Thoughts on Ramp/Launch Fees

My favorite past time is fishing. Began bluegill fishing in my youth to bass fishing, then striper, and now crappie. When visiting new places or on vacation and see bodies of water, to myself I think that's nice- wonder if fishing is good there. If the hotel is near a spot, somehow I find my way to investigate usually with a pole. Some of us can relate.

Driving by the reservoir the other night... My headlights saw the launch/ramp fees for Morse. Weekends and holidays are $30 and other times are $13. WOW!

It's frightening :biggrin to think what it is at Ghost Lake (Geist). What are the limits? Are these the highest fees in the state? What are others?

This bothers me to see access to fishing is becoming so expensive.

What are your thoughts???

To high for me. I fish for fun and relaxation. When you dont have a good day on the lakes I fish its just a bad day. If you pay $30 to fish and you have a bad day its really bad. I have enough money in my boat and fishing equipment not to mention gas. Dont need many more expenses.

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Originally Posted by crappiehunterDave

To high for me. I fish for fun and relaxation. When you dont have a good day on the lakes I fish its just a bad day. If you pay $30 to fish and you have a bad day its really bad. I have enough money in my boat and fishing equipment not to mention gas. Dont need many more expenses.

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X2 Already pay state fee to use the water. Thats the only reason I don't fish those bodies of water because the fees to high.

I hate to pay the fee's but unfortunately we can't do anything about it.
I like to fish Geist so I spend my $450 to $600 a season to fish there. Not that I'm happy about doing it.
Sad thing is the parking lot is always full so they just keep raising the rates. By the way it's $15 and $30.

Otherwise I drive a little further and fish a state reservoir that still collects now $22 a year. I'm sure before I retire from fishing them lakes to will be extremely expensive to launch as well.
I guess as long as they have someone willing to pay these fee's they will keep charging.... I for one can not live with out fishing so until I'm broke I guess I will continue to pay...:Doh:

In the past the higher rate was in the summer between Memorial Day & Labor Day. Last year i believe the rate was either $11 or $15 in the spring and fall. I would like to know if the spring and fall rate is $30. I was thinking about going to Morse in the next couple of weeks.

We pay License fees to fish. A 'water usage' fee, in our Boat Tax. Other F&G and Resource income comes from the Taxpayers and a certain amount of other 'bond' sales.
Why the Board comes up with such a Hi usage fee for something we've already paid for is confusing. I'd like to have been a fly on the wall in the room that decision was made. How did they justify it? There must be some logic there we don't know about.

If the cost of the Ramp was the issue, those $45,000 Ramps have been paid off long ago. Now the Ramp usage fees are supporting something else and the Sign at the top of the Ramp ought to label that 'something else' and it's cost.

It reminds me of the Lake Washington floating bridge crossing fee.
That was paid for by throwing coins in a container and Cigarette tax fees. It was paid for, and the Fees continued, for almost 20 years before somebody complained and the whole thing was dropped, the bridge became free. Lot's of good things happend then as the Traffic stoppages were removed.

Certainly our government needs more tax money. But we should be the 'adult supervisor' for the amounts of money spent, and what it's spent on.
GET INVOLVED IN THE DECISION MAKING OR DON"T BITCH>.

Note to self.....Don't fish Morse.

That would make for a very expensive day fishing

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Originally Posted by foolfishin

In the past the higher rate was in the summer between Memorial Day & Labor Day. Last year i believe the rate was either $11 or $15 in the spring and fall. I would like to know if the spring and fall rate is $30. I was thinking about going to Morse in the next couple of weeks.

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Right now both lakes are $15 until Memorial Day weekend then they go up to $30 on Sat and Sun and $15 Monday thru Friday.

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Originally Posted by Locator79

Note to self.....Don't fish Morse.

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I promise you, if it weren't for having tournaments on Morse or Geist I would NOT support their cause. I'll end up spending at least $60 to pre-fish and fish for the ISM Classic. That's just to launch the boat!

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Originally Posted by filletfetish

I promise you, if it weren't for having tournaments on Morse or Geist I would NOT support their cause. I'll end up spending at least $60 to pre-fish and fish for the ISM Classic. That's just to launch the boat!

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Sorry dude, but thats ridiculous. As much as I love time on the water, there's no way I could justify forking over 30 bucks to launch.

Old timer here. Used to just take the jon boat and put it in about anywhere on Geist. Had several great places to bank fish Morse. Money talks and the flight out of Indy killed all of that.

