# Alum Ramp Closures



## Muskarp (Feb 5, 2007)

Starting October 16, the New Galena and Hollenback launch ramp areas will be closed for launch ramp renovations and parking lot improvements &#8226; Lake drawdown of 11 feet will begin September 15 &#8226; Boaters may continue to use the Cheshire launch ramp &#8226; Other facilities at the New Galena area that will be closed during the construction project the Players Disc Golf Course and access to the snowmobile/multi-purpose trail &#8226; Construction work at the Hollenback Ramp will be completed in May 2012; New Galena will be completed in late June 2012 &#8226; We apologize for any inconvenience this project may cause (posted 8/17/2011) 


It's going to be a long spring with Hollenback closed until May and NG closed until June!


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## Fishin Finatic (Oct 22, 2010)

Of course they wouldn't want to inconvience the ski boaters etc. Shut it down during prime fishing times. What's new?


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## Pike (Apr 7, 2004)

How will that effect the PMTT Sept 24th and 25th.


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## jfelhofer (Jun 13, 2010)

i am going to be working on new galena they are adding 2400 square feet of floating docks and 2 new lanes at the ramp


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## Net (Apr 10, 2004)

> Lake drawdown of 11 feet will begin September 15


Happy to see the ramp improvements but sad to see more saugeye leaving the main lake...again.


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## Hooch (Apr 14, 2004)

I'll bet the spillway gets a little more crowded about that time too...


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## Fishingislife (May 20, 2004)

Thanks for the info MUSK.


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## fishingredhawk (Apr 14, 2004)

The weeds will NEVER grow back in that lake with the continuous drawdowns.

I hope they at least build a rock jetty at NG to protect it from a West wind...wishful thinking I'm sure.


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## Muskarp (Feb 5, 2007)

jfelhofer said:


> they are adding 2400 square feet of floating docks


Are you building that powerboat club that was proposed for that bay? The one that is similar to the Sailboat Club? The one that's going to add 100 slips in that bay. (And hopefully twice the parking ( At the expense of the disc golf course))
Maybe now that there will be another marina at that location they will leave a light on in the lot after Labor Day, or (more realistically) in traditional Alum Creek fashion, close it for the season with a gate.


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## Skunkedagain (Apr 10, 2004)

What a crock!! Why don't they just shut the whole lake down after all the pleasure boaters are done for the season. Gonna launch my boat at the Beach!!!!


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## Danshady (Dec 14, 2006)

wow, shouldnt be too bad this fall, cheshire can be a lil tougher on some days, but man next spring may and june no new galena ramp. it will be awesome when its done i hope though.


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## GonFishin (Aug 31, 2011)

When this was first announced in the Dispatch I couldn't believe it. I called several individuals at DNR, none of whom wanted to "get involved" with it. I finally sent a letter in and requested information regarding the story about the "power boat marina" which, as inferred in the Dispatch, was going to be built along the lines of the AC sail club which has basically privatized public lands and waters. 

To make a long story short, the then Director, disavowed DNR involvement in the matter saying they only acted in an advisory capacity re the application for "dedicated waterways funds" from the Feds, as routed through the US Army Corps of Engineers.

I then wrote a letter, similar to that penned to the DNR director, which called into question the "boat carrying capacity" of the reservoir (BCC is a set formula based on number of ramps, lanes, parking, acres of water, adjacent property owners, horsepower, type of boats, etc. etc.) Using latest formulas available to me at the time, I calculated that the reservoir was already some 37% above capacity on "normal" weekends and wholly over capacity on holidays.

By adding additional parking as well as ramps, the USACE is attempting to skew the BCC in favor of more is better. What they've ignored is the fact that while increasing the access, they've bastardized the entire process in that they've completely ignored the fact that surface acreage has not increased.

Now comes the announcement that the majority of users (anglers), are again going to be saddled with boating access restrictions in favor of an elitist group, power boaters (the cigarette type boats).

No mention is made (except for an astute OGF member) of the fact that this reservoir will never recover as long as these drawdowns are precipitated to the detriment of aquatic vegetation. Nor has any of the governing bodies who are supposed to be looking out for the welfare of the general public, read ODNR Div of Parks, as well as the Wildlife Div., both of whom have been wholly inadequate when it comes to maintaining public lands for public use.

Whether one is a "power boater", angler, shore angler, or whomever, we should all question the feasibility of more is better. I am by no means a "tree hugger", I'm for equal access and non-privatization of public resources, these attempts to circumvent what's in the public good should be remembered by all of us when it comes time to go to the ballot box and in talks with "our" public officials.


