Nickel Branch v. Gobblers Knob for tournament launching ramp

I was fishing KY Lake this past weekend and caught wind of a future boat ramp build and was wanting to get your thoughts. Because the powers that be believe the the Kentucky Dam Marina ramp is too small, and they believe they are losing tournaments from the north end to Paris, they are going to build another ramp.

My understanding was that they originally were going to redo Nickel Branch and use this as the launching ramp for the bass tournaments. They were going to redo the area and to fix it up for tournament anglers, new parking, etc, the works. I thought this was an awesome idea. You could get people to LBL and also breathe some new life into Grand Rivers and the surrounding areas who are on their last leg (minus Patti's) because of the decreased tourism. Plus you wouldn't have to deal with the boat traffic around KDM, and you'd have quick access to both lakes. A win win for everyone.

Then I heard that Beshear got his puppet strings pulled by one of his Marshall County puppet masters/contributors. Supposedly now they are raising money to clear off gobblers knob and put a tournament ramp in there. All this just so they can keep it in Marshall County. They do not take into consideration what tournament anglers actually want. Now they will have to deal with the traffic coming in and out of KDM and a number of other things. Plus they'll be clearing a beautiful area....to put in a parking lot.

As a democrat Marshall Countian and tournament angler, I find these politics repulsive and to be a horrible idea to clear gobblers knob. If the powers to be actually cared about tournament anglers, I believe the ramp would be best at Nickel Branch. This goes to show that contributors of elected officials control things. I hate politics with a passion, and this irks me even more because now it has to do with fishing, something that is supposed to be free of politics.

There are so many positives about a dedicated tournament ramp at Nickel as opposed to Gobblers Knob. Having grown up and lived in Marshall most of my life, I felt I needed to vent a little. Sorry for the gripe, but I thought others would probably share the same feelings I do. I believe that the area should thrive and not just one county. When was the last time Livingston got anything positive?

Out of curiosity, as a tournament angler, where would you prefer the ramp to be put in? Nickel Branch or Gobbler's Knob? For sake of argument, assume the accommodations would be identical.

For those wondering, Gobblers Knob is the first point with woods past the rock wall out of KDM.

Again, sorry, but I thought this needed to be brought to the light before they sneak it in without input from the people who will actually use the ramp.

Nickel Branch definitely. It would be better for tourneys for all the reasons mentioned and for other fisherman as well being close to the canal and access to both lakes. I can't imagine why you would destroy the wooded area of Gobbler's Knob when there is already access at Nickel that could just be renovated and expanded. I hope this works out. I don't really like the Kuttawa/Lyon Co. ramp for big tourneys and there aren't any other ramps on Barkley suitable for a 150+ boat tourney.

just redo the moors

One problem I foresee with Nickel Branch would be the requirement of a special use permit. If enough tournaments start going out of there, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see the price of it go up a little more each year, or implementation of a launching fee.

[url]http://www.lbl.org/Permits.html[/url]

The argument that Ky is losing tournaments to Paris because of a small ramp at Ky Dam does not hold water. The launch ramp and parking area at Paris is no where near as big as Ky Dam Marina. If Ky is losing tournaments to Tennessee it is because the folks in Tennessee are offering more incentives for the tournament trail owners to bring their tournaments there. As far as putting a big tournament ramp and parking area anywhere on the LBL, I would be totally against it. We don't have enough wilderness area now in Ky and we don't need to lose more for such an enterprise. You can already get to both lakes from Ky Dam Marina...all you have to do is cross the lake...not like it is a long run. There is more than ample tournament parking and ramps in Kuttawa also, no need to put another big one on N. Barkley.