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Don't mean to butt in guys but why go thru Evansville to get to Mt.Vernon? Instead of getting off at I-164 continure West on I-64 to the New Harmony exit. Thats Indiana 69. Exit South thru New Harmony and continue to Mt.Vernon. At the square in Mt.Vernon Hwy 69 will turn West and run with Ind 62. A couple of miles out of Mt.Vernon Hwy 69 will cut off to the South and 62 will continue West. Go South on 69 until you come to Hovey. It's several miles........
I last looked at the launch ramp at Hoveys last Year. It appeared to be at a steep enough angle but then I didn't launch my boat on it so I am only guessing from the looks of it. Not sure how long the concrete is or how far it goes out into the water.
I see guys launching large boats on Bluegrass's launch ramps and they don't appear to be as steep at Hovey's launch ramp.
If you have a good strong rope and it's twice as long as your boat trailer you should be able to launch the boat easy enough. Recoverying the boat without using the gas motor can be trickey depending on the wind and how your trailer is made. I have a hard time recovering my boat as it tend to hit my trailer lights if I don't get it guided in just right. I have broken one of my trailer light lenses already and they are not cheap to replace. But my lights site up high on some metal poles and I normally park the trailer so that the lights are sitting just above the water when I am recovering my boat.
You boat and trailer will be different so you may or may not be able to recover the boat easily with a long rope.
I unhook my boats safey chain and the rope that holds in on the trailer and then undo the transom tie downs. Then I connect a 50 to 60ft long 3/8 OD rope to two safey snaps. I hook one snap to the bow of my boat and the other to the wrench area of my trailer. You could maybe hook it to the very back of the trailer. I then back down the ramp until the trailer lights are just almost under water and stop quickly. The boat normally will float off the trailer and the momentum will carry it out into the lake and off the trailer. Sometimes I have to pull up a bit and back up again stopping quickly to get the boat to come off the trailer. But then again that is my boat and trailer. My boat had a hard time getting off the trailer sometimes. I don't have rollers and my trailer has 2x4x 12ft long board on edge that my boat sits ontop of. If you have rollers then your boat should come off easier. I also put one of those walk ramps on the front tougue of my trailer to help me walk out to recover my boat. They also make some long poles that have a special receptical to hold onto the boats saftey snaps. That way you can put the safety snap inside the holder on the end of the pole and use the extention pole to reach out and snap the snap onto the front of your boat. BPS sells these in their catalogs.
The launch ramp is located on the West Bank of the lake. So it's protected from any west winds and we very seldom get winds out of the East. Most of the time the wind comes from the SW here when a warm front comes in and out of the NW when a cold front comes though. If it's windy it makes recovering the boat a bit harder. But if it's too windy you may not want to launch anyway. Unless you have a really really powerful trolling motor. Hovey's is pretty much out in the open and along the Ohio River flood plain so it's pretty flat ground all around the area.
Regards,
Moose1am
Good Point Don:
I just was not sure if there was an exit there off I64 that lead to HWY 69. I just don't get up that way very much. And I was too lazy to fire up my mapsource map to check out that exit. Glad you brought that up. Thanks.
Regards,
Moose1am
MPerry:
Yes you can launch a big boat and use the trolling motor only. But you will get into trouble if you fire up the gas engine to get the boat back on the trailer at the ramp.
The officials at hovey are really concerned about protecting the ramp. When one uses the big motor to get the boat back on the trailer it washes away the soil and rocks at the end of the ramp.
So get a very long rope and hope that there is not much wind. I also don't remember seeing any courtesy docks either. So if you pull the boat up on the shore or the concrete ramp hope you have some type of keel guard material on the bottom of your boat.
Regards,
Moose1am
Hey all ,
I have fished Hovey since 1983 and can state that the fishing was great until they corp built that @#@#$% dam on the drain . The crappie could move in and out of the Ohio . In the spring it was fairly easy to get a limit of crappie , and lots of gill when they spawned . In the last 5 years all I have caught there is 2 white bass , a few largemouth and 1-2 small crappie . The main fish in the lake now are those big-head/silver carp . Last year a 7 pounder jumped in the boat and landed in my 11 year old daughters lap - scared the pee out of her ! If you do go watch out for the carp , even a trolling motor makes them jump . Ive heard of guys welding rebar on their boats to keep em out and using trash can lids for shields . If Hovey lets you down try Deer Creek up past Cannelton Dam , it has some stumps and is connected to the Ohio so the crappie move in and out . Or Patoka Lake which is getting better for specks . Good luck .
Tight Lines
Thanks for the warning about those big carp or should I say flying fish. Those things are scary beasts. I wonder how many water skiers on the Ohio River have been hit by them so far? :)
It's a shame that someone has not blown up that **** **** in the drain at hoveys. I am sure that many a crappie fishermen have dreamed of doing just that.
I have never fished Hovey's lake. I have heard and read a great deal about it over the years. I know people that fish it and use to kill the crappie in the drain.
I use to duck hunt at Hoveys and my buddies still hunt there.
Have any of you guys ever fished for crappie in the Little Pigeon Creek where it emties into the Ohio River by Yankeetown?
That creek is full of stumps along the bank at the launch site and looks very fish. I would bet that some crappie will swim up tthat creek to get out of the river's current and to find spawning grounds in the spring.
Regards,
Moose1am