Quinte Fishing

I was in Up-state NY on Sunday and was reading the Plattsburgh Press Republican and saw this about the closing of the launch ramp in Peru NY ( just south of PLattsburgh on LAke Champlain) and wondered does anyone know anybody in MNR (I doubt) or someone on a city/village council that might be able to get some action on the ramps around Quinte? A little work to fill the holes and the ramps might be usable again.

"Repair set for Peru Boat Launch

PERU — The Peru Docks Boat Launch on Lake Champlain will be temporarily closed on Wednesday, Oct. 10, so repairs can be made to ramp area, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

During the one-day closure, DEC will be filling in a hole and leveling a crest that formed behind the ramp. The hole and the crest, which were formed by the propeller wash from boaters powering loading their motorboats onto their boat trailers, are impairing the launching and retrieval of vessels and threaten to damage them.

A silt curtain will be placed in the water around the boat launch ramp to prevent sedimentation from entering the waters of the lake. The launch will reopen on Thursday, Oct. 11, provided there are no complications DEC said.

The launching and retrieving of boats will be easier and safer when the work has been completed."

This is what some other areas get done for the those using the municiple ramps

David aka Superdad

It could very well be a joint agency arrangement. Not impossible by any means, but some dollars and more importantly organization would have to be put into play. I suspect the Ministry of the Envireonment might very well come into play. The silt ramp sounds like an interesting item, that from a distance sounds like it is a good thing.

I'm glad you brought this up David because I have spoken to a few of our Council members and Parks and Recreation members about our boat launches in the past here in the Quinte region and it falls upon deaf ear's with the same old response. NO FUNDS. I think that we need to for a group because one voice does not have much volume. We have a great bunch of guys on here and i think if we were to approach Council as a body of one and express our concerns and get them to understand that this is a very viable resource to our county, we might be able to get them to act on it. They don't mind collecting $6.00 from you every time you launch a boat and I have no problem with that but i would like and expect to see something done with the revenue to maintain the state or our launches. If it were not for some great guys in the West Lake area last spring there would be a few less docks in there channel. Some of the board members here were so kind as to go and retrieve docks with there own boats that were taken way down the lake by the wind storms. I fully believe the County would never have brought them back and would have left them were they were. I went out and used my own rope that i cut up to tie the docks up until it was time to put them into place. If you think about it there would not be a great deal of money involved to much to make a forum and get some re-bar and make some concrete slabs that could be used to extend the ramps and protect the bottom from guys that have to power load. The County could make there own and do the work themselves and possibly with the help of some volunteers and use the millions of dollars in NEW equipment that they have bought with your hard earned tax dollar but it seems that everything done in the County any more is subleted out to a contractor that has a million dollar price tag. Some food for though and just my 2 cents but I think if we don't do something these launches will be left to erode away and become unusable and the next time you go there to launch your boat you are likely to see a house sitting there were the ramp used to be like in Demorestville, and Quick Short Road to name a few. On a positive note there was some work done on the Demorestville ramp area after the local Recreation group squawked loud enough. To bad they sold off the land and a house was built were we used to park....

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Fred Fisher....

Fishy Fishy In The Bay, Bite This Line And Make My Day....

well said Fred

Thanks for the input Fred, perhaps if we had the email addresses for the council and councillors, we (Quintefishing.com)could mount a letter campaign to these folks.

Maybe that might spark some action, a simple levelling of the ramp site to eliminate those holes.

David aka Superdad

County Council E-mail is ..... council@peccounty.on.ca. This is their mass E-mail list. Dave

You will have to contact Quinte Conservation, Oceans and Fisheries and MOE. They are the people to talk to first for approval, then approach Council for funding and work order. This way Council can't say no to the idea, as their excuse would be that they have to contact the above organizations first. I suggest you do all the leg work first. Dave

Be careful what you wish for, the cheap solution would be to close the ramp. Councilors say they have no say on how the money's spent. I thought that's what they're there for but apparently not.

The West Lake ramp is almost useless, its filled in at the inlet, we got a few years before the wild rice moves in and then it and then it will be useless to power boats.

I think you can still get small tinners in and out manually.

Start looking for the old right of ways to the lakes, that opens a can of worms that drives council crazy. You can launch off the Outlet Beach at Welsh Lane.

