Be careful at the Shelbyville boat ramps

Sorry, haven’t been around much but wanted to convey my tale from yesterday to you all.

Now I had recently read on Facebook of the recent vehicle thefts at the ramp parking lots and of other issues like algae, etc., so I was prepared and removed my valuables Thursday night when I arrived and be careful at the ramp itself.

However, the worst thing happened at the ramp as I was putting in Thursday night by myself around 10 PM.


I had backed the boat to the water and got out to unhook from the trailer and as I got out of the Jeep I was immediately swarmed by bugs - and I mean a LOT of them and was choking but that wasn't the worst.


I thought I had a ways to go before the waters edge and as I was trying to go around the back of the boat (as I was coughing and choking) trailer I didn't notice I was actually walking into the water and...BOOM!


Down I went and kept sliding down deeper with my wallet and cell in my pockets. It was the dreaded algae!!!


I couldn't stop sliding and it was so slick I couldn't even stop myself with my hands until I caught the seem between concrete slabs. Now that stopped my progress going deeper but I still couldn't get a handhold and get back to dry land.


As I was worried about my cell (and wallet) I didn't even think about trying to swim out of my predicament as now I'm seeing the headlines from the next day in my head, "Man found drowned at ramp. Bucket of minnows saved".


As I didn't want to lose my hold, I searched around me in the water and darkness with my other hand and was lucky to be near another seam between slabs and while it only took a couple of minutes, it seemed like a lot longer before I was able to claw myself closer to dry concrete. And even then it was tough just to keep my hands on the algae-free, dry concrete till I could progress far enough that I could get more of my body to be on algae-free concrete and finally extricate myself.


Ten minutes later I'm motoring away to fish - it was now after 10 PM...


Oh, and the cell was fine!

So my point is be careful at the ramps. Make sure have appropriate lighting AND if at all possible, try not to go alone!

Now back to your regular programming.

Glad everything turned out all right.


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

Whew, glad you are safe!

Glad you are still motoring. My fishing partner and myself have both took spills in the last two weeks. The ramps have been slick in evenings with everyone coming in.

Sent from my HD1925 using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

Slid down on the ice covering the ramp. Thought I was going into the water for sure. I have slid down on the algae as well. Not a fun experience

Wow, heck of a story. At least the cell's well. They can be expensive.

I work at a marina on the Mississippi and we pull boats from 20 foot to 50+ from the harbor in the fall and it is a standing bet on who will wind up in the water first. Algae is treacherous for sure. We have help because we are not alone. I fished many years alone to hold my secrets of fishing. Silly me, there are no secrets. Don't fish alone. Glad your safe to make that reminder to us about safety instead of a statistic.

What…… no one around to laugh at you ?

What…… no one around to laugh at you ?