Break in at Bluegrass North Ramp Parking lot

I read on facebook that some one had their truck broken into at Bluegrass on the North End. If you park your vehicle in this remote area make sure that you don't leave any valuables inside your truck on in the bed where people can steal them. Lock your doors. There is not as much traffic back at this ramp as the one on the South End that's right next to the main highway.

Some folks back there fishing think that they are the only ones that can use the area. They fish back there and if they see someone else drive up and leave they immediately think that the other guys are bad guys. I'm not so sure that it right. Not everyone who drives around out there is a bad guy. Yes there are some out there who could be bad guys. Most people are pretty friendly out there. I drive around out there all the time and if I drive by that parking lot it's to check on how many other people are using the facility. I normally won't stop and fish anymore as there is always someone else there fishing before I get there. Now before the place was so publicized on Facebook and in the news papers and Evansville Living Magazine and the Internet I would take a fishing rod and reel and a small tackle box and fish from the ramps if no one else was there. Now those were the good old days. Back in 2003 and until about 2014. By 2014 the lake was getting pretty crowded.

Remember that Blue Grass Fish and Wildlife Area was purchased by the Department of Natural Resources Fish and Wildlife Division using money obtained by the state though the sale of fishing licenses and taxes imposed on fishing and hunting equipment and supplies. So hunters and Fishermen are the people who actually paid to buy Bluegrass. Birdwatchers and hikers and other non hunters and non fishermen didn't contribute funds to help purchase this land for the State. Still there are many people who use Bluegrass Fish and Wildlife Area for recreation. And that's fine. But the number of people using the facilty has grown. And this can lead to over crowding and stress.

And when one bad apple decided to break into a vehicle out there that makes the stress even worst now. But with the increased number of people out there using the facility it's bound to lead to more stress and conflicts.

Which is why I personally don't take my boat out there much anymore at all. Before I could take the boat and be on the water in less than 30 minutes and have the place pretty much to myself at times in the middle of the week. I never did like to be the only boat out there. It's always nice to see one or two other boats that are out there on the lake just in case you get into trouble and need help. But these days there are 20 to 30 boats out there fishing or just messing around (kayaks) and on just 190 acres of water. For my style of fishing (trolling) that's too many boats to deal with on the weekends.

We all need to learn to get along now with so many new people out there.

I read on one facebook page where a woman said she was out there at the North End of Blue Grass pit fishing by herself. She said that three big trucks pulled up and a guy got out of the truck and asked her how the fishing was. She got scared and left. She thought that these guys were bad guys. Why would she automatically think that these guys were bad guys. I guess she felt alone and vulnerable. Maybe she should go buy a hand gun and take some shooting lessons. She has just as much right to fish out there as anyone else as long as she follows the rules. She should have talked to the guy and maybe she might have found out that they were bad guys and were out there to have fun too.

If I drive over there to fish and find someone already fishing in the spot I was planning to fish I move on to another spot. Here lately I end up moving on a lot more than in the past. Almost ever spot I use to fish from is full of new people these days.

So I got me a hand gun (always wanted to own one of these) and now I go shooting instead of fishing. It's a lot easier to pack up the shooting equipment and drive to the range than it is to fool with the boat and trailer and to launch out at Bluegrass. The ramps are falling apart on the ends due to people powering up their big motors to get their boats up on the trailer the last foot or so. This just digs or washes the dirt away at the end of the concrete ramp when the water levels are low in the hot summer months. DNR doen't have the money to fix the ramps on a timely basis. Their budget is always limited. I think that they limited the size of the motors on a lot of Indiana's Lakes due to this one problem. Smaller boats and smaller motort don't cause the dirt to wash out at the end of the ramps.

And the ramps have become slick with algae and that makes launching the boat more dangerous for the older folks. I've seen guys fall on the ramp due to the slick algae while trying to launch and recover their boats and get hurt or cut open. They need to clean the ramps of the algae somehow so that it's safer to launch your boat.

And some people take longer to launch their boats that others. Some guys are pros at launching their boats and can launch and get out of the way in just a couple of minutes. Others take up to 10 minutes and block the ramp for others. Now back in the days when it was less crowded that didn't make any difference and no one else was waiting to launch their boats. But today there almost always another boat waiting to launch. Especially at Peak times.

I usually don't go over there in the early morning but I would venture to say that it can get crowded over there at the launch ramp on a Saturday or Sunday Morning.

I've been to many other boat ramps while fishing and run into a few drunks that were obnoxious at the ramp. IMHO there is nothing worst that a drunk with a big mouth at the launch ramp. Fortunately I've never seen too much of that at the Bluegrass Fish and Wildlife Area.

I think that the IDNR CO's patrol the area pretty much and weed out a lot of the bad apples before they create too much trouble. And everyone but grandma carries a cell phone these days. People can easily call and report problems to the CO or the local Sheriff.

Be on the watch out for people that try to break into cars or trucks in the parking lots out there. Which is another reason I don't fish out there as much as in the past.

Even on the week days the place can be packed with lots of people.

Being so close to Evansville there are a lot of people that use the facility out there these days.

I hope we all don't love it to death.