Memorial Day @ Tr

[ozarkgunner]

As much as I hate the crowds of people.... I still want them to be safe. The water and derbis conditions are ripe for a deadly Memorial Day weekend.

[Bill P]

I have,over the years,committed many boat-related embarassments. They are few and far between now,but I won't jinx myself by claiming 'never again'.I've always thought about making,and marketing, a video tape called'Boat Dock Blunders'. Memorial day and Fourth of July are all you'ld need for plenty of tape. I figured most boaters have been on the embarassed side,and would have no problem dumpin a few bucks to watch someone else put on a show!

The wife will be in Chicago Memorial Day weekend,so I just might take the lawnchair and a cooler to a busy ramp. I would think the 'departers' would offer the best shows.

BTW,don't ya just love being behind the guy that spends 30min IN the ramp,boat on the trailer, getting his boat ready to come or go? I hate when that happens.

[bclift65706]

A person could make some money lanching and loading boats for the people jacknifing trailers on the ramp and getting sideways on the trailer. kind of a balagh parking service for boats. Might be a money maker on the poupular tourest launches

[MOBass]

After reading this post I am really reconsidering going down and trying to fish a day over the holiday weekend. I may just go down with a chair, umbrella, cooler, and a stack of big cards numbered 1-10. I figure I could set up shop and score the launches based on number of jack knives, curse words, yelled at spouses, ect....

[jay bird]

I have been around boat ramps since I was a little kid and can barley remember when I could not back up a trailer. One busy weekend I was down at Big M and there was some poor soul trying to back up this trailer and taking up the whole boat ramp with a ton of rigs trying to put in or take out. Everyone was getting frustrated, so I walked up to the guy trying to back up the trailer and he was instalntly on the defensive asking what the blank did I want. I asked him if him if he did not mind if I backed in the trailer for him. The look of relife on his face was instant and he could not move over quick enough to let me help him. I tried to give him a quick lesson on backing, and I am sure that with me helping it decreased his time on the ramp and got the line going again. I have done this numerous times over the years and all it does is help the situation. So laugh at the situation, but do not be afraid to help the wife or son-inlaw that has been told to back up the trailer and has no real idea what they are doing.

[rps]

Even though the front ran me off the lake early this morning, this afternoon I drove down to the ramp to see what was happening. Allan, the concessionaire (he has had a miserable year so far) has the marina open, accessible, stocked and is even renting boats. To avoid the mess I wrote of in my first post, he has hired three locals with golf carts to act as ramp and parking marshals. They have set up a boat prep area out of the line of the ramp. They use the carts to transport people and goods from the distant parking lot to the ramp. Where the boat owner is less than skilled at backing, they make him or her get out and do the backing for them.

Very smart, but they have taken all the fun out of the show.

[Phil Lilley]

State Park is parking people way out by the highway and taking them in via golf cart too. I saw them just alittle bit ago as we came home from Lowes the back way (165).

The lake had quite a few boats running around on it. A might bit chilly at 79 but it's a beautiful day.

[Sam]

I was at K Dock (Bull Shoals) a couple of years ago, and there was a feller putting in ahead of me by himself. His technique was to back down the ramp about 10 mph, slam the brakes on, and have his boat shoot out onto the lake. He had a long rope tied from the front of the boat to the front of his trailer, and I guess he intended to pull his boat in with the rope and beach it.

Well, I watched this exercise with some amusement - he slammed on the brakes, and his boat shot out in the water and kept going. The rope had come untied from his trailer.

I got him to park his rig, then showed him how I launch by myself. I leave the boat hooked to the trailer at the front, back up until it's floating, then climb over the truck bed, unhook the boat, then get in the boat, back it off the trailer, and beach it.

I gave him a ride out to his boat, which was about 100 yards offshore by that time. It was a good thing for him I came along - we were the only two people there.

[bjovan]

I have seen many guys do the dump and drift and then get taken out to their boat by someone. I don't but lots of guys do.

[Spinnaker]

I made it down to Hollister and launched without any problem at the marina. Nice ramp there. I did not see any of you on Friday when I launched. I wish I had more time there to fish but had to come back. It seemed to me that there was less boat traffic on the lake this year compared to previous years. Perhaps the weather and lake levels and gas might have influenced that. Who knows for sure? At any rate I had fun.