Bluegrass Pit's South Concrete Launch ramp Big Hole at the end

[Moveon]

With the water being so low this year and boats powering back onto the trailer with 200 HP engines there end of the launch ramp can easily be overrun. At the end of the concrete launch ramp there is a big hole or drop off. This is caused when the prop washes away the soil at the end of the ramp.

IDNR puts gravel at the end of the launch ramp but all it takes is for a few big bass boats to power back onto their boat trailers and the gravel is washed away again.

I don't understand why guys can't get out of the drivers seat and go to the front of the boat and pull their boat up the last few inches using the trailer wench and rope. Instead the gun the motor to almost full throttle and power the boat back up the trailer the last foot or so. Then the boat slides back down the trailer and they have to do it again and again. Good grief.

One needs a four wheel drive truck or jeep to pull a trailer tire out of that hole at the end of the ramp.

I wish that they would extend the concrete out another 10 ft or so and solve this problem. There is no way that everyone will stop powering the boat onto their trailers. So just add more concrete to the ramp and be done with this. That's the only real permanent solution I can think of right now.

I can't launch my boat with the ramp this way. I'll have to have someone pull my truck and loaded boat trailer out of the water at the ramp if my back trailer tires drop off the end of the ramp with the boat on the trailer.

And while IDNR is at it they can add a boat dock there too.

[Embrey]

With the water being so low this year and boats powering back onto the trailer with 200 HP engines there end of the launch ramp can easily be overrun. At the end of the concrete launch ramp there is a big hole or drop off. This is caused when the prop washes away the soil at the end of the ramp.

IDNR puts gravel at the end of the launch ramp but all it takes is for a few big bass boats to power back onto their boat trailers and the gravel is washed away again.

I don't understand why guys can't get out of the drivers seat and go to the front of the boat and pull their boat up the last few inches using the trailer wench and rope. Instead the gun the motor to almost full throttle and power the boat back up the trailer the last foot or so. Then the boat slides back down the trailer and they have to do it again and again. Good grief.

One needs a four wheel drive truck or jeep to pull a trailer tire out of that hole at the end of the ramp.

I wish that they would extend the concrete out another 10 ft or so and solve this problem. There is no way that everyone will stop powering the boat onto their trailers. So just add more concrete to the ramp and be done with this. That's the only real permanent solution I can think of right now.

I can't launch my boat with the ramp this way. I'll have to have someone pull my truck and loaded boat trailer out of the water at the ramp if my back trailer tires drop off the end of the ramp with the boat on the trailer.

And while IDNR is at it they can add a boat dock there too.

well obviously you dont have a boat that needs loaded like this. mine does. you cannot pull mine up by hand. my boat is long enough that if i back in to where that would be possible,it will not go over the roller. it goes under it. my old boat would work just fine. i could load it without the motor period and i did .but its only 17ft. a longer boat changes this alot. so, alot of peopl arent doing this just for fun...

[SteveM4A1]

i load my 20 footer by wench all the time. don't see the big deal about it. never had an issue, even this summer in extreme low water.

[Embrey]

i load my 20 footer by wench all the time. don't see the big deal about it. never had an issue, even this summer in extreme low water.

i would say it depends on the boat

[SteveM4A1]

without a doubt. i experience the same issue you have with the front of the boat if i back down too far. of course then you have to pull the trailer out a bit which makes the boat way heavier and harder to pull in. i'm a younger guy so it isn't so bad for me, but I can see how older people would find it very difficult to crank that wench. once i get older and find it too hard, i gaurantee you i will be power loading if possible.

[Embrey]

without a doubt. i experience the same issue you have with the front of the boat if i back down too far. of course then you have to pull the trailer out a bit which makes the boat way heavier and harder to pull in. i'm a younger guy so it isn't so bad for me, but I can see how older people would find it very difficult to crank that wench. once i get older and find it too hard, i gaurantee you i will be power loading if possible.

yeah, not as much difficult ,except i think the straps about to break,not to mention, thats a lot of stress on the front boat eyelet i think

[JustinM]

That hole has always been there. A week after they fix it the hole is back. When looking down the ramp stay to the far right side and you'll be fine. Go to far left and to fast you get to replace your axle. None of the ramps any where at bluegrass are good, but I make do!

