What public access ramps are usable on Lake Martin? The fish are biting, but how can you get to them? I’m getting questions every day about what’s going on with the State of Alabama and why aren’t they fixing these ramps?
Nick Nichols, Assistant Chief of Fisheries with the Wildlife and Fisheries Division, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources of the State of Alabama gave me an update this morning. Nick says we are now facing the situation that many of the ramps are not usable at all on Lake Martin, but there are still a few where you can launch your boats. He does not recommend trying to launch anything larger than a good size bass boat anywhere on the Lake currently. All of the public access ramps were designed to accommodate the winter pool level of 480.0’. They are working to correct the problem since we are down an additional 5’ at the present time and it looks like we’ll go a good bit lower than that. It is their goal to keep the boat ramps available for public access wherever possible on Lake Martin.
There is currently work in progress at the Kowaliga Boat Ramp. You can put in there, but use extreme care. They are extending the west side of the ramp approximately 30-40’. When they finish the work there, they plan to move to Pace’s Point (Pleasure Point) to extend it as well. Again, you can still put in at Pace’s Point, but with caution. There is still one ramp that is barely usable at the Wind Creek State Park. Nick is not sure when work will begin there. The Alabama Power Company’s O’Ryan Ramp out Hwy. 50 toward Curry Point is still usable, but unsure how long that will be the case. That particular ramp cannot be extended.
There are many factors that are taken into consideration as the Department of Fisheries look at extending these ramps, a major one being that a slope of a 15-18 degree grade is required. Some ramps such as the one at Sandy Creek don’t fall under this criteria, so there are no plans to extend in those situations.
These guys that are doing such a super job for us on Lake Martin, but they actually have the upkeep of public access ramps for the whole State of Alabama as their responsibility. Nick said due to the extreme drought they are facing these same problems at other state lakes and are planning to head to Harris Lake next. Kudos to the Department of Fisheries for getting to work on these ramps, and best of luck to all the State employees as they work to get us back on the Lake and fishing again, because remember – the fish are biting!!!
You can contact me by email at dduck821@windstream.net with your latest best fishing story or any hints you would like to pass along. I would also love to get photos of your biggest catches. Together we’ll fish Lake Martin bringing in those big catches and telling even bigger stories! 
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Deborah Duck