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## alumking (Feb 27, 2006)

The lake is already dangerous. Drunk or stupid boat operators are seen on a regular basis by me and since 2002 I have avoided the lake on weekends due to it is just flat out dangerous. You hit the nail on the head this lake is already way overcrowded in fact the busiest inland lake in the state and they want to try to increase the capacity??????? How many of you guys have seen them parked down Africa Rd because the entire Ramp area and the road leading to the ramp are full. Way over capacity then before this proposal even surfaced. I see more patrolling on Hoover than Alum!!!!!!!!!!
What are you going to tell the parents, relatives etc of the people killed in 2012?
How can you use money derived from taxes to build docks so a private company or individual can profit???? Is this for real?????What our state does not need the money??? I am sorry I thought we had a big deficit. Maybe thinking like this caused our big deficit. I miss the way Alum used to be but we will never ever see that again. I am really concerned that you will see an increase in fatalities at Alum in 2012 lets hope I am wrong!!!!!!


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## Gottagofishn (Nov 18, 2009)

When I started fishing Alum I was catching 7lb Walleye out of the weed beds in July....those were the days..... I sure do miss the quality fishery. 

This year I haven't fished the lake since March. The crowds are insane. I now only fish the cold water periods there. The addition of more power boats will probably screw that up as well. I like to fish an area in the fall that they love to scream through at 70 mph. I'm sure adding more of them will continue to #*@! things up. Too sad. The problem of course, is our never ending greed will enable this to come to pass.

The good news.......A draw down starting on the 15th will make for some sweet fishin..... See you there (unless the power boats get me).


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## Marshall (Apr 11, 2004)

I pretty much only fish alum on the week days because of the crazy boat traffic. I was there last friday, although the lake was not crowded i was amazed at the size of some of the boats out there. For a minute i thought i was near put-in-bay at erie. These boats were leaving a good 3' to 4' wake. I was fishing over by the hollenback ramp observing a guy backing in a giant boat that the trailer needed to have 3 axles on. There were some normal sized ski/pleasure boats tied off to the courtesy dock and a guy with a small aluminum fishing boat tied off to the launch dock with his kids. Then one of the lake erie boats blew through the no wake zone and proceded towards the dock. The guy came off plane about 50 to 75 feet from the dock and threw his giant 3 to 4 foot wake completely over the courtesy and launch dock with all these people tied off. Everyones boat took a huge beating, i would have been pissed. I did not stick around to see the aftermath as it probably was not very pleasant. When i see these giant boats on a lake the size of alum, i think to myself and say really, do you really need a boat that big for a small inland fishery. Yep thats all we need is more of these boats out there. With the kind of wakes these boats throw i would not want to launch at cheshire or hollenback with no protection from the wakes. Galena is not much better if the wind is blowing into the ramps. All the coves on this lake out of the wind and wakes but they put the ramps in the worst possible areas, makes no sence. For those who have not fished alum 6 to 10 years ago man what a good fishery it was with awesome weedbeds and clear water. All the drawdowns over the years have taken their toll on the vegetation. I will say the musky population is better than it has ever been but thats only because they dump 3000 a year in the lake. The lake has always been crazy with powerboats in the warmer months but the boats seem to be getting more numerous and larger.


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## Net (Apr 10, 2004)

I spoke with michelle at the state park office today. She confirmed that any new powerboat slips or additional parking could be years in the planning stage since the parties involved (ODNR, USACE, boat club, etc) have not reached any agreement. The only work planned for the Oct to June timeframe are for "underwater improvements such as ramps & pilings.


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## Marshall (Apr 11, 2004)

Thanks 4 the update. At least its good news for now. Ramp improvements will be nice.


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## st.slippy (Oct 3, 2008)

Hey Marshall, if you think alum is bad for big, discourteous boats, try buckeye. Imagine the same boats cruising through 4-8 foot water coming from one of the bars on the lake. I would think that their props would be spitting up bottom the whole way.


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## CaptJoe (Jan 20, 2009)

Net said:


> I spoke with michelle at the state park office today. She confirmed that any new powerboat slips or additional parking could be years in the planning stage since the parties involved (ODNR, USACE, boat club, etc) have not reached any agreement. The only work planned for the Oct to June timeframe are for "underwater improvements such as ramps & pilings.


I remember back in 2007 being offered an investment opportunity for the New Galena Marina wheras 100 new private slips were to be installed. The investment was about $3000 as seed money and an additional $3k once the plans were sealed with very little return and would have yearly payments for upkeep, fees, etc. That was several years ago now. If I had invested in that project (as some folks may have) I would be a little dissapointed. As far as I know nothing has been done other than a few meetings.

