Boat Ramp Closed on Union Lake Cedar Island Lake Pontiac Lake

[davetclown]

for the next two weeks the ramp on union lake rd at cooley lake rd will be closed for reconditioning.

and remember if yo dont want to have these shut downs please do not power load your boats. that pratice causes extream amount of damage to the ramp every time it is done, You dont see the damage because it is done to the bottom of the ramp, digging out the sand from underneith.

when enough sand is washed out from under the concrete pads they will flip and posibly kill some one should they be on the ramp at the time it goes...

one last thing, You may think you are the only person power loading when no one is looking, for every person who thinks that there is a hundred doing it!

I watched 5 poeple this past saturday power loading, and I was at the docking area for only half hour total time, and that is what I saw...
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[lonehunter]

[#ffffff][size 3]NO POWER LOADING![/size][/#ffffff]

Boaters should winch their craft onto boat trailers instead of powering their boat onto the trailer. Boat ramps throughout the state are being badly damaged by boaters who power their boats onto the boat trailer. The strong current created by the boat's propeller causes severe erosion and wash out at the end of the ramp. This condition, in turn, can also cause damage to boat trailers.
The Department of Natural Resources is attempting to repair as many of the damaged ramps as possible, but the best solution to the problem lies with the boater who refrains from this practice.[/b]

It is now against the law to powerload at state owned launches .
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[davetclown]

I went to go out and hit the water today, on my way I made a side trip to see what if any thing was going on at union lake.

my asumptions was right, the work being done is to repair damage due to power loading of boats.

only the repair was far more extencive than I could have ever emagined.

included in this reply is photos of stockpiled materials and equipment being compiled together to do this repair job. "repair job means complete replacement of the loading ramp.[pirate]
[center][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/6789/cat/500/ppuser/89"][/url] [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/6787/cat/500/ppuser/89"][/url] [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/6790/cat/500/ppuser/89"][/url][/center] [center][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/6788/cat/500/ppuser/89"][/url] [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/6792/cat/500/ppuser/89"][/url] [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/6791/cat/500/ppuser/89"][/url][/center] [center] [/center] [center]as you can see in the last photo the old ramp is completly removed. in the second to the last photo is more materials comeing in as I was leaving.[/center] [center] [/center] [left]now, if we were to take in to concideration the extent of the damage, we could sumize that an entire new site could have been developed with these materials.[/left] [left] [/left] [left]talking to the enginears here I also found out that there will be two more launces shut down for ramp repairs, Cedar Island Lake and Pontiac Lake.[/left] [left] [/left] [left]I am glad to see the sites being repaired, but it would have been better if these materials could have been used to develop new launch sites like alderman lake proud lake and several other lakes with less than desireable accomidations for launching.[/left] [left] [/left] [left]there is a reason for making it against the law to power load boats, I dont what to be a snitch. I would rather see boaters using those thousand to fifteen hundred pound wenches to bring their boats up on their trailers. the boats are designed to be pulled at that point. it can handle it, if it cant it cant handle running across the lake...[/left] [left] [/left] [left]so please concider these photos and the cost that was diverted from developing new sites to repairing sites that were years before needing repair if it werent for power loading...[/left]
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[davetclown]

I thought you might like to see the new ramp finished.
[center][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/6979/cat/500/ppuser/89"][/url] [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/6980/cat/500/ppuser/89"][/url] [/center] [center][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/6975/cat/500/ppuser/89"][/url] [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/6974/cat/500/ppuser/89"][/url] [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/6976/cat/500/ppuser/89"][/url][/center] [center] [/center] [center]Ok the first two are taken from union lake on the same day and are not boat ramp repair, but they were spying on me to see what secreate bait and lures I was using to not catch walleye.[/center] [center] [/center] [center]the bottom three shows the new concrete rock black rubber and new fish....[sly][/center] [center] [/center] [center]how many species can you Identify?[/center]
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[lonehunter]

nice photos !
my boat was in drydock this weekend as well .
I had to use the trailer for a unusual haul job , a deck !
It looked like a hee-haw highschool float going down the road to it's new resting spot .
Then I was making a retaining wall up the driveway with feildstone or mini bolders as my back is calling them .
How long before that gravel is covered in zebra mussels ?
How in the world did you call that SMB in for a photo ?
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[davetclown]

if you are refering to the big one, you better take a closer look. he is about 20 feet away from me, I couldnt get the camera out fast enough when I first saw him..
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[lonehunter]

Shoulda whiped out the bow and arrow and shot that Bowfin !
Nasty buggers aren't they , non stop eating machines !
How big ya' figure he was ?
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[davetclown]

I would say close to about 30 inches.

odly enough, the bowfin "dowgfish" in union lake seem to be clean, not slimey and stinky like they are in my lake...
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[davetclown]

[center][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/7455/cat/500/ppuser/89"][/url][/center]well they had to pull out the weed wacker for pontiac lake yesterday,

I didnt get to cedar island lake to get a photo of the construction on that ramp, but did manage to swing by pontiac lake to get a photo shot of that escivation. [center][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/7454/cat/500/ppuser/89"][/url][/center]
Impressive to say the least. they did one side and then opened up the first side during consturction of the other. Good Deal.
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