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Hey guys I had a problem accessing the Ohio River in the Cincinnati area this past weekend as you may know if you read my post in the Ohio River forum. Cincinnati has a problem with river access in my opinion for as big as the city is. I wrote the following to the Cincinnati Recreation Commission, and his reply is also listed. Its ridiculous that they think they have good access to the river when I couldn't launch at any of their ramps
Subject: Boat Ramps
Dear Mr.Garges,
I went to Schmidt Boat Ramp Saturday afternoon and it was closed. Could you tell me why that is and when it will re-open? That's my first question, but I also have a short story and a comment. Saturday we went to Schmidt, it was closed. Then we went to Public Landing, ramp was also closed. So we went to Riverside Park.....same thing, closed. So we drove to Tanner's Creek in Indiana and accessed the river that way. So that's the story, now I would like to make a comment.
Cincinnati is known for it's riverfront. Our city seems to loves to dump a bunch of money into improving the riverfront to draw people to downtown. Also there are many places there to draw in the boaters. The one problem is launching a boat. I know a whole bunch of people who go outside of Cincinnati to launch their boat. First reason is most boaters hate the 10 dollar fee at Schmidt. That fee is ridiculous. Second reason is there are nowhere near enough ramps around the city. I travel to alot of the bigger rivers in the US for fishing and Cincinnati is by far the worst for access. I know most fishermen will NOT use Schmidt because of the fee. Most river fishermen are out on the river 2-3 times a week and won't pay that kind of money to launch their boat. Schmidt should atleast have some sort of affordable season pass for fishermen. 10 dollars everytime out gets expensive. Well, I just hope Cincinnati has some plans to make the river more accessable to the public without it costing us a fortune to get our boats in the water. I know if something is not done soon, I personally will not be on the river in the Cincinnati area. Oh and one more thing. Most serious river fishermen including myself fish all throughout the year, even winter. Their needs to be some ramps for us to use in the winter that have the docks in. I know for a fact if Schmidt was open throughout the whole year and the cost to launch was 5 dollars or less the ramp would get enough business in the winter. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Sincerely,
Lee
And here is the response....
Hi Lee,
I'll check with our staff and have them contact you. I believe we have not been able to dredge the areas in front of the ramps due to the high water. I'm not sure about the Public Landing, but we'll get you the answers. We do have some improvements coming to Schmidt and we have improved the park area at Riverside. I believe our fees are fair. I'll do some checking on area boat ramp fees and see if adjustments are necessary.
We three ramps within the city of Cincinnati I feel we are doing pretty well with regard to access to the Ohio River. Thanks for your comments and we'll get back to you with more details.
Thanks,
Jim
What do you guys think???
Subject: Boat Ramps
Dear Mr.Garges,
I went to Schmidt Boat Ramp Saturday afternoon and it was closed. Could you tell me why that is and when it will re-open? That's my first question, but I also have a short story and a comment. Saturday we went to Schmidt, it was closed. Then we went to Public Landing, ramp was also closed. So we went to Riverside Park.....same thing, closed. So we drove to Tanner's Creek in Indiana and accessed the river that way. So that's the story, now I would like to make a comment.
Cincinnati is known for it's riverfront. Our city seems to loves to dump a bunch of money into improving the riverfront to draw people to downtown. Also there are many places there to draw in the boaters. The one problem is launching a boat. I know a whole bunch of people who go outside of Cincinnati to launch their boat. First reason is most boaters hate the 10 dollar fee at Schmidt. That fee is ridiculous. Second reason is there are nowhere near enough ramps around the city. I travel to alot of the bigger rivers in the US for fishing and Cincinnati is by far the worst for access. I know most fishermen will NOT use Schmidt because of the fee. Most river fishermen are out on the river 2-3 times a week and won't pay that kind of money to launch their boat. Schmidt should atleast have some sort of affordable season pass for fishermen. 10 dollars everytime out gets expensive. Well, I just hope Cincinnati has some plans to make the river more accessable to the public without it costing us a fortune to get our boats in the water. I know if something is not done soon, I personally will not be on the river in the Cincinnati area. Oh and one more thing. Most serious river fishermen including myself fish all throughout the year, even winter. Their needs to be some ramps for us to use in the winter that have the docks in. I know for a fact if Schmidt was open throughout the whole year and the cost to launch was 5 dollars or less the ramp would get enough business in the winter. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Sincerely,
Lee
And here is the response....
Hi Lee,
I'll check with our staff and have them contact you. I believe we have not been able to dredge the areas in front of the ramps due to the high water. I'm not sure about the Public Landing, but we'll get you the answers. We do have some improvements coming to Schmidt and we have improved the park area at Riverside. I believe our fees are fair. I'll do some checking on area boat ramp fees and see if adjustments are necessary.
We three ramps within the city of Cincinnati I feel we are doing pretty well with regard to access to the Ohio River. Thanks for your comments and we'll get back to you with more details.
Thanks,
Jim
What do you guys think???