::Tip::

Just watched the news of a fella who drowned at cave run at the ramp very sad...But it made me think of a tip that seen on another fishing board.When fishing by yourself an you back the boat in the water turn your tires hard one way an turn off the engine.It just might save your truck from going down in the water if it jumps out of gear.Be safe out there guys,,,Gl to you all

Thats good advice, also I like the tire chalk on a rope that you can clip on your receiver and you can just pull up the ramp and it will follow you. You might get some funny looks, but your still able to get looks. Thats whats important. Be Careful :-)

Yep you are about the funny looks-The last time i was at cedar i turned my tires on the ramp an some guys gave me a funny look i did not say a thing i guess they figured it out lol.

People can look all they want and laugh, but when I'm alone you have to take steps to help yourself stay safe. When you put the boat on the trailer and you give it enough throttle and then some to get the eyelit close enough, Man watch next time how much your truck moves around. All you have is a parking paw in the trans and a E-Brake "If it works" to hold things.. And that boat pushing the truck around enough to take the back pressure off that parking paw, and kinda works itself towards the end of the pin and its just holding by the skin of if its teeth. Then you get out and get behind the truck to latch the boat... Scary Thought x(

An example of what can happen: A friend of mine backed his trailer in and his son and friend powered the boat onto the trailer and then they leaned up and latched the bow onto the winch strap. Seeing that that was done he pulled up and stopped about halfway up the steep ramp to ask them something. He put the SUV in park (E-brake not on) opened the door and got out still behind the door and started talking. Well in a flash the SUV jumped out of park and started to roll very fast back toward the lake. The opened door slammed him into the ground and it was all he could do to get out from under the front tires. (He's an older man so he really isn't that nimble). The boat hit the water and the SUV kept on pushing until it started to float and of course it started to sink as well. The bow strap was latched so the boat was starting to be pulled down bow first with his son and friend still in the boat so they are freaking out. His friend managed to cut the strap and the boat popped up like a cork but now the SUV and trailer had no resistance and kept on sinking. It settled in about 15 foot of water. He was fine aside from a few bumps and bruises and he kept his sense of humor about it since he was thankful to be alive. His son and friend thought the SUV had run over him since there was so much going on and at times they coudn't see him. In the end the joke was that he turned his SUV into an SUB. Great tip on the tires guys! :-)

Man that is scary, you never know when something like that is going to happen... You just hope it never does!!!!!

Got me to thinking as I launch bt myself all the time. Thanks, this is a nice post and something we all should consider.

Thank you for the good tip. I never thought about it, and I launch quite often by myself.

Jason

Good topic:

I launch by myself a lot when I can't get someone to go fishing with me on the spur of the momment.

I use a long 75 ft rope with two quick snap hooks tied to each end with a Bowline knot. I attached one hook to the bow of the boat and the other to the trailer. I unhook the boats other tethers and then back up into the water so that the boat floats off the trailer. I pull up until the back of the trailer is clear of the water and then set the parking brake on my truck and put the truck in gear and shut the engine off. Only then do I get out to grab the rope and steer the boat to the edge of the launch ramp and out of the way of others. The procedure is quick and easy, as long as the truck does not move once the parking brake it set. The truck is a manual and I hope it never jumps out of gear. The parking brake hold better when I try to move the truck forward, but if the parking brake is set and I back up it's not holding the truck much as I can still back up easily with the truck in reverse and the motor on. Maybe I need to set wheel chalks behind the rear truck wheels? I would hate to have the truck slip back into the water when I jump out to collect my boat.

So far the only problem I ever had was with a shallow angled launch ramp that was covered with slick algae one summer. I got my back truck tires onto that algae in about 6" of water and could not get any traction to pull back out. The truck kept sliding further and further back into the lake until the water got over the tail pipe. My truck is two wheel drive which is the problem on slick ramps. I eventually had to set the parking brake and put the truck in 1st gear and turn the motor off. I had to jump out into water about 6" deep at the driver's door and get someone to pull my truck out of the launch ramp. Since that time I am very careful when launching on algae covered ramps. I put bigger tires on my boat trailer so it sits higher up now than it did when I bought it. That means I have to back further into the water to get the boat to float off the trailer and slide off the rails. I don't have rollers and the boat sites on two long 2 by 4 that are mounted on edge. So the boat sits only of the edges of the two by fours. These boards are 12 ft long and my boat is 15' 11".

I have seen a guy loose his truck underwater at the Patoka Lake Fisherman's camp's launch ramp and it was sad. The guy was an older gentleman and his truck and boat slipped out of gear and slid back into the water. That was many many years ago when the lake was only about 10 years old.

Regards,

Moose1am