Loon

[jkelley1487]

I've asked before but I'm still paranoid....

Would you put your fiberglass boat into Loon with the current water levels? They are like 5-6 feet lower than last year and I'm cautious to try it. Is the bottom mostly rock or mud? Just worried about messing my boat up. I have Lowrance electronics so I don't have a chip available for the pit.

[Moveon]

The current water levels is actually the normal level and this was the water level when the ramp was built years ago.

The last few years have been historically unnaturally wet and resulted in higher water levels in the last few springs. But years ago when the ramps were built the water was much lower and that was the norm.

I remember seeing the island out of the point where the parking lot is located. IE Due South of the parking lot area. That island has been under water the last few years when we had all this rain.

I'm talking about LOON pit.

I never really did like the concrete launch ramp at Loon as there is not dock there to tie up to and they poured concrete onto the rip rap to lock it in there. There was no really good place to dock your boat when I went to get the truck. So I had to park my boat on the concrete and tie up to the rails on the handicapped ramp. And the parking lot is so small. I'd like to fish Loon more often but it's just hard to launch there IMHO. I have an aluminum flat bottomed boat and the concrete really doesn't hurt my boat much. If I had a fiberglass boat I'd make sure that I had some type of protection applied to the bottom of the boat at the bow area to protect the fiberglass from rocks and or the concrete. They really need to build a dock there.

Now it's been a long time since I launched at Loon with my boat. But I never had any problems in the past when I did launch there. And I know that the IDNR has to fill in the holes at the end of the concrete a few times in the past. So with the increased use of this launch ramp by larger boats with larger motors I'm pretty sure that they have or will flush out the dirt in the hole before long.

If I were really worried about how far down the ramp I could back my boat without the tired going off the concrete I get in my swim suit and walk out there on the concrete and find the end of the concrete. But I've not tried that yet. They don't allow swimming in these pits. LOL. And be ware of the algae that grows on the concrete that makes it very slick at times. It can cause a dangerous fall if you are not careful. Proper foot wear might be required.

I've asked before but I'm still paranoid....

Would you put your fiberglass boat into Loon with the current water levels? They are like 5-6 feet lower than last year and I'm cautious to try it. Is the bottom mostly rock or mud? Just worried about messing my boat up. I have Lowrance electronics so I don't have a chip available for the pit.

[SteveM4A1]

You shouldn't have any issues. But the water is not 5 ft low. Maybe a couple ft.

[jkelley1487]

thanks guys.