I'm taking my boat out for her maiden voyage this weekend. I'm trying to decide between Pineview, Lincoln beach, Jordanelle, or the berry. There are reasons for and against each of them for me. Does anyone have any suggestions or inside scoops why I should or shouldn't go to any of these places. Remember I'm brand new to the boating thing so me being able to launch and retrive my boat may not be as smooth and quick as I would like.
If someone would like to chip in on the gas and get a good laugh at a rookie trying to control a new boat I would enjoy the company.
Where ever I go I would like to be on the water by sun up on saturday morning. If you want in and have strong feelings about fishing anywhere I could be easily persuaded.
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Try to pick the least crowded place. I made a big mistake making my maiden voyage in my first boat at the American Fork Boat Harbor in the spring! Let's just say it wasn't pretty around the harbor and boat ramp, and the worst part was the parking. Do not go to Jordanelle. A newbie launching a boat at Jordanelle on a weekend would be ugly. Anyone lauching a boat at Jordanelle on a weekend is not an enjoyable situation. I would recommend Strawberry; however, I would launch from one of the Soldier Creek ramps -- not The Strawberry Marina or Renegade. The Soldier Creek ramp on the west side of the bay is never crowded -- even on holidays. Good luck!
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]If you're new to boating, do yourself a big favor. Go to someplace with the least amount of people and least amount of traffic. You're going to be figuring things out and making a few "adjustments". It's a lot easier when you have time to think about things and execute them not having a full ramp and plenty of people to dodge.[/size][/black][/font]
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Do not go to Pineview!! Ask djremo how his maiden sabatoge went!!!!
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I agree with the above posters. I would not even think about Jordanelle or Pineview. What a joke on Saturdays. The Soldier Creek ramp was a good suggestion.
I would probably hit the Berry, and I would be there just about 15 minutes before sunrise. Nice and quiet, calm, cool and not very many people up at that hour.
You will still have to deal with crowds when putting the boat back on the trailer later on, but by launching early you will eliminate 1/2 the battle.
We were at the Berry last Saturday, and launched pretty much by ourselves just before daylight. We left around 11:15 a.m. and had to wait for a few people before we could trailer the boat.
Which brings up another subject, don't people know the proper way to launch and retrieve boats?...I think I'll start a new post on that subject rather than hijack this one.
Randy
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Please, hijack away! Any advice I can get I'll take. I've been the guy backing the trailer into the water a hundred times, but I've only landed the craft a few times and that was usually with a small 14 foot tiller. I want to fish pineview and jordanelle, but I agree with you about the crowds. I really want to have as much room as possible to make a few mistakes. I knew stawberry was my best bet. The only other one I'm still leaning towards is Lincoln. The guy I bought the boat from lives in Payson and I forgot to pick up a spare battery from him, so eventually I need to make an excuse to fish lincoln and stop and pick the battery up.
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I also would recomend the berry i usually launch at the marina on the strawberry side because i usually do everything by my self and it is easy to back right down to the dock on the drivers side i just tie a rope to my boat and walk it off the trailer tie it off go park and it seems to work great its not busy in the early morning launching but loading around noon it gets busy but people usualy dont get to impasient good luck where ever you decide to go ill be up at newton like usual[
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I just got off the phone with my neighbor he was at the berry today and did awesome with 4 over the slot and a fat 24 inch bow so thats another good reason for the berry
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