It’s not uncommon for anglers to blast off from the boat ramp at full throttle, skipping across the water like a flat stone to an undisclosed honey hole on the other end of the lake. In fact, a hungry bass could have been right under the boat, enjoying an easy meal.
“The boat ramps at Jordan will be good when the water gets into the mid 50s,” said angler Jonathan Phillips of Pittsboro. “Crawfish will be on the end of them. When bass are on a ramp, they’re only there for one reason, and that’s to feed. They’re not looking to spawn. If they’re on it, you’ll usually get bit the first cast.”
Ramps are seldom seen as a productive bass factory; however, it has a wealth of attributes. First of all, the large concrete slab extending into the water is an excellent heat conductor, making the area one of the first to warm up. Also, the rock and gravel necessary for a solid base extends far beyond the concrete and makes the perfect home for a healthy crawfish population. Ramps located on points will also give bass faster access to deep water in the early season, in case of a cold snap.
But the hesitation is understandable; boat ramps are usually busy places. But bass won’t easily leave a good thing once they’ve found it, and big ones can be caught amongst the traffic.
“I mean, you don’t want to get hung in somebody’s prop, but you can catch them on the next ramp over with a boat putting in,” Phillips said. “I typically make three casts at it: one to each side and one down the middle. Sometimes, I change the angle and cast diagonally across it.”
Phillips favors a Speed Trap and a Shad Rap in crawdad for ramp duty, letting the lures dig into the ramp and surrounding rock, imitating the clicking of a real crawfish.
