Nothing more embarrassing on the ramp than to giving it some gas and it won't back off so you think you went too shallow and give it more gas only to remember the straps are still on. No disguising that mistake in front of everyone else.

It's the worst, and, depending on how bad you screw the pooch, not always easy to get out of.

Forget plug and/or straps...? Guilty on both accounts. You do this long enough and inevitably a brainfart is bound to happen. Even had one of my "pro" draws at a BASS Open forget the plug one morning. It happens.

forgot to put my plug in once...a long time ago....for past 40 years or so,I've left the plug in and let my bilge pump take care of any water that gets in the boat....if you can't stand the thought of a half cup of water in your bilge, take the plug out, stand there by the back of the boat until water drains out and immediately put the plug back in....

I've forgotten the plug before. Once, on a night trip at Fork, I put the plug in and my partner double checked me. After a 20 minute or so drive in the dark, water came thru the floor drains. We hit the bilge and idled back to the ramp. Plug was missing. A month or two later I bent over to look at the bottom and noticed the plug was in the wrong hole. I just put a remote plug in my boat so I never have to worry again. If I forget to close it, I can close it on the water and not worry.

Had 2 guys start fishing about 30-40 feet from me, then came back and went around me and start in about 30-40 feet other side of me. I just looked at them and shook my head and laughed. Had another guy start fishing within casting distance after I had been fishing a spot for about 15 minutes. Welcome to the spring clown show everyone. It will be over in about 4-6 weeks.

Yup, know all about the drain plug... Launched the boat, tied it to the dock & went to park the truck.., by the time I got back I had water coming in on the floor boards & a bilge area filling up quickly with water... Couldnt figure out exactly where it was coming in at so fast, so with the bilge pumping going, I ran all the way back to the parking lot to get the truck/trailer & proceeded to reload the boat....of course I felt like a complete idiot when upon inspection I found the drain plug in the wrong hole!! Doh!!!

Sometimes a cold beer and some popcorn at the ramp is all the entertainment you can handle!!!!! Sounds like the original people this happened to were good people just didn't know about the plug....

My cousin and I were down at Conroe during the Classic. We put out in my little 8ft plastic flat-bottomed boat with only a trolling motor and were cruising the shoreline doing a bit of fishing. We couldn't venture too far from shore due to the wind and traffic. We decided to move from one cove to another and had to pass the ramp to do so. We approached the ramp area and saw that someone had pulled up and was waiting for their wife to back the trailer down so we held our position to wait. We then proceeded to watch as the woman kept pulling forward then backing up, turning the wheel the wrong way, clearly not understanding how a trailer works. We still can't go out and around due to the waves and also because the man in the boat keeps drifting up near the ramp, then turning around without looking to gain some distance. At this point, we're becoming impatient to be back to fishing and have limited time so I begin to grumble and make a joke about how they've never used a boat before and had just bought it to go out on the water during the tournament. Turns out I was right. The man suddenly called to us and said he was sinking and asked us to pull his boat to the ramp. At this point, his wife had finally gotten the trailer into the water, but the boat will no longer start. Like I said, I'm in an 8ft boat with a trolling motor. I ask the man if he forgot to put the plug in, and his reply?

"This boat doesn't have a plug."

So...I use the end of my anchor rope, tie it to his boat, ferry my cousin to land, and let him pull it up and several guys come over to jump in the water and guide the boat onto the trailer where water promptly begins draining from the bilge. One of the other guys points out that the guy has forgotten his plug and he again insists that the boat doesn't need one. At one point mentions that they'd just bought the boat from some guy and he'd obviously ripped them off by selling a defective boat.

heeeeere's your sign

I love boat ramp folly's, Probably because I have done nearly everything in this thread.
(except used the words 'Will bi-gosh")

Here is a new one for me. A few weeks back, brother backed his trailer down very steep ramp. Alan Henry, Didn't get it deep enough i pulled boat on trailer and not enough horses to get boat on trailer. While leaving boat in gear he backs down slowly... I hustle to front of boat to hook strap to eye. Yup you probably guessed it. The boat motor was turned hard left and trailer has high side bunks. We were into the next lane and that dude trying hard to keep us off his new shinny sled! Got lucky. No damage. Pride wounded a little but at least we weren't in my boat.

Guess im lucky my tracker only has one hole for the plug

The more my parents age, and that I see the "time" is coming, the more I adore them, and "all" senior citizens.

I forgive them for being forgetful, intolerant, funny, whimsical, clueless, whatever, because I know if we are all lucky, we will live to be ripe old seniors as well.

I'm thankful "they" forgive young people as well, for all the knucklehead things younger people do that make seniors shake their heads in dismay.

Original post, amusing story by the way.

Seniors, bless their hearts, I love them! My own Mom and Dad, both 84, slowing down and hurting, but laughing and smiling along the way, I worship them. I hope you do with your aging family members as well. We are all just a few years away!

...------

^^^^^. So true.