A while back I ran a column on all of the follies you can witness at a boat ramp on a busy day. These are truly enough to make you laugh until it hurts.
I thought it would be responsible to share a few boat ramp etiquette rules to ensure that you are not the next internet sensation. These are so simple I can’t believe everyone does not already know them, but it certainly is not the case.
Rule No. 1 is to learn how to back a boat before you get to the boat ramp. Backing a trailer is a learned skill and is best learned and practiced in an empty parking lot. You don’t have to be a master at it, but knowing the basics is a must.
The key to backing a trailer is to keep both your hands on the bottom of the steering wheel. If you do this, the trailer will move in whichever direction you move your hands keeping your hands on the bottom of the wheel. Once your hands get north of 9 o’clock or 3 o’clock, this is no longer the case. Practice ahead of time and refresh your skills if you need to before you decide to keep all of the other boats at the landing waiting for you until they vocalize their displeasure to you.
One guy in line once told me the reason the guy who was having trouble and was not good at backing a trailer yet is because he had not been hollered at enough yet.
Don’t get in the unloading line until you are ready. This means putting all of your gear in the boat in the parking lot ahead of time. Unloading the boat and then parking a long distance and trudging three trips back and forth to load your gear is very uncool. Make sure you remove the rear boat tie-downs ahead of time. Make sure the plug is in.
A real way to become unpopular is to try to budge in line. Many of the boat ramps in my neck of the woods have parking for only two or three rigs at a time. If you have little patience for others who struggle to load or unload their boat, oftentimes I use a landing that might not be as good but will certainly have less traffic.
I might even pick a lake with less potential in order to reduce the congestion at the landing and the frustrations that can accompany it on busy weekends.
If the boat ramp only has one land lane and you are a solo operator, when the boat is free of the trailer, quickly move it over to the other side of the dock and secure it properly. This allows the next person to unload while you go and park the truck. If you have a helper, have them move it out of the way. This can speed up the process for everyone else trying to maximize their time on the water.
The same can be said when you are coming out from the water. Load the boat and move out of the way. There is no need to unload the boat contents into the tow vehicle while blocking the landing. Pull up and out of the way and make your transfers after you have cleared the ramp area.
Trash is another problem folks have trouble with at a public boat launch. When the trash can is full, as it often is, don’t just throw your trash to the ground next to the can. If the can is full, take your trash home with you. Boy, that is a tough one.
Don’t clean your fish at the boat ramp unless there is a special place to do so. The same can be said for cleaning birds at a public hunting area as well, but that is a different story. There is not much that smells worse than rotting fish guts in an overflowing garbage can.
The last recommendation is the hardest. If you fish or recreational boat enough you will certainly come across others who either don’t know or don’t care about the basic rules of etiquette. When you run across these folks, please use an additional amount of patience. The desire to read someone a riot act for bad behavior is strong. In the end these altercations usually end badly even if you are completely in the right. Choose where you load and unload on whichever lake you choose, and pick those that might be less used. Education for those less learned works but only if delivered in a manner that does not end in raised voices.
Everyone is just trying to enjoy their time at the lake, and these basic courtesies can go a long way to making sure everyone can do just that.
Scott Rall, Worthington, is a habitat conservationist, avid hunting and fishing enthusiast and is president of Nobles County Pheasants Forever. He can be reached at scottarall@gmail.com. or on Twitter @habitat champion.