Source: http://www.alumcreekpowerboat.com/docks.htm


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## bman (Apr 20, 2009)

Marshall said:


> I pretty much only fish alum on the week days because of the crazy boat traffic. I was there last friday, although the lake was not crowded i was amazed at the size of some of the boats out there. For a minute i thought i was near put-in-bay at erie. These boats were leaving a good 3' to 4' wake. I was fishing over by the hollenback ramp observing a guy backing in a giant boat that the trailer needed to have 3 axles on. There were some normal sized ski/pleasure boats tied off to the courtesy dock and a guy with a small aluminum fishing boat tied off to the launch dock with his kids. Then one of the lake erie boats blew through the no wake zone and proceded towards the dock. The guy came off plane about 50 to 75 feet from the dock and threw his giant 3 to 4 foot wake completely over the courtesy and launch dock with all these people tied off. Everyones boat took a huge beating, i would have been pissed. I did not stick around to see the aftermath as it probably was not very pleasant. When i see these giant boats on a lake the size of alum, i think to myself and say really, do you really need a boat that big for a small inland fishery. Yep thats all we need is more of these boats out there. With the kind of wakes these boats throw i would not want to launch at cheshire or hollenback with no protection from the wakes. Galena is not much better if the wind is blowing into the ramps. All the coves on this lake out of the wind and wakes but they put the ramps in the worst possible areas, makes no sence. For those who have not fished alum 6 to 10 years ago man what a good fishery it was with awesome weedbeds and clear water. All the drawdowns over the years have taken their toll on the vegetation. I will say the musky population is better than it has ever been but thats only because they dump 3000 a year in the lake. The lake has always been crazy with powerboats in the warmer months but the boats seem to be getting more numerous and larger.


Well said Marshall. It's exactly why I've only been on Alum twice this entire season. Once during the week and a recent Sunday afternoon post-cold front that kept most of the pleasure barges off the water.

Did they only recently start messing with the water levels? What did they do years ago when there were nice weeds?


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## sashimigrade (Jun 25, 2011)

I bank fished at Alum as a kid. I fish from a kayak now and would never go to Alum because of the reputation for drunk power boat users. I've always heard that it's dangerous and now they're making it worse? Wow. Who buys a cigarette boat in central Ohio anyway? Thank god for the electric only and 10hp limit areas. Then I can relax without riding wakes and hearing Jimmy Buffet from 1/2 mile away. It's really a shame, Alum has a lot of nice features and structure.


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## Marshall (Apr 11, 2004)

bman, since i have not lived my whole life in columbus im not sure what they did. But i have to guess that winter drawdowns to winter pool only 3 to 4 feet down was the ticket. Also there have been some springs where the lake was not back to summer pool in the recent past. Just too many 10 feet drawdowns lately. It will happen again this year while out fishing in october I will see some clueless sole run close to the points in the lower end and find a rockpile or sandbar and stop their boat on a dime. Ouch, those flats and bars run way out! Even at full pool i see people risking their life skiing close to the points all the time. Im talking these guys are running their boats over some of the most dangerous rockpiles pulling a skiier behind. How their boat makes it over them is a wonder.

I can imagine its ugly at buckeye too. They are definately keeping their props in bottom out there.


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## bman (Apr 20, 2009)

sashimigrade said:


> I bank fished at Alum as a kid. I fish from a kayak now and would never go to Alum because of the reputation for drunk power boat users. I've always heard that it's dangerous and now they're making it worse? Wow. Who buys a cigarette boat in central Ohio anyway? Thank god for the electric only and 10hp limit areas. Then I can relax without riding wakes and hearing Jimmy Buffet from 1/2 mile away. It's really a shame, Alum has a lot of nice features and structure.


I will also nominate Pleasant Hill's open boating zone as another "awesome" place to drive a cigarette boat! I really don't get that one...super skinny lake and really not all that big.

10hp limit - This is yet another example of an Ohio boating law that doesn't really have much common sense around it. Somehow "magically", a jon boat running at wide open throttle with a 9.9 hp engine makes less of a wake than my 19' bass boat at idle speed. All you are doing is eliminating a large segment of the taxpaying population (mostly fisherman with fishing boats) from using an Ohio natural resource. This causes many of the "excluded class" to simply overcrowd other bodies of waters and contribute to the Alum/Buckeye/Indian zoo on the weekends. No wake - I totally get it and support it but the "nothing bigger than xx horsepower" is just a feel good law from some elitist that thinks they know something about boating. If the state decides to ever change Hoover or Charles Mill to "idle-only" lakes, you still wouldn't see any super-large cabin cruisers on those lakes. All you'd see is an increase in fishing boats - probably up to the larger bass boat size and 99% of them would be idling around the lake causing no wake and very little additional noise.


