon

[roadwarrior]

Welcome aboard!

Pretty good opening post.   8-)

[Gotta Love It]

Something to add to the list:  If you have limited experience launching a boat (like I do), choose the times of the week/day when there is less traffic at the ramp!  This way, you don't feel pressured and you have more time to get it right!  

[bob101]

I guess it's a regional/local thing. Here you are expected to power load/launch almost 100% of the time. Doubly so if you have 2 people, you might get some slack if launching alone. Your expected to drive down the ramp with one guy in the boat ready to go (except maybe minus the winch strap and he'll do that after the engine cranks) - crank, back off the trailer and move to the beach area/dock till your partner returns. If your alone your expected to back down, crank, get off the trailer, beach, move your truck asap. Loading is the same thing, just pull up to the beaching area enough for the guy to get off and get the truck while you idle around and get on the trailer, get the winch strap down (many skip this part) and pull out.

Of course it's pretty common here to have more than 1 tournament on a weekend launching at the same launch and just one tournament might have 300 teams so there's a lot to launch in a short period in the morning.

You can take a lot more time at the smaller "community" lakes and it's understood that you know how to load/unload your boat by the time you take it to the "big" lake on a busy weekend.

[scbassin]

I fish by myself 99% of the time. I too have a Ranger & release the bow strap when the boat is in the water. I also have to back the boat off the trailer & tie it up before moving the truck & trailer from the ramp. I do this as quickly as I can but it does take a few min. longer. I have been doing this for years & no one has complained to me.

[Redlinerobert]

;D Some people are just hilarious at the ramp.

[TheBigWelsh]

I tend to try and help out the people that are ahead of me in "line". Some people get all pissy when ya try to give em a hand though.

[xvirginian]

recommend you add,if its dark,turn off the head lights as you back down the ramp,if there,s more than one ramp,cause if your trying to back down a ramp,and there in another vehicle already there with there lights on,you really can,t see,,,ya know ?

[harshman]

I would also add don't butt in line if you are heading to the ramp. If you see someone sitting in their truck with an empty trailer in line that doesn't give you the right to launch before they get their boat. I had this experience this weekend at the BR tourney at Lake Little Dixie in MO. I was retieving my little BassHound and a jerk with a Skeeter drove around me and looked at me like I was stupid for blocking him to launch his big boat...needless to say after a few choice words about courtesy I got to get my boat out of the water in the order it should have been.

Harshman

[jeepcrazy]

I had fun at the local lake this weekend too.  Putting in was relatively uneventful, I was gearing up the boat off to the side and a fella stopped and asked me where I was in line.  Awesome!  That's the way...

Rest of the day...not so good.

Pulling up to end the day some guys back their boat down the ramp as we're approaching the dock...I wait for them....

They get out and they haven't geared up yet.  They spent 20 minutes on the ramp getting their crap together!

To top it all off as I'm backing down the ramp two folks in a canoe pull up onto the ramp (from the water) and leave their canoe so they can go to the restroom.  Right in the middle of the ramp.

I wasn't pleased, but then again this was a Sunday...BEAUTIFUL weather and I had nothing else major to do.  So all things considered it could've been worse.  

I really hate it when someone has crappy ramp manners though!  Great post!

[samurai361]

I would add to the list, that if you are backing in and it's still dark turn off your &%$*$&@! headlights.  You ruin the night vision for everybody waiting in line behind you.  

[bassboy1]

What exactly is defined as "power loading?"  It seems that there is no definite definition.  When we load our 12 footer, it takes a bit to get down the ramp with an empty trailer as you can't see it until it has turned to far to be straightened.  Then, I idle up to the trailer.  Once the bow has cleared the back crossbar, I will give it a little more power, but never more than 1/3 to 1/2 of the max.  (4 horses, not as much as it sounds) Then when it seats on the bunks, I will leave it in idle for a sec, and shut it off when dad has the winch hooked.  Would that be considered power loading?  I see when people idle to the trailer with there 300 horse opti and punch it to inch up the trailer bunks, and that makes it hard to load my little boat properly when they are right next to me.  Mine never stays above idle for more than 5 seconds while loading, and it is usually 2 or 3 as it loads pretty easily.

[michbass]

Good Read.

DNR like to give tickets in Michigan for powerloading as it washes out the dirt behind the cement ramp. Most people still do it though.  :

[fishingfourfun]

I don't undo my strap until my boat is in the water.

[HPBB]

I would say yes to turn off your head lights, but like my truck and many others, you can not turn them off if its dark. they are auto. If there is way to over ride them on a chevy Tahoe. please let me know. I would love to be able to turn them off

[TrickyVT1887]

HPBB to turn off your lights there should be a dome override button under a manual light switch press it 3 times i think its within 2 or 3 seconds and you can use the manual switch to control your lights, thats the way it is in my Silverado i imagine its the same with the tahoe, by the way great post once I had a guy with 2 jet skis backs down the ramp walks out into the middle of the water unhooks them gets back in the truck pulls out mean while his wife is holding one of the jet skis in front of the ramp while the other starts floating away he runs down the ramp swims out to get the other one then brings it back to the ramp and starts them letting them idle in front of the ramp then forget their life jackets so go back to the truck to get them meanwhile still blocking the ramp, greatest part of the whole ordeal was he starts going up river stalls out the jet ski and gets towed back, longest 30 mins ever spent trying to load a boat.

[HPBB]

bassin1887, thank you I'll try that. If it wasn't raining (or should I say Monsooning). I would go out and try it right now.

[TrickyVT1887]

HPBB your welcome and sorry to hear about the rain we have slight showers in the morning down here im hoping it will get the pollen down so i can bare going out wedensday morning, one thing about the switch though is that it also controls your interior lights it took me like a month to figure this one out so if your interior lights dont work press the dome override switch one more time and everything should be in working order.

[Pa Angler]

WELCOME ABOARD   Awesome post.

[Tom Bass]

HPBB, my ZR2 S-10 turns off the headlights with 4 presses of the button next to my light switch. 4 presses undoes the manual feature and it goes auto again.

I'd like to throw my two cents in.....

I despise "Ramp Hogs". I've seen this for years. The wealthy or in debt Idiot with a Fountain boat or the owner of some elite Cigarette boat at the ramp or at the docks just just has to linger to "impress" others with his boat or rig. They lounge around doing their thing while others, like myself, are waiting for them to get out of the way.

I have a new philosophy. Give  'em hell. I'm tired of them and their egos screwing things up for others.

The other thing that drives me nuts are the jet skiers. They're as bad as the "Ramp Hogs" with the big expensive boats. They'll take up a ramp for over a half an hour to launch and prepare a boat that most men could carry on their back if they had to....not really, just a metaphor.  I am polite to them because most are new to boating and really can't afford a boat but they need to learn boating etiquette as well.

[fish-fighting-illini]

 I probably should have asked to be safe but I pulled up in the lot and 2 boats were getting their boats ready before heading down to the ramp. I took my time getting ready and they still weren't ready to launch so I went ahead and pulled up and launched. They didn't seem to care plus both launches were open so I fig'd no big deal. I just felt awkward even though I was gone before they were ready.

On the outgoing end of things everyone did a nice job either tied up or waiting out in the open. I felt bad as I was by myself and the wind was fierce so it took a while.

Someone earlier or orig post  ( I think) that if they launch single that people would jeer. That's BS nobody has the right to hassle someone for fishing by themselves they are not the launch police. If they have a problem with quickness they can always offer to pitch in.