Boat ramp traffic way down and fewer boats on the water?

[Lost But Happy]

Gas here is 4 US dollars per US gallon. Or $1.59 Canadian per litre. I would think that the price of petrol has a lot to do with it. Fill up the tow vehicle and the boat tank and then drive for an hour and boat for 4 or 5 hours and it adds up. Maybe that's why there are so many boats for sale at a steal of a price in some areas. The cost of goods has gone through the ceiling so the discretionary spending shrinks. In some areas, crime has increased a lot and owning a toy such as a boat is risky and the insurance is expensive.
For those of us who can afford to go out, it won't be so busy. Enjoy.

 

[TAB]

So our plan to get on the water early this am to avoid the crowds worked. Not sure how needed it was the campground on this stretch of river looks 2/3 empty. Usually boats and docks line the shore for about a mile but I see most haven't even put the docks in yet. It's 10am and I've seen 1 jon boat, 1 jet ski and one open bow ski boat. I'm shocked!

That's because they are all in my neck of the woods! Never seen this traffic before . I'm going to sit at ramp and charge $10! To back in boat for those who can't .

 

[LDUBS]

Gas here is 4 US dollars per US gallon. Or $1.59 Canadian per litre. I would think that the price of petrol has a lot to do with it. Fill up the tow vehicle and the boat tank and then drive for an hour and boat for 4 or 5 hours and it adds up. Maybe that's why there are so many boats for sale at a steal of a price in some areas. The cost of goods has gone through the ceiling so the discretionary spending shrinks. In some areas, crime has increased a lot and owning a toy such as a boat is risky and the insurance is expensive.
For those of us who can afford to go out, it won't be so busy. Enjoy.

The Shell station nearest me is $5.69/gal for unleaded. I don't go to that place. Costco about 8 miles away is a buck less. Gaso prices in general have increased around here in the last few months.

I think you are dead bang on. The cost of gas on top of everything has to have an influence on what folks are doing these days. I'm glad I don't have a heavy foot.

Mrs Ldubs and I were talking about his yesterday. We used to eat pretty well at our favorite Chinese restaurant for $35 - $40. Today it is $65 - $75. Even drive-through food is crazy. A 12 piece family bucket of KFC is north of $50. It just isn't worth it.

 

[flatheadsteve]

Ethanol free 91 @ the pump closest to me that offers it is $4.99. Luckily my yamaha 4 stroke is quite efficient downside is the boat has a 40gallon tank . Truck averages between 14-16 mpg while towing the boat depending how fast we're going which I think is pretty good with the wind drag of a center console it like towing a parachute.

 

[LDUBS]

Ethanol free 91 @ the pump closest to me that offers it is $4.99. Luckily my yamaha 4 stroke is quite efficient downside is the boat has a 40gallon tank . Truck averages between 14-16 mpg while towing the boat depending how fast we're going which I think is pretty good with the wind drag of a center console it like towing a parachute.

I did a quick calculation. Between gas and the bridge toll, it costs me $30 - $35 to get to the ramp and back. Boat doesn't use much and the ramp is free (would be $5 but the ticket machine is always out of order). Cheaper than bowling, I guess.

We don't have ethanol free at the pumps out here. I wish we did. I use Honda fuel additive religiously (re-labeled Stabil I think).

 

[LaqueRatt]

Think you guys are dead on with the gas prices. Sure some people make crazy amounts of money these days, but the average guy is struggling. Was just contemplating the other day how filling my little 6 gal tank is going to set me back nearly $25. Thanks Joe. You clueless SOB! I'm cringing thinking about how quickly my 75 Merc is likely to go through a tank. Maybe I should keep the little boat with the 6 horse.

 

[airshot]

Here in walleye country, gas prices hve little effect on fishing. Most die hards will mortgage there first born to be on the water. One thing I have noticed is boat maintenence has declined, more tows, and some pretty scary looking boats filled with fisherman on the water!

 

[airshot]

That's because they are all in my neck of the woods! Never seen this traffic before . I'm going to sit at ramp and charge $10! To back in boat for those who can't .

Back in my youth we had a marina next door to our cottage. They charged a buck to use the ramp. My job was llecting the buck and getting folks in line and ready. Avg aout 2 maby 3 launches every hour! Got our old Jeep qith hitch on front and back, started practising two trailers at one time. 13 yrs old at the time, doing the launch for them, now launching 6-7 boats everyhour ! Made good money back in the 60's from people that could't back up a trailer !!

 

[MrGiggles]

I could certainly see the big wake boat owners that might burn 20-30 gallons in a day hesitating a little bit. Gas is still cheap-ish here at $3.09 currently. Takes me about 3.5 gallons in the truck and close to that much in the boat to fish for an afternoon, not too expensive as far as hobbies go. Costs that much to go see a movie these days.