Wow! I have never paid more that $8 for a ramp fee and the average around the SC lakes I fish is probably $5. We have a lot of DNR free acess ramps on most all of the big lakes and that holds the fees down. One of my favorites at Santee does not charge anything in the hopes that you may buy bait or stuff from them, and I do. Much more secure for your vehicle too.

Wow !! I thought the $22 state park lanuch sticker was a bit much. Are they just trying to keep us poor folks off the lake ?

It's called paying for convience. Morse and Geist are close to a population center so they can get away with the fees. You can stay close to home and pay the fee or drive and pay for the gas. I think it's the way anymore. Didn't pay to watch TV when I was a kid, now I do. Didn't pay to fish when I was a kid now I do. Still think about the days when I could take a cane pole and a can of worms and be in heaven. It aint simple anymore.

The $30 weekend fee is not all year long. It drops to $13 at Morse and $15 on Geist after peak pleasure boating periods. Also, during those "peak times", if your off the water by 11:00 am you get 1/2 your money back on weekends. I live on one of the lakes, and I can tell you by looking at the water during the summer, that they have no reason to drop the rates because the lake is PACKED with pleasure boaters. Their are a ton of great crappie lakes in Indiana, so if I didn't live on one, I sure wouldn't pay the fee to fish it either.

i dont think geist or morris are state owned waters i thinks the water company has something to do with it
if it was a public lake the state would get their $ .

i could be wrong but here is what i found
Geist Reservoir was named after Clarence Geist, a former owner of the Indianapolis Water Company who foresaw a deficit in Indianapolis's water supply, and envisioned Geist Reservoir to preemptively address the problem – but not without a casualty. Planning for the reservoir began as early as 1913, when hydraulic engineers estimated that White River and Fall Creek would not provide enough water for the increasing needs of Indianapolis. Geist gradually bought some 5,000 acres (20 km²) in Fall Creek Valley in the 1920s and 1930s, including the small town of Germantown, which today lies at the bottom of the reservoir.
Although controversial, the reservoir was completed in 1943, five years after Clarence Geist's death. In the 1960s further controversy arose over plans for commercial and residential development in the area around the lake. A proposal in the 1970s to triple the size of the reservoir was defeated, and a housing boom began in the lake area. In recent years the Geist area has experienced rapid growth. The area is noted for its unique topography and the reservoir.

forget that! maybe im spoiled with 200+ free ramps all around me, though. i have said it before and ill say it again. i feel for you guys south.

I'm with River Scum. We have many free ramps around here, so the thought of paying to launch is not something I can make myself do. When I found out that there is an extra fee to fish the state owned waters, I decided I would not do that either. I already pay taxes for my boat tag etc.

Geist ramp fees go up to $30 on May 1st. Used to be Memorial day, until they decided they were "missing" out on alot of money from fisherman the month of May. Its crazy how many bass tournament clubs fight over getting dates to fish Geist and Morse. They are great lakes for crappie, bass and catfish. I love fishing them but I hate to pay the fees thats why I fish them on fridays. $15 ramp fees is cheaper than $50+ in gas for me to travel to Monroe, Patoka, Missy, Sally, Brookville and even Raccoon. So its worth it for me but I still dont like it.

I agree with skeeterman. It is not hard to figure out the best crappie lakes in central/southern Indiana by reading this board...the hard part is the cost of buying gas to travel there and if you are close to a fee only lake...it saves you money to pay the fee rather than travel 2 hrs pulling a boat. What seems absurd, is actually the better economic choice.

HHD

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Originally Posted by High Tide

so if I didn't live on one, I sure wouldn't pay the fee to fish it either.

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they dont offer residents a season pass? yikes, thats rough.
Got a few ramps around here that require a park pass to use, which is 4-8 bucks a day or 40 something for a year...dont sound so bad after hearing about the money pit you live on. Least it sounds like the fishing is good.

This is way too funny :Rofl It wasn't all that long ago I posted state boat launch fees went up $2 to $22/year. You would have thought the state was requiring each of us to sacrifice our first born and submit DNA samples by the way some were carrying on. I'll take the $2 increase for the year versus $15 / $30 per launch. Judging by those fees my kids will definitely be able to fish state waters with their families versus the Indy waters.

Out of curiosity do they provide garbage cans there? If they do, I can understand why with those rates. They ought to wash your boat and truck too!

