Bluegrass ramp

[bassmanic1]

Launching from northern gravel ramp at bluegrass today and saw they are going to put in a concrete ramp . There is a stack of concrete slabs stacked by the road and heavy equipment to do the job . It will be nice when its done I just hope it isn't closed long to do it . The pit was very off color from all the rain and fish were few and far between , only caught one 10" crappie trolling and one 14" bass on a Rattle N Vibe . Question for everybody , have you seen any gill on beds ? Full moon was the 23rd and my usual spots didnt have any nests at all . Tight lines !

[Moveon]

Who said IDNR didn't do anything for us? LOL There are signs at the South Launch Ramp of Bluegrass Pit stating that this will start July 8th I think. It will take about two weeks to put in the concrete launch ramp.

I noticed that the heavy equipment had been staged over there for a week or so. There is a big digger and a bulldozer. I'd like to watch and see how this is done. I missed the work on the 3 present ramps but I did notice that they staged the concrete before installing it. I wonder if they will change the slope of the launch.

Also they plan to work on the parking lot. Hey that's a good thing. I hope that they fix the road as it was washed out a bit from all the rain we had this weekend. There are gullies and ruts running down the road as it's all downhill basically near the launch ramp area. They could use some ditched along the side of the road to help with the drainage. Good roadside drainage helps keep the roads in better shape.

Anyway this is our IDNR working for use.

I would love to see them install and maintain some docks or fishing piers in the Bluegrass F&W area. There are a lot of shoreline fishermen and women that could benefit from some fishing piers. And all the boaters could use a dock or two on all three of the big pits.

They should do a drive by survey of the number of people fishing like they did when it first opened up and Allen drove the IDNR boat around the lake every hour or so and counted the number of people fishing the three big pits.

The smaller pits are getting a lot more use these days. It's hard to find an open fishing spot for the bank fishermen as they are all being used a lot of the time. People like to fish the boat ramps as they are free of weeds and algae as compared to the rest of the shorelines. There is either huge high cattails blocking people from reaching the waters edge or algae growing along the water's edge. Both the cattails and algae make it harder to fish from the banks.

But then again this is a fish and wild life property and it's managed for the wildlife not really the people so much. They are spending a lot of money or time getting the area planted with crops for the wildlife to eat this fall/winter. But I don't think that costs IDNR very much as the farmers are doing all the work. I think that the let the farmers lease the land to grow crops and maybe the farmers are paying IDNR to use the land. Both the farmers and the wildlife benefit from this endeavor.

[Moveon]

I was reading the Evansville Courier and Press online today and read an article about the IDNR putting fish in the lakes in Evansville. At the end of the article Phil mentioned the work going on at the North ramp at Bluegrass Pit.

They are going to substantially increase the size of the parking lot there too.

I drove over there the other evening and noticed the concrete for the ramp stacked up by the heavy digging equipment (Excavator) I don't think it will take them very long to do this once they get started. Putting in the launch ramp won't take more than a few days unless the weather doesn't corporate. Enlarging the parking lot may take a while though. But in the end it will be worth it. I wish that they would cut the grass and give more access to the water's edge on Bluegrass pit. Everyone always fishing right in the middle of the launch ramps.

I just wonder if they will install a handicapped platform to help those people get into and out of the boat? I've never seen the other's used by handicapped people yet.

[bassmanic1]

Fished bluegrass from bank this morning early { 5:00 AM } for a few hours before reporting to work at 7 and could not believe the boats . Seemed to be a tournament getting underway when I got there with 8-10 boats plus many more showing up as sun got up . Reminds me of Lynnville park pit back in the 80's which was a hot pit with lots of bigger fish . After about 10 years of getting hammered by tournaments and overfishing bass fishing basically isnt the same . Im seeing the same thing with Bluegrass pit . We all know gas prices **** but using a $30,000 Ranger to fish a 2,532 acres pit when Barkley/KY lake , Patoka and Monroe are a couple hours away ? Do me a favor , if you see a poor slob bank fishing please bypass his little piece of lake and maybe a little courtesy for said slob in a 10' jon boat also would be nice .

[Moveon]

Monday July 8th. Remember that IDNR will be starting work on the North Ramp area and it will be closed for a couple of weeks until this project is done. They will also be enlarging the parking lot there.

I drove over to the BG South ramp the other day. Saturday and it was packed around 5 pm.

Gas prices dropped down to 3.32 per gallon before the Holiday Week end. Now I hear that due to the crisis in Egypt that the prices of gas is going back up. They are speculating again about the cost of transporting oil from the middle east due to the Sues Canal being in Egypt.

I caught another raccoon last night in my live animal trap.

I wonder just how many raccoons there are in my back yard?

See the Fishin.com Hunting forum for more info.

Fished bluegrass from bank this morning early { 5:00 AM } for a few hours before reporting to work at 7 and could not believe the boats . Seemed to be a tournament getting underway when I got there with 8-10 boats plus many more showing up as sun got up . Reminds me of Lynnville park pit back in the 80's which was a hot pit with lots of bigger fish . After about 10 years of getting hammered by tournaments and overfishing bass fishing basically isnt the same . Im seeing the same thing with Bluegrass pit . We all know gas prices **** but using a $30,000 Ranger to fish a 2,532 acres pit when Barkley/KY lake , Patoka and Monroe are a couple hours away ? Do me a favor , if you see a poor slob bank fishing please bypass his little piece of lake and maybe a little courtesy for said slob in a 10' jon boat also would be nice .

