Let’s share some tips here for making those busy ramps as efficient as possible this summer (especially this and holiday weekends).



It seems like every boat/trailer combo has it’s quirks and or sweet spots. Once you learn about those, you are pretty much prepared for most anything. So if you are unfamiliar with a new boat/trailer try to go somewhere to practice before hitting a busy ramp.

Also it’s a good idea for a rider to either step aside, or ask the boat owner before helping out. It’s a nice gesture for a partner to jump right in winching or driving or backing or whatever, but in some cases the driver can actually do things faster themselves, or at least point out specific things that can be done to help. Let the Captain be the Captain.

If you see someone having problems, don’t holler or scream. Maybe you could politely ask to help.

Most of all relax and don’t let the stress get to you.

It’s ray of light when there is a busy ramp and everyone is on the same page.

Always be sure to have the clip attached to your boat when entering and exiting the water. Its a bad day when a boat is sitting trailerless on dry land.

good call in posting this. One thing that Sandmannd and I do is I'll start unhooking the boat while he's putting things like bait, rods, etc. into the boat. Then, he backs it in while I sit and get it going once in the water. Then, if the ramp is really busy, I can back off and wait for him w/o using up a dock space. Once he's ready, just motor up and pick him up and you're ready to go!

Same here, allways try to have someone else who knows the ins and outs of your boat. Saves alot of time.

my two friends an I have it down to a science. we can have the boat in the water and the truck off the launch in about 1 minute. We get the boat ready to slide off the trailer while we are waiting inline, one guy sits in the boat ready to fire it up and back out, the other guy runs the truck in and out and the third (usually me) takes care of anything else that needs two hands.

Great post DTRO.

1. Show patience.
2. If you see a guy having problems, offer your assistance. Who knows, you may have sped things up for everyone and made a new fishing buddy.
3. Get everything ready, (unstrap gunwail, rods in boat, cooler in boat, PLUG IN BOAT) before you back up to the ramp.
4. Either give your partner a set of truck keys, or have a spare stashed somewhere just in case.
5. Make sure your spare boat key is in your tackle box, or somewhere you can get to it when the main key goes overboard.
6. Most importantly, be patient. Yelling, cussing, screaming, unwanted comments, etc, accomplish nothing but get everyone frustrated.
7. It actually helps to slow down and think things out a bit instead of trying to rush it through.

I agree, give others a hand. It's great to have someone else along who knows how the boat works. Speeds it up a lot.

I agree with you dtro SOMETIMES the help of a buddy is a pain in the neck I often ask (when they are pushing and pulling this way and that) HOW IN THE HECK DO YOU THINK I GOT ON AND OFF THE TRAILER LAST NIGHT WHEN I WAS ALONE!!!! Two things I do are always ask the people infront of AND behind me if they would like any help. And I always let the people going on the lake use the ramp before me if I am leaving it seems we are more impatient when we going to fish then when we are leaving the lake.

Already been stated worth signaling out.

Do not leave vehicle and trailer on launch while your loading boat. Load before you launch or after you park. Drop off boat and exit as soon as possible.

When taking boat out. Park away from ramp when tying down and checking boat and trailer for invasive species

Ahh the public accesss season is once again upon us. All good advice shared and appriciated. Thouht I would share an experiance I witnessed about 2 weeks ago on prior. I dropped my brother off to get the trailer so we could get off the lake. We were at the Sand Point acess. There are 2 ramps and one of them had a trailer backind in but no boat or boat owner in site. There were 3-4 guys in line to launch and and me and one other guy waiting to get off. Well as i idled around waiting for my trailer to have its turn to be backed in a couple of guys dropped in and finally after 15 min I got loaded. Meanwhile the jeep and trailer were still occupying one of the ramps and still no boat owner in site. I figured he/she was using the bathroom. As I am putting the strpas on and getting everthing buttoned up I notice that the bathrooms are open. So I am wondering where the person that owns the trailer and vehicle is. I then hear some guys discussing the issue. One off the guys had been waiting about 20 minutes because he could only use the ramp that was being used as a parking spot for someone. Another guy that was waiting to load checked the vehicle and the keys were in it. So this guy asks the guy waiting to use that ramp if he knows whats goin in and his reply was "some guy launched his boat about 15 min earlier and just took off towards upper prior." Well a guy in line decided that he would just move the truck since the keys were in the ignition and that is what he did. I found it interesting and figured that it was either a lake owner who planned a quick drop or someone had boat trouble or this is just another way to get someone else to park the truck. No idea what the final outcome was but the truck and trailer got parked. Just something I had not seen before and thought I would share. Good Fishing!!

They should have moved the vehicle, parked it and locked the keys in it!
This is what happened to me at a launch last year:
Waiting to launch, one guy behind me, one launching, the guy behind me sees I am a woman and comes up and says "I can back your boat in for you" I said "that's okay, I can do it myself, but thank you for offering" his response "well, then I am going to go before you because I can launch faster" and he pulled around me and went ahead and launched before me. I sat there flabbergasted, as he pulled away I yelled at him "I hope you forgot to put your plug in" He gave me a one finger wave. I have been backing trailers up for 20 years and and I am quite good at it.

If I experienced something like That lambjm it probably would fester in me for a while and ruin part of my outing.
I'm sorry you had to encounter one of those guys out there felt superior to you and probably to the people behind him. If He was in a hurry at least he could have tied your boat off while you parked rather than be a smuck.That would have saved him time.

That was a big risk on his part do something like that.

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Randy

Guys and gals, let's keep the thread on topic. This thread is about tips at the ramp, not tips for retaliation.

Thanks.