[Moveon]

A couple of years ago I did break and axle on my boat trailer. It broke in the middle of the axle. It was an old axle, but it was heavy duty steel and about 3" or 4" square. Not a round axle, but square shaped steel.

I wonder if it broke when I pulled out of that hole?

I had a even heavier duty axle made and installed on my boat that year.

Since I don't have four wheel drive I worry that my truck won't have the power or traction to pull my trailer/boat out of that hole if my wheels drop off in the hole. So I'll just wait until the lake level get back up before I can fish or launch at that launch ramp.

Hopefully the gravel launch ramps are usable.

Anyone have any reports on the launch ramps at the South end of Loon or the North end of Bluegrass Pits?

I'll probably only fish Bluegrass's pits a couple more times this year. I may head up to Patoka and fish up there one more time this fall.

I wanted to take my boat over to Bluegrass before I put it away for storage this winter. I like to back the boat up on the trailer into the water and then run the motor and unhook the gas line. This runs most all the gas out of the engine before I fog the spark plug holes with heavy fogging oil for the winter.

I did this for 30 years and never had any carburetor problems for years. Clearing the gas out of the engine helps prevent the gas from gumming up the carb.

[Moveon]

Yea I am lucky in that my boat is light and easier to launch and recover. It's only 15' 11" long and it's a flat bottom Aluminum boat.

I can see where a fiberglass boat like a triton, ranger or other boat would be harder to get straight on the boat trailer.

Each trailer is different too. Some use flat boats on edge and some have boards the lay on their sides. Some boat trailers have various rollers in different locations.

So I can see where you are coming from too.

It does help to have a partner to drive the truck while you drive the boat. I have to do it all by myself most days. But I have a system that makes it very easy with my particular boat and trailer and truck.

Also I don't have 4 wheel drive and and one of those Older guys with the Gray Hair. You young-ens don't have to worry about Gray hair ... yet. LOL

well obviously you don't have a boat that needs loaded like this. mine does. you cannot pull mine up by hand. my boat is long enough that if i back in to where that would be possible,it will not go over the roller. it goes under it. my old boat would work just fine. i could load it without the motor period and i did .but its only 17ft. a longer boat changes this alot. so, alot of peopl aren't doing this just for fun...

[SteveM4A1]

i actually find that my stratos is a lot easier to load than my flat bottom bass tracker was. that tracker was a pain to keep straight...should have put side rails on it. but i could never pull a boat over 16 foot without 4 wheel drive i dont think...just makes me feel more secure.

[JustinM]

Trackers are the worst boats to load imo. I wonder if nitro's are a pain too?

[Moveon]

You are right about it putting a lot of stress on the front boat eyelet. I cracked the aluminum on the front of my boat where the eye was welded to the boat.

I had to have a heavy aluminum plate welded to the front of the boat to repair the crack and to have a new eye welded onto the face of that plate.

Then the aluminum around the edge of the plate was being stressed too much.

This all happened before I added the plastic slide things to the top of my 2x4 rails. Now my boat slides along the 2 x 4's much easier.

Each boat is different.

I went over to Bluegrass yesterday and backed my boat into the water so that I could see if the engine would start and run. It's been sitting idle all summer. Last time I went out was back in early May. I was doing a lot of slow trolling around back then just using the depth finder and trying to find out whats on the lake bottom. Surprise, it's devoid of cover in most spots. Typical retired strip mine area lake.

I saw an older couple with a fiberglass boat but they had 2x4 laying on the flat side and not on edge like mine on their boat trailer. Their trailer's wheels had dropped off the end of the ramp and they could not get their boat/trailer out of the hole. So another young man was helping them drive their truck boat/trailer out of the water at the launch ramp when I arrived.

Another guy was fishing Otter Pit yesterday and I found him getting ready to launch his 14 ft aluminum boat. He later told me that he didn't drop off the end of the ramp when he launched. Not sure where the end of the concrete is at Otter Pit. Otter Pit's launch ramp is way down also.

One thing that I noticed is that at a lot of the other pits the shoreline is well exposed. This makes it a lot easier for the bank fisherman to walk around some of the smaller pits and fish. Normally when the waters up the cattails grow right down into the water from the shoreline making it harder to walk around the edge of the water.

QUOTE=Embrey;428767]yeah, not as much difficult ,except i think the straps about to break,not to mention, thats a lot of stress on the front boat eyelet i think[/QUOTE]