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## MDBuckeye (Sep 29, 2009)

bman - I respectfully disagree with you on the 10hp limit. I think it makes all kinds of sense. If you take that away and make it a no wake lake then idiots who don't pay attention to the laws to begin with and have bigger boats will just tear the lake up anyhow.

On another note, we could all go to the Ohio Wildlife Council meetings, which the next one is on September 28th, and speak our minds to those who have contact to our Governor. Letters to Kasich wouldn't hurt in this situation as well. I bet if someone were to write up a block letter we could sign and mass mail him he would take notice... maybe.


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## lordofthepunks (Feb 24, 2009)

MDBuckeye said:


> bman - I respectfully disagree with you on the 10hp limit. I think it makes all kinds of sense. If you take that away and make it a no wake lake then idiots who don't pay attention to the laws to begin with and have bigger boats will just tear the lake up anyhow.
> 
> On another note, we could all go to the Ohio Wildlife Council meetings, which the next one is on September 28th, and speak our minds to those who have contact to our Governor. Letters to Kasich wouldn't hurt in this situation as well. I bet if someone were to write up a block letter we could sign and mass mail him he would take notice... maybe.


"those idiots that dont pay attention to the laws anyways" can just as easily take there boats to a 10hp lake and do the same thing, after all they dont care about the laws right?

yeah butt..... blah blah blah

people with cabin cruisers and cigarette boats dont take their rigs to lakes with speed limits and no wake laws. just accept it. people break laws, they break all laws, changing from 10hp laws to no wake laws will result in no more idiots then there are currently. 

horray for another hp debate!


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## Muskarp (Feb 5, 2007)

lordofthepunks said:


> people with cabin cruisers and cigarette boats dont take their rigs to lakes with speed limits and no wake laws.


That may change if enough lakes have these restrictions. Hell, 15-20 years ago the same was probably true for Alum.

Keep in mind the individual that turned this into a HP debate is pro change. Not really sure why this thread needs to divide anglers. We need to join together to save our fishery. Not argue about something that has no relevance at AC.

On a side note: It is going to be nice to see some of these boaters get a nice repair bill for lower unit and transom repairs, unfortunately it will not change the fact that people run WOT 50-100' from shore. Enforcement, enforcement, enforcement!!!!


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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

bman said:


> I will also nominate Pleasant Hill's open boating zone as another "awesome" place to drive a cigarette boat! I really don't get that one...super skinny lake and really not all that big.
> 
> 10hp limit - This is yet another example of an Ohio boating law that doesn't really have much common sense around it. Somehow "magically", a jon boat running at wide open throttle with a 9.9 hp engine makes less of a wake than my 19' bass boat at idle speed. All you are doing is eliminating a large segment of the taxpaying population (mostly fisherman with fishing boats) from using an Ohio natural resource. This causes many of the "excluded class" to simply overcrowd other bodies of waters and contribute to the Alum/Buckeye/Indian zoo on the weekends. No wake - I totally get it and support it but the "nothing bigger than xx horsepower" is just a feel good law from some elitist that thinks they know something about boating. If the state decides to ever change Hoover or Charles Mill to "idle-only" lakes, you still wouldn't see any super-large cabin cruisers on those lakes. All you'd see is an increase in fishing boats - probably up to the larger bass boat size and 99% of them would be idling around the lake causing no wake and very little additional noise.


No thanks HAHAHA!!!


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## hootergirl (Sep 4, 2011)

I just heard that the power boat club is building marina by the campgrounds. I guess the building are going up now. How can they start building when they haven't even been approved?


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## spfldbassguy (Mar 23, 2009)

hootergirl said:


> I just heard that the power boat club is building marina by the campgrounds. I guess the building are going up now. How can they start building when they haven't even been approved?


First off welcome to the site,secondly if they are indeed are already building then they must know/think they're gonna get the approval.


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## Fishin Finatic (Oct 22, 2010)

I doubt that. According to Corp office the power boaters were trying to put a marina in the New Galena cove between the cove west if the ramp and Africa Road. They have been trying to raise the funds but havent yet. Even if they do there is still a long approval procedure to go through before they start. If i remember correctly they needed 100 members @ $6,000 each to even start the process.


