I have not been to Scott's Ridge ramp in quite awhile and now I remember why I don't go there. I wanted to go out for a little while just to wet a line. I was going to go to Gibbon's Creek but at the last minute I decided to got to Conroe and Caney Creek.

I put my boat in and then remembered that this ramp doesn't have a courtesy dock. All along the bulkhead there were people fishing. I putted my boat around to the little pocket, nosed into the grass, took off my shoes, rolled up my pants, slipped o some emergency rubber sandals, and parked my truck/trailer. No biggie.

I fished for about 2 hours without any luck but with the rainy weather lately, I was just glad to get out. In order to put my boat back on the trailer, I would have to go through the same routine of stripping down to my sandals. I made a big loop around all of the dock fisherman and eased into the bank. When I turned off the motor, a woman with her kids was glaring at me. I said "what"? She told her son they would have to stop fishing until all of the waves stopped. She continued to glare at me. At that moment, a huge cabin cruiser came hauling butt around the corner, pushing tidal waves into the bulkheads.

Well, Mrs. Pissed-Off Bank Fishing Lady, I got some news for you. I could have run into that cove and pushed at least a small wake with my boat into the bulkhead but I didn't. I creeped in and tried my best to avoid the numerous fishing lines. I actully have a right to be there. It's a boat ramp. Scott's Ridge ramp is not a fishing pier although I have no problem with people fishing there. It would be nice if bank fisherman would try to accommodate me as much as I try to avoid them.

Scott's Ridge ramp is one of the nicest but stupidest ramps out there. There is no fishing pier. There is no courtesy dock. It's hazardous to tie up to the bulkheads (when it's not full of fisherman) because of the waves that beat your boat up against them from the never-ending boat traffic. I have said it before and I will say it again; string the "No-Wake" buoys completely across Caney Creek in two lines one both sides of the ramp. Somebody that apparently never puts a boat in here thinks that placing the buoys in an arc around the ramp serves some purpose. All boats go around the buoys sending a constant series of waves crashing into the ramp.

Oh yea; building a courtesy dock, like Cagle has, would really be nice, too!

If I put that much thought into every single time a person looked at me cross or said something negative I would be very busy and wouldn't have time left to live. Some things just "are what they are". I can't fix em. :-)

You Run into all kinds at these public lakes. I fish Calaveras a lot & have really run into some SOB that think the "world owes them something". Then again, I have met some great people out there.
Roger

I am going to agree with Rayzor when it comes to this ramp. I was there changing out the trailer bunks once. There were ski style boats running up and down Caney Creek creating wakes running into the NO WAKE area. Their wakes were breaking over the back of my beached boat filling the bilge with water. This was bad enough but....

Later in the day a man about mid 60 to 70 years old was trying to load his boat alone and he was doing alright until one of these less than considerate ski/pleasure boaters already running back and forth in the creek comes by once again sending their wake crashing into the ramp dumps the old man into the water off of his boat. His boat slams into his trailer then drifts off with him hanging on to the side. He manages to get around to the bow of his boat by the time I had ran down jumped in my Skeeter backed out and ran out to get him. I helped him get into his boat and back to the trailer. He finished loading his boat.

I then ran out and tried to explain to the guy and his family the results of his running back and forth just outside the NO WAKE bouys. He looked at me like I was crazy but if that old man had drowned; he wouldn't have been looking at me crazy as the cops handcuffed him for his lack of consideration for the safety of others!!!

This ramp area needs to be a NO WAKE AREA all the way across the creek with a true NO WAKE AREA in-between the expanse of the ramp to really create a safety buffer from boat wakes.

C.A.S.T. - I thank you very much for your concerns and your efforts. I thank you for your letter to TPWD but I think Scott's Ridge road ramp is the responsibility of the National Forest Service. I have sent them a hand-written letter but never got any kind of response.

If anyone else has a problem with this ramp, I wish they would give them a call or send them an e-mail.

They need to close the ramp. Why people use it is always a mystery to me. It was a poorly thought out ramp. Everyone that uses it wants everyone else to not do something. Anyone using it knows the issues with this ramp.

No argument on any of the comments. I went by there on Saturday while captaining a boat for the high school tournament, the bulkheads were lined with fishermen, jet skis and wake boats everywhere, it was a zoo.

I guess one comment I have is that they went to all the trouble to build a new swimming area on the west side of the park, why not move the ramp over there, build a new one, and turn the existing one into a public beach and congregation point.

I won't put my boat in there.

There's too much potential with this ramp just to close it. I mean seriously; how much would a courtesy dock cost? TPWD probably has hundreds of "No-Wake" buoys in a warehouse somewhere. These buoys could easily be strung across Caney Creek on the east and west sides of the boat ramp.

Engineering marvel. Put the boat ramp on a point right by a boat lane. Then put No Wake markers about 75 ft from shore. They need to rebuild the ramp in either cove with a break water.

Best advice is go to a marina. Saves you from getting your window broken out by some meth head.

Still a problem though boats shutting down will throw bigger wakes towards the ramp. So the width of the no wake zone would have to be vast to allow boats to launch and people to fish the shoreline, and thus blocking the boat lane. Again Just looking at that ramp one time, I knew I would never launch there.

Seems to me I have been in this argument before, I still don't believe more buoys will resolve the issue.

Never used that ramp but feel your pain regarding boat ramp shenanigans. A lake I like to fish at has very limited shore access so people are often fishing at the boat ramp. I launch early before anybody gets there but I get dirty looks about 50% of the time trying to land my kayak. Imagine that . .landing a boat at the boat ramp! What is wrong with me?!?

It's not that people are jerks (although certainly some are) . .it's the same thing that happens with traffic in big cities . .not enough resources for the people that want to use them. It makes people competitive and obnoxious. The best and only thing you can do is not let it ruin your day.

I spoke with Warren Oja today about all of this. He said they are aware of the problems at Scott's Ridge ramp. He said there are tentative plans to move the ramp to either the NW or NE cove area. He also said that they want to install a floating dock and have a full-time attendant to take money for use of the ramp and the swimming area. He said they were trying to get funds from some kind of forestry grant.

Awesome!

I am not going to hold my breath. It took them 2 years to fix the floating dock at Cagle after Hurricane Ike.

Trying to get grant.... that right there is 2 years.