Great post... clearly the economics of maintaining useable launches should become evident with the number of people that rely on these to enjoy the Bay and what the area has to offer. I myself try and make it down at least twice a year spreading a few $$ around the County. I grew up in Kingston and took the Bay for granted back then but now that I am 4.5hrs North I look forward to these trips and having a place to stay, eat and launch.
Our "Where is Everyone From" post with 187 replies on over 19,000 views you would think would be proof enough for the powers to be to spend the $$ to repairs these launches. Rest assured the first visitor to damage his trailer or even boat would make them think twice about coming to the Bay area again.

Secondly...my boat sits in the water all summer long and fortunately I do not have to rely on trailering, am I guilty of power loading?, probably am! but would like to thank who ever it was that brought that topic up recently. I would never have considered the damage it does to these ramps and will be adjusting my loading methods accordingly. I was also not well aware what pulling the trailer out without letting the water drain from it before it freezes on the ramp does to the ramp.
I would recommend that all of the local ramps warn boaters of both these issues when and if these get repaired. Warning signs!

I would be willing to sign an on line petition on this sight that can be used to sway the powers on the economic benefits of properly maintained launches. If you can't launch, you can't fish and for me you have the greatest recerational fishery in Ontario if not Canada for these trophies which keeps me coming back.

My 2 cents...which is actually several thousands of dollars over the last 10yrs.

Steve
from Muskoka

what about some 1 reputable on this site setting up donations and we can go somewhat ahead ourselves and try to fix some that way?

depending on the amount of donation money we could do some polls and fix the boat launch's that we vote on as a community.

I for one like the idea and would support donating as a group to fix it but it begs the question, why do we pay to launch if those funds are not redirected to the upkeep of the ramp?

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Bob MacMillan
Owner/Operator
Kingston Sport Fishing
https://kingstonsportfishing.ca/

I sent an e-mail to the County's Treasurer, asking for the dollar amount that the Launch's have generated in the past three years including today's date. I looked through the last few Treasurer Reports and wasn't able to "pin point" the exact amount, probably buried in another line#. Though I think it's a gallant idea, I don't see why a generous group of people from this membershipp should be left to fix municipal property. The Wellington Launch is thoroughly enjoyed (and just as guilty of "power-launching") by recreational boaters heading to the Provincial Parks or day cruising. There is no doubt, this issue needs to be taken to the next level. If members are genuinely serious about addressing this issue, let's try and get some basic info first (Parks and Rec's responsibilty and permission obligations). I don't mind doing some of the "leg" work myself, but I'm not going to take it all on. Dave

Dave...great on you for doing some leg work. Just so you are aware I did send off an email to the address you had provided (minus 1 c...pecounty) and got a very positive and immediate reply back from councillors Janice Maynard and Robert Quaiff asking for info on specific launches. I scrolled through some previous posts to mention some of the ramps that had been mentioned. As robert said he wants to bring the issue up at the next budget deliberations meeting to resolve the issue, he admitted to being an avid fisherman.
Unfortunately I am up here in Muskoka so would be little help, but cherish coming home to fish the Bay which is why I sent the email...they need to understand the economic benefits to the area before setting aside funding for other areas not to mention the safety factor.
I believe if some members on this board that use the launches regularly were to provide, at minimum, an inventory of launches and the work that needs to be done they would at least be able to access repairs etc. Prepare a report so to speak from the people that use them regularly.

There was a local launch up here that experienced some similar problems and the fix was to excavate well into the water and lay down new concrete slabs. The slabs were constructed off site and delivered to the site and extend well into the water at a steeper pitch...the whole thing took a few hours resulting in a great area launch.

Sounds to me like some of these ramps need a complete rebuild given the low water levels but making them useable and safe would be the priority.

Let me know if I can help and would be pleased to do so.

Steve

Does anyone know who or what department manages the Haybay launches, Sherman’s and Church? Might be a good idea to email them and ask the same question and see if something can be done for them as well. I know a lite at Church would sure help and the ramp itself is in constant use as there are always trucks in the lot all season long. I would be willing to do some legwork to help out. When I lived in Nova Scotia the municipality had to do the fixes on ramps as there were liability issues if we were to work on them ourselves.
Now if a load of stones happed to end up being dumped close to the ramp? Mmmmmmm?
Tim

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All fishermen are liers except me and you and I’m not sure about you!!

Are the launches really in that bad of shape, or is just because the water is low? I'm not local, but have been fishing Quinte for about 10 years, and have never really had an issue anywhere, until this year. I agree they should be maintained, but maybe water levels should be more of a concern.

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There's something wrong with that rod.
It has a bend in it!!!