[Moveon]

Gas prices shot back up to 3.60 something this week.

The gates are still locked at the North End of Bluegrass Pit. The IDNR is still working on the new concrete launch ramp and the parking lot.

Monday July 8th. Remember that IDNR will be starting work on the North Ramp area and it will be closed for a couple of weeks until this project is done. They will also be enlarging the parking lot there.

I drove over to the BG South ramp the other day. Saturday and it was packed around 5 pm.

Gas prices dropped down to 3.32 per gallon before the Holiday Week end. Now I hear that due to the crisis in Egypt that the prices of gas is going back up. They are speculating again about the cost of transporting oil from the middle east due to the Sues Canal being in Egypt.

I caught another raccoon last night in my live animal trap.

I wonder just how many raccoons there are in my back yard?

See the Fishin.com Hunting forum for more info.

[bassmanic1]

The acreage stated above {2,532 } is for the entire wildlife area . Bluegrass pit is more like 250 acres . There is one cure for the overcrowding , fishing during the week .

[Moveon]

The acreage stated above {2,532 } is for the entire wildlife area . Bluegrass pit is more like 250 acres . There is one cure for the overcrowding , fishing during the week .

If I want to fish I go during the week and avoid the weekends. The weekends are getting too crowded for me to haul the boat over there and wait in line for ten people in kayaks to launch at the only concrete launch ramp.

I wish that they had a separate launch ramp for those pesky kayakers.

[Moveon]

The IDNR finished building the new concrete Launch ramp at the North End of BlueGrass Pit. They put big rip rap around the edges of both side of the concrete which leaves no room to pull your boat up onto the shore other than on the ramp itself.

The parking lot is not much larger and if people continue to park Parallel with the edge of the gravel there will not be much room to park your truck and trailers. If people would park with the trailer backed into the grass and pointing straight out a lot more vehicles could be arranged in this small parking lot. The ramp is sections of concrete that's joined together with a metal strip of some kind. There are made differently than the previous concrete ramps that were installed back in 2003/04 at the other launch sites.

But now Bluegrass pit had two concrete launch ramps so that's a good thing.

I drove around the area tonight right before dark and found a lot of people fishing at the launch ramps. Almost ever launch ramp in the area was in use by people fishing from the shore and sitting in lawn chairs right in the middle of the concrete and gravel ramps. It's Friday night. One lady had her dog in the water at the South Launch Ramp at BG Pit.

This new ramp is a lot like the ramp at the North End of Loon Pit. No where to park your boat after you launch it. No docks or shoreline to park your boat on without tearing it up on the rip rap. Why can't they put in a dock or at least a sandy area to pull the boat up onto the shore. When people have to park their boat on the ramp itself it stops other's from launching and recovering their boats. On a busy weekend this is a problem. Not so much a problem during the middle of the week.

[bassmanic1]

Its all about money . Southern IN is the one of the last places the state spends money on for fishing & hunting . A bigger lot , a smooth sand area to beach the boat and give bank fishermen a spot plus a dock/pier ? They barely pay the CO's and staff they have now . Plus the state could have bought a lot more property when they acquired Bluegrass which would have added a lot more fish able water . Im just glad to have the ramp back and if someone is fishing on it they will almost always move for you . Ive noticed a lot of the kayaks using Loon pit north ramp which has 2 extra places to launch small boats . Loon also has some old trees in the water on the SE side which Bluegrass lacks . Ran a square-bill crankbait through and picked a few up . My main bait right now is the strike king redeye shad . Find a good spot near shad schools , use the farthest casting reel you have and make long casts then reel it in slowly . Have to try different colors because there is always one color they like best in each lake . Caught a 6lber doing this Thursday .

[Moveon]

Its all about money . Southern IN is the one of the last places the state spends money on for fishing & hunting . A bigger lot , a smooth sand area to beach the boat and give bank fishermen a spot plus a dock/pier ? They barely pay the CO's and staff they have now . Plus the state could have bought a lot more property when they acquired Bluegrass which would have added a lot more fish able water . Im just glad to have the ramp back and if someone is fishing on it they will almost always move for you . Ive noticed a lot of the kayaks using Loon pit north ramp which has 2 extra places to launch small boats . Loon also has some old trees in the water on the SE side which Bluegrass lacks . Ran a square-bill crankbait through and picked a few up . My main bait right now is the strike king redeye shad . Find a good spot near shad schools , use the farthest casting reel you have and make long casts then reel it in slowly . Have to try different colors because there is always one color they like best in each lake . Caught a 6lber doing this Thursday .

Congratulations on catching that 6 lber.

I've caught some bass of those trees and a few crappie. But they are hard to maneuver the boat in and out of as they are so thick. That area reminds me of some of the areas on Patoka Lake which are nothing more than submerged forests.

Too bad that the gravel launch ramp at the South end of Loon Pit is too shallow to launch a big bass boat. And the bottom at that ramp is covered in coal muck. It will get sucked up into the engine water cooling system and plug it up real fast. The last time I launched my boat there was two years ago and the water level was down and my boat motor was nearly destroyed by that coal muck. I had to take the motor in for repairs and have it cleaned up and a new water pump put in. Water was not coming out of the pee hole anymore as it was so plugged up inside.

I wish that IDNR had more money to fix that ramp and dig a deeper channel though the area to the deeper water. It's only about 1.5 ft deep when I last used that ramp. It's about 2 ft deep now or maybe 3 ft deep. I'm just guessing. Not many guys launch out of that ramp.