I did go out on Monday afternoon, there was plenty of traffic but not like I expected for a holiday weekend. The ramp was less than half full.

 

[airshot]

I could certainly see the big wake boat owners that might burn 20-30 gallons in a day hesitating a little bit. Gas is still cheap-ish here at $3.09 currently. Takes me about 3.5 gallons in the truck and close to that much in the boat to fish for an afternoon, not too expensive as far as hobbies go. Costs that much to go see a movie these days.

I did go out on Monday afternoon, there was plenty of traffic but not like I expected for a holiday weekend. The ramp was less than half full.

Our ramp was fairly scarce as well but weather was scrappy and the wind was up. Once the weather settles we will see, even when gas was 5 per gallon, there were quite a few boats on the water putting food in the freezer. Lots of bitching and complaining but still out there !

 

[oilsmoke]

While I stayed off the water this past weekend for obvious reasons, all I saw down at the ramp were jet skis for the most part. A few play boats but fishermen have been scarce and aluminum boats far from the norm these days.
There are more aluminum boat during the week but most are locals who stay close to the ramp where they launched. If you venture far from the launch points on the river boats and boat traffic becomes scarce. Its been getting worse over the past decade or so but fell off nearly completely in the past two or three years.
I really first noticed it last summer when I realized I hadn't had to wait at a ramp to launch all year, even at normally busy tourist areas usually packed with kids and fancy boats. The weather and the past too cooler than usual springs seemed to be part of it but this year boat have been pretty sparse out there but that's fine by me. The fishing has really recovered lately. Even the number of idiots on jet skis have gone down, or maybe they grew up and moved on and the younger crowd is just home playing video games on their phones?

I was in shock two weeks ago when a single woman probably in her late 20's or so alone in a boat pulled up to me while I was fishing one day last week asking if I knew where the outlet creek led to. She had a stack of old rusty crab traps and a few baskets on a small jon boat and a bucket of catfish she caught for bait. It was the only other aluminum boat I saw all day. Back at the ramp later that day I ran into her again, taking her boat out driving an old beat up 60's Ford truck with more rust then solid metal. She even asked me how many people fish the river there because she's never seen such a place so devoid of boats and people on a weekend.

10 years ago we would have been talking about or cursing all the idiots who ran over our lines or buzzed by on jet skis or go-fast boats even on a week day during any warm weather, rain or shine.

I don't get out as often myself but I"m a lot older now, and other things take precedent but in years past the younger crowd always picked up where the older guys left off, but now it seems there's no interest or no money for gas, boats, or motors and no interest in fishing or even just the scenery or nature.

 

[Hooligans]

I don't know if it's related to anything economical or not, but here in the Fairbanks area I have noticed that I see far more small boats than I used to. 14'-18' jons with tiller steer outboards instead of 200 hp inboard sportjons. I mean, the bigger powerboats are still here somewhere, just maybe not as dominant.

Makes sense to me.. I know that I ended up with a small boat because big ones cost too much.

 

[mirrocraft16]

Around here its more of the jet skis and tubers on the water, aluminum boats are fewer than ever. Dealers don't have them and didn't order many in because they didn't sell well last year. Used boats bring no buyers unless your selling it for way too cheap. Anything over $800 doesn't get any replies, and then you deal with $300 offers or they walk.. I had a 14ft older Starcraft SF14 listed all spring for $800, boat only no motor, no trailer with title. It was an all aluminum model no wood at all besides the transom strip at the top, which I replaced. It had no leaks and came from fresh water in PA. I got no takers from January to last week, when I started to get $200 and similar offers and over a dozen no-shows. The two guys that did show up insisted that they would only buy it with the trailer that was under my other boat, and then only for half of what I was asking. I got fed up and pulled the ads and shipped the boat to my cousin to sell in PA. He's on a major highway and can chain it to a tree for sale and let it sit till it sells.
I constantly have people leaving notes and wanting to buy either of my two boats that are not for sale though. I called one who wrote that they pay top dollar for boats and motors. When i asked him what his offer was he was offering me $400 for my '78 16ft Mirrocraft side console on a rust free Load Rite roller trailer, a boat I use regularly.
He tells me its old and has no value and at best he can flip it for $800.
I told him no thanks but he persists telling me his is the best offer I'll ever get for such and old boat.
The boat is clean, has a step through seating layout with a side console and a same year 35hp Johnson motor that runs perfect. Its not really for sale, I'll likely die with it but I wanted to see what he would offer.
The problem is he's probably right because there's a dozen similar boats for sale on CL and FB all the time for under a grand, some for far less. Many simply don't want to deal with the hew title transfer mess that requires we go to a regional DMV to change a title or register our boats, and now, online registration is mandatory so renewal can mean making a special appointment at the DMV and a long drive and wait to renew our registration. Only to be told again the following year you need to renew online only.
Then they charge you for the back registration even if the boat sat in the garage for several years during the pandemic when all ramps were closed.

