Superramp Discussed

“Now that we have Mary Blue (road) completed and B and B settled in, it’s time to move on to another project,” said Judge/Executive Jimmy Campbell in a recent interview with The Herald Ledger.
“When I was campaigning and after I was elected, many people in the county stressed the importance of having a good set up for bass tournaments,” Campbell said. He recalled attending a tourist commission “retreat” shortly before he took office, in which Tim Porter from FLW – one of the nation’s largest bass tournament organizations – referred to Lyon County as a ‘gold mine’ but said that to get the gold, “somebody’s gotta dig!”
In that same address, Porter said that on average, tournament fishermen spend about $350 per person per day they are in town. Lyon County fisherman Bob Rodgers, who attended the same meeting, recently phoned Campbell at about 5:30 a.m. from the Triton Boat Owners tournament at Paris Landing in Tennessee, and said “You know, Jimmy, I’m here at this tournament and all I see is boat trailers and dollar signs - you ought to come out.” Rodgers said that Judge Campbell, along with his wife Barbara and grandson, arrived at weigh in to talk with fishermen about the needs they have that Lyon County can meet. 340 boats participated in that tournament. A quick run of the numbers shows 340 boats (with two fishermen per boat) at $350 per day could generate an estimated $238,000 for a one day tournament.
“This may be the only time while I am in office you’ll hear me talk about a quick infusion of cash in to the county, but tournament fishermen are great for our economy. Barkley is known for being one of the top five bass fishing lakes in the country, so all we need to do is provide the facilities to accommodate the tournaments,” Campbell said. Add to that the fact that Barkley is connected to Kentucky Lake by a canal, and fishermen can fish two lakes almost simultaneously.
Campbell was quick to point out that a superramp and courtesy dock alone will not meet the needs of larger tournaments. He said the ramp, courtesy dock and adjacent weigh in facility would only be the cornerstone to attract private enterprise to develop the area.
“My hope is that a superramp will bring more fishermen to our restaurants, our lodging, our gas stations and stores, and will increase traffic flow past the Outlet Mall,” Campbell added.
“Someone needs to come in and build a convention center here in Lyon County, and this ramp just might be what brings a developer in” he said. That sentiment was echoed by Lake Barkley Tourism director Jamie Johnson.
“We need a convention center desperately,” Johnson said. “We have so much to offer, but these tournaments have dinners and meetings and banquets and there’s just no place that we can easily accommodate those functions for a large number of people.”
Rodgers agreed that a convention center facility would be a big plus, but said that until private enterprise develops such a facility, “my guys will eat standing up under a tent off paper plates if you’ll just build them a ramp to have tournaments out of.”
The project will not happen overnight, and there are significant hurdles to overcome. Campbell and Rodgers recently visited the Barren River boat ramp in Allen County and met with government officials who helped get that project off the ground. Those officials said that their tournament fishing facilities generated $37 million annual income for Allen County.
“Barren River is a beautiful reservoir, sure, but it pales in comparison to Lake Barkley,” Campbell said. Rodgers was a little more candid, saying “their lake up there is nice and pretty, but it’s nothing compared to what we have here.”
The property being eyed for the proposed ramp, dock and open air pavilion is located on Lick Creek, just across the bay from Rottgering Marine. That is Mineral Mound property, owned by the state, and can be reached by land from Gregory Road off US Hwy 93 South. The development would include a large parking lot to accommodate up to 400 vehicles pulling boats.
One aspect that makes tournament fishermen such an attractive group to market our county to is the return on investment. Campbell said “they pretty much come here, spend their money in our hotels, our restaurants, our stores and gas stations and then they leave.”
He noted that no additional infrastructure, roads or improvements to existing facilities are required to service the market.
“We don’t have to educate their kids, build any spec buildings or provide public services for them,” he added.
Rodgers added that a ramp of this magnitude would not only help the tournament fishermen (and therefore the county’s coffers) but will also take a great deal of pressure off the existing ramps during tournament season, freeing up space and lessening congestion for local pleasure boaters and non-tournament fishermen.
The fiscal court, which consists of not only judge Campbell but the three magistrates (Charles Ferguson, Buddy Nichols, and Steve Cruce), is in the research stage for this project and is seeking the help of other governmental agencies and organizations to understand how to best proceed with such an undertaking. Funding is available at the federal level (administered by the state department of fish and wildlife) earmarked for such projects.