F-Ribs And Sibs - Inflatable Boat Community

Hi all,

Not posted for ages but still got the f rib 360 and still getting some great fishing and boating adventures from her. Disappointing theres not more fishing posts on here so here is one from me. Never fished Lomond or stayed there but always fancied it. Had a window of a few of days end of August. Turns out due to covid, the entire nation had gone camping and theres no availability anywhere but managed to snag a tent pitch at luss camping/caravanning site for our family of 4, me wife 2 young kids. It seems luss campsite is in transit to new management but once there the staff and facilities were very good and (i forgot to mention) they have a boat slip which is the main reason I chose it (plus the fact that the next nearest site with availability was in inverness).
The uk weather was on point and we arrived in the middle of a named storm, cant remember the name. I went to the main public slip at the south of the loch to register my boat and expected to part with an irritating amount of cash, but on the other hand for a tenner, i got a lifetime registration number, 2 sets of reg stickers and 2 plastic boards to stick them on to identify the boat, and a friendly service. Once paid up they said "will you be launching now?" I looked out of the window at the 50mph winds and 6ft waves and said "f#ck that" but in a more polite choice of words. The girl said, well i only ask because one guy already launched earlier and the coast guard had to rescue him. I read the local news later. Turns out a guy had gone out on a small sailboat earlier that day. A member of the public had seen a distress flair through the wind rain and fog and notified the police who notified the loch lomond rescue who notified the coastguard. Apparently the sail boat had had its keel and mast ripped off and a heli had rescued the occupant(s). Anyway, after drawing great confidence from this i waited a day or so for the weather to sort itself out and went out in search of pike.
I did a lot of internet research prior about which areas of the loch hold pike and targetetd this area. Using the fish finder constantly i concentrated on bays where weed beds ran out a long way then quickly dropped off into deeper water. It is a vast and hard water when pike fished for the first time. A fish finder is essential but wont guarantee anything. I only managed 1 full day of fishing but working the weed edges and drop offs i managed with my 7 yr old boy just one 10lb pike on a Westin glide bait. I was well chuffed not to blank but the location is so beautiful it doesnt really matter. Hope this had been of some interest or use to other members.

Cheers and keep safe.

Hiya mate, Good to see you're still getting out -
Fishing is something we need to maybe talk about more on here and get a little more interest, It's something i only do when on the boat and not very often either... I don't ever fish from land.

The weather and covid has just about battered everyones hopes of getting out much this year, It's been a proper crap year for many - we can onbly hope thgings pick up a little for the new year.

Loch Lomond is beautiful but not somewhere that never attracts me, The west coast is so close and has so much more to offer than a heavily regulated loch with camping restrictions, still - great to read your post

Martin

The Endrick bank used to be a hotspot for pike, it comes up to 6ft from deep water and the fish used to hang about the edge. We hired a small motor boat at near by Balmaha, you had to keep an eye on the weather because the loch can chop up fast.

Just had a look at the Luss campsite, depending on how Covid goes, I might have a couple of days in the van there piking next spring. Is lauch slip included in the price?

It's not much of a slip, not maintained by the site, use at own risk type of thing. Perfectly good for a SIB or F-Rib. Might give it a go myself next year, fished Lomond a few times with limited results, Loch Awe is much more productive.

Hi Stray, sorry for the delay, yes, you can launch as many times as you want - all included.
I was launching from my trailer and the slip is near the entrance electric barrier so I had to do some james bond style exotic reversing to reverse the boat down on the trailer but worked out a formula to do it after a few attempts. As mentioned above the slip is basic but I found it perfect for my needs.