Most of the boats I see on the water lately are brand new 19-23ft or so 'family' type boats being pulled by brand new $90k trucks loaded down with kids or college students and a bunch of tubes or boards and lots of beer.
I don't see the normal fleet of old tin boats and old trucks or station wagons out fishing every morning, those guys are gone, on occasion I see a few small aluminum boats close to the ramp using a trolling motor or paddle hoping to avoid the cost of registering the boat or getting caught with no papers, something the new DMV issues have created. I even ran my one boat for two years without renewing it and marine police pretty much didn't bother anyone. One officer even told me he does the same because he's not driving two hours from where he lives to get it re-registered.
Add in that fuel is $3.70 to $4.20/gal here, and two stroke oil has become a dealer only item lately since Walmart no longer has anything on the shelves, costs over $50/gal or ($70 for the better oil). I'm glad I stocked up years ago when one local dealer closed up and I bought several cases of gallon jugs for $25 per case of 6 jugs. My guess is that its their way of pushing two strokes off the water due to cost of running one. A few guys I know have resorted to running drain oil in their older motors figuring that by the time it screws anything up, being they only get out a few times a year, they'll be too old to worry about any damage it did.
Its being petty and cheap but for a guy on a fixed income and $10k in taxes, and the cost of fuel and food these days its his only option.

Small boats in generally here have always been looked at as starter boats, kids first boats, or simply for old men. Boats under 12ft never sell, not even for $100, between their lack of capacity and issues with paperwork here since they don't need a title you need a signed, notarized bill of sale along with the last valid registration card, most can't be put back in service.
14ft boats are mostly first time buyers looking for a two man boat for a 10hp max lake. Since we have only one such lake, and its contaminated, those are not hot items either. Most want a 16 or 17ft mod V bass boat and they want it for cheap. Everything else is a compromise to them and doesn't sell. Those are fine but for me i don't like to be restricted to only calm lakes and the upper river. My V hulls are my first choice and most don't want one unless their goal i fishing the back bays or crabbing. In which oint the boats get pretty badly salted up and corroded here if you don't wash down the boat after use. I tend to run it in freshwater a bit before heading home, its kept mine like new for over 40 years. It sees more wear and tear sitting in the yard then on the water.

 

[Hooligans]

Many simply don't want to deal with the hew title transfer mess that requires we go to a regional DMV to change a title or register our boats, and now, online registration is mandatory so renewal can mean making a special appointment at the DMV and a long drive and wait to renew our registration. Only to be told again the following year you need to renew online only.
Then they charge you for the back registration even if the boat sat in the garage for several years during the pandemic when all ramps were closed.

That sounds terrible. What state are you in? In Alaska they have allowed a privatized style of DMV to pop up where if you are willing to pay (alot!) more, you can do title transfers and such without going to actual DMV.

 

[Hooligans]

Most of the boats I see on the water lately are brand new 19-23ft or so 'family' type boats being pulled by brand new $90k trucks

That's what I was used to up until the last year or two. But new riverboats have gone from $60k to more like $100k in recent years and at some point people can't just keep borrowing and spending.

 

[hoarder]

In NJ they used to have full service DMV offices in nearly every town, you rarely had to drive far to find one, then slowly they started to consolidate them about 20 years ago or so. Now, since 2020, they now specialized those that were left. Designating some for new licenses or to issue free licenses to illegals I suppose. To transfer a title or register a vehicle you have to go to a different regional office. to deal with some things you have to go to one of 3 or 4 primary offices with the closest being a few hours away. The one nearest to me is useless to me since I have a license and thus am required to do all my transactions online. However since I have a few other endorsements I now have to go to a regional office at least ever other renewal because they need to check my ID in person and take a new picture at least once ever 10 years or so.
Any vehicle that wasn't renewed during the pandemic, a year when they closed all the ramps and parks, must now go to a regional office an hour away by appointment. The next appointment i was told was in July, and I made that in April to re-register my older boat. No wonder so many are out there without current stickers now. I've seen so many boats with four and five year old stickers its not even funny. I passed a few with no numbers at all last week.
Water patrols are few and far between lately too, I don't see nearly as many on the water on the weekends, they'd rather go out and hassle old guys during the week i suppose than deal with boat loads of drunken kids striving for a Darwin Award.