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Originally Posted by Hillbilly910

they dont offer residents a season pass? yikes, thats rough.
Got a few ramps around here that require a park pass to use, which is 4-8 bucks a day or 40 something for a year...dont sound so bad after hearing about the money pit you live on. Least it sounds like the fishing is good.

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No season pass for residents, because they expect you'll put your boat in the spring and pull it out in the fall. Because I pull mine out often, I get killed each year! Just like the state of Indiana they just kept raising alittle each year, until it pushed the fisherman off to another lake. They have the ramp staffed 24 hours a day seven days a week, so they can get that money! This year, I'll probably buy a small boat to keep on the lift, and use my handheld GPS to get on the structure... My daughter and I did that last year with my neighbor's boat (little 12 ft alum., 9.9 and a small trolling motor) and had a blast all spring and summer.

Gijimbo, laugh now, but we've just seen the start of fees going up! Michigan, is about to make a serious increase to out of state fishing licenses with more to follow. I'm sure the state will look at Morse and Geist and use it has a guide to continue to justify additional increases in state parks as well. Hey if they (the state) keep raising it, they'll be just like Morse with little to no pressure and most of the lake to myself!

They told us that the high fees were help keep the riffraff off the lake...But we still scrape up the money and fish it...:mad:

so the boaters who get intoxicated in cocktail cove each weekend are ok since they own $20000.00 + boats ?
riffraff should then just go to state water and have a "milwakee's best" lol

lol elfros

do you need a sticker for a float tube?

well giest and morse are both privately managed water supply lakes, not state run. Rates are usually the same on both, and I won't fish either of them.

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Originally Posted by river scum

lol elfros

do you need a sticker for a float tube?

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RS,

That’s a great question. Maybe someone knows... What are the rules on inflatables?

The state of In has a huge cash surplus yet they raised DNR Lake permits. I don't fish Boggs Creek anymore just because of their high fees. There is no way I would pay Geist fees. I would rather take another trip to another state which would be more costly, but also have better fishing. IMO In does nothing to collect that out of state revenue from fisherman coming from other states to fish and hunt but then I guess they don't have too they can just keep raising the taxes on residents.

ill bet you still have to pay. i called one time and talked to state park. i asked what the fee was for. they said ramp upkeep and stuff. so i asked, if i launch up river and boat down into the res., would i get a ticket for no sticker? they said yes i would! i asked why because i didnt use "their"/our ramp. "well ah ah, you need a sticker to boat the lake". thats as good an answer it got. lol

so, what if a float tube don't need a sticker. can i use a tractor tube with a deck on it and paddle that around for free too? lmao it would be a raft not a boat!

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Originally Posted by river scum

ill bet you still have to pay. i called one time and talked to state park. i asked what the fee was for. they said ramp upkeep and stuff. so i asked, if i launch up river and boat down into the res., would i get a ticket for no sticker? they said yes i would! i asked why because i didnt use "their"/our ramp. "well ah ah, you need a sticker to boat the lake". thats as good an answer it got. lol

so, what if a float tube don't need a sticker. can i use a tractor tube with a deck on it and paddle that around for free too? lmao it would be a raft not a boat!

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There's a seperate non-motorized sticker you have to have for kayaks or canoes on DNR properities, this may fall into that.

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Originally Posted by kyron4

Wow !! I thought the $22 state park lanuch sticker was a bit much. Are they just trying to keep us poor folks off the lake ?

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Once had a guy tell me it keeps the riffraff off the lake.

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Originally Posted by raporter

Once had a guy tell me it keeps the riffraff off the lake.

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No Rap , I'm still fishing it.rotflIt's high $$ , but only 30 minutes away and you have to have a really bad day if you don't catch a good mess crappie..plus a lot of eye candy sometimes..:yikes

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Originally Posted by raporter

Once had a guy tell me it keeps the riffraff off the lake.

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It will keep this riffraff off the country club lakes down there. Never had much desire to fish them anyway. I have plenty of other water to fish.

The only way to see rates at Geist and Morse lowered is for anglers and especially tournament fisherman is to suck it up and not go there for a year or so and the rates would drop by half. I mostly go to Geist and hate paying the ridiculous fee they charge. With gas so high it's cheaper for me to pay the ramp fee than gas to Monroe. I guess they know they have us by the bobbers.

The ramps are privately owned that's why they are so high and they are not state owned water therefore they don't require a launching permit just registration