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## spfldbassguy (Mar 23, 2009)

All in all it sounds like a bad idea to add more to an already crowded lake.


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## hootergirl (Sep 4, 2011)

I read that they are hooked up with another marina from Sandusky Ohio. It's called HOTY Marina. So is there another marina coming to alum creek? I also heard this new marina is going to have a bar and restaurant and only 70's docks have to be owned because the rest of the money is coming from HOTY Marina. They are going to have electric and cable tv with the docks.

I do think this is not a good thing. Not enough patrol on the lake for all retards. There are not enough swim areas and the lake is way over crowded.


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## eatwhatyoukeep (May 2, 2005)

bman said:


> Well said Marshall. It's exactly why I've only been on Alum twice this entire season. Once during the week and a recent Sunday afternoon post-cold front that kept most of the pleasure barges off the water.
> 
> Did they only recently start messing with the water levels? What did they do years ago when there were nice weeds?


A tournament fisherman told me that the drawdowns kill most of the zebra muscles. Without zebra muscles the water is darker and the weeds don't grow well. It is one person's theory but it makes sense.

Regarding the 10 hp limit it is there because it is very easily enforced. If you put high powered boats on there some people will violate the laws and go too fast. Someone (and probably many) will feel that their time is too important to waste worrying about how fast they are going. Even if you gave someone a ticket they would probably beat it in court. How are you going to measure that person's speed or judge whether they are making a wake or not? All of those issues go away with a 10hp limit


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## F1504X4 (Mar 23, 2008)

hootergirl said:


> I read that they are hooked up with another marina from Sandusky Ohio. It's called HOTY Marina. So is there another marina coming to alum creek? I also heard this new marina is going to have a bar and restaurant and only 70's docks have to be owned because the rest of the money is coming from HOTY Marina. They are going to have electric and cable tv with the docks.
> 
> I do think this is not a good thing. Not enough patrol on the lake for all retards. There are not enough swim areas and the lake is way over crowded.


I can assure you that this is 100% rumor! Not gonna happen!


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## hootergirl (Sep 4, 2011)

Can anyone tell me why it took so long to fix these ramps when Alum Creek received a grant back in 2009 from Cooperative Boating Facility Grants 2009 Awarded Projects for the New Galena Ramp for 1,436,597.


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## sashimigrade (Jun 25, 2011)

eatwhatyoukeep said:


> A tournament fisherman told me that the drawdowns kill most of the zebra muscles. Without zebra muscles the water is darker and the weeds don't grow well. It is one person's theory but it makes sense.
> 
> Regarding the 10 hp limit it is there because it is very easily enforced. If you put high powered boats on there some people will violate the laws and go too fast. Someone (and probably many) will feel that their time is too important to waste worrying about how fast they are going. Even if you gave someone a ticket they would probably beat it in court. How are you going to measure that person's speed or judge whether they are making a wake or not? All of those issues go away with a 10hp limit


I don't know much about zebra muscles but I agree about hp limits. Unfortunately the expression, "one bad apple spoils the bunch" applies here. I hate this with a passion and I wish everyone was responsible, respected other people, and rules, but unfortunately this never happens. Especially out on the water. No matter what the situation, there's always a small group of people that ruin a good thing for everyone else. Sad but true.


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## Muskarp (Feb 5, 2007)

hootergirl said:


> Can anyone tell me why it took so long to fix these ramps when Alum Creek received a grant back in 2009 from Cooperative Boating Facility Grants 2009 Awarded Projects for the New Galena Ramp for 1,436,597.


Bids for the plans would need to be presented and approved. This usually takes some time. Then the approved project would be performed during the next drawdown, which obviously is this winter. Seems reasonable to take that long to bring a project like this to fruition.


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## spfldbassguy (Mar 23, 2009)

Muskarp said:


> Bids for the plans would need to be presented and approved. This usually takes some time. Then the approved project would be performed during the next drawdown, which obviously is this winter. Seems reasonable to take that long to bring a project like this to fruition.


You're exactly correct IMO,just because a grant has been given to an agency doesn't mean that it can start doing the work the next day.


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## spfldbassguy (Mar 23, 2009)

hootergirl said:


> Can anyone tell me why it took so long to fix these ramps when Alum Creek received a grant back in 2009 from Cooperative Boating Facility Grants 2009 Awarded Projects for the New Galena Ramp for 1,436,597.


You must have the mindset of alot of other people out there," I want it now". Nothing happens overnight and to think it will is ridiculous. 

Are you actually going to ever post an actual fishing report or are you just gonna keep harping on the same subject over and over?


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