Even with the Memorial day week crazies out, there's still fewer than usual boats out on the water, it seems only the worst of the worst are out there now. I don't see many aluminum boats, and very few fishermen even now. When you see a cheap boat, its not often aluminum, its some Bayliner painted camo gutted out inside with a tiller motor or an old trihull sitting so low in the water due to being waterlogged and taking on water as fast the bilge pumps can pump it out. There are the usual 10ft and 12ft flat jon boats in the shallows here and there but most are powered by what ever trolling motor was cheapest at Walmart and not able to fight the current if they got out in the channel.
Its been years since I ran across a nice old Starcraft SS or Holiday, or even another SF14 or SF16 like mine. For years those boats kept getting revived and kept in service now they seem absent lately. I suppose too many of the current generation has other interests and aren't into boats or fishing. Older guys are holding onto their cash in this economy and the younger crowd spends it elsewhere i suppose. They sure aren't buying fishing boats or tackle. Even the shelves at Walmart go untouched in the fishing department. Each year they slowly consolidate that area and the video game/cell phone section gets bigger. Their fishing isle is down to half a row with some rods being there now for over 10 years since they opened the place.

 

[LDUBS]

The Walmart nearest me still has a pretty good inventory of tackle. When it comes to terminal tackle I think they are better stocked that the local Sportsman's Warehouse. At least it was when I was there last year. The sad part is all the tackle is behind locked glass doors. Maybe that is why they still have the inventory.

On the lakes I go to, weekends and weekdays are two entirely different worlds. Because I avoid weekends and holidays like the plague I can't really say what they are like now days. Weekdays I am seeing the same handful of fishing boats I've been seeing for the last few years.

 

[freeisforme]

The Walmart nearest me still has a pretty good inventory of tackle. When it comes to terminal tackle I think they are better stocked that the local Sportsman's Warehouse. At least it was when I was there last year. The sad part is all the tackle is behind locked glass doors. Maybe that is why they still have the inventory.

On the lakes I go to, weekends and weekdays are two entirely different worlds. Because I avoid weekends and holidays like the plague I can't really say what they are like now days. Weekdays I am seeing the same handful of fishing boats I've been seeing for the last few years.

There are three Walmarts near me, neither are near the water but they can't be more different in the fishing departments. The one has basically nothing but kids spin cast rods, some line, a few hooks and the same rods in the rack they had back in 2011 when they opened here. The other, a few years older, has an excellent boat accessory section, with seats, pedestals, bilge pumps, fuel hoses, fittings, drain plugs, winches, trailer lights, rollers, etc.
The tackle section takes up four isles 30ft long. One I go to down in FL is even bigger.
The better store here is also cheaper by a lot, but what I find odd is that they have mostly saltwater lures, crab traps, and such, they're rods and reels are all freshwater except for one rack of cheap surf combos.
The closest store is a super Walmart and its basically worthless with barren shelves everywhere, almost no fishing or hunting items and nearly no auto parts or batteries in stock. The store is always in disarray often with no open registers, only the self checkout lanes, which I refuse to use.


I've always avoided weekends, too many idiots but school is out now and it made little difference on the water. In years past it brought out all the younger fishermen in with their dads and grandpas on the river and lakes. That's not here anymore

 

[freeisforme]

That's what I was used to up until the last year or two. But new riverboats have gone from $60k to more like $100k in recent years and at some point people can't just keep borrowing and spending.

I don't think its got much to do with people not wanting to spend $60 or $100k on a boat because what happened to the boats they had before?
I bought my current boat in 1982, its still just as good as it was then, with the same motor and same trailer.
I see no reason to replace it.

My second boat, a 14ft Starcraft came to me by chance, it was two years old in 2002 and I bought it for $175 at an auction with a 28lb thrust trolling motor and too small bunk trailer.
I sold the trailer it had for $800, bought aa used welded trailer while on vacation that winter down in FL that cost me $50 and a set of new tires and bearings to get it home, and I picked up a used '77 35hp Johnson for it for $100. I recently traded a trash picked push mower for a 9,9hp Honda for it too. . It cost me very little and I see no reason to sell it and it won't bring enough to bother with so I'll just keep it till I die I suppose.
I make and carve my own lures, mold my own lead, and mold my own rubber baits. I buy hooks, line, and terminal tackle in bulk. I make my own rods.
It never made sense to me if the cost of fishing cost more than buying fish so I eliminate that cost anyway I can.

 

[airshot]

We have 4 Wal-Mart's within 30 minute drive in four different directions ! Theo one closest to the big lake has the best fishing dept, the one furthest away has the worst fishing dept. Makes some sense I guess.
As far as busy ramps go, things are picking up, weekends bring out the more expensive/ fancy boats, where weekdays bring out less expensive boaters. Around the big lake, anything that floats, or almost floats is on the lake when weather permits and the fish are biting. Some of the boats are scary, one guys boat has the bilge pump running constantly !! Old glass beat up trivial that looks glued together. Lots of aluminum boats in our area, but mostly over 16', but one day, I was out 10 miles to W Sister Island and three big men were in a 12' aluminum rowboat with a 5 up motor on it, fishing around the island !! Scary!