Rib's for fishing?

[MickS]

I have 2 boats, my fishing boat (4.5 meter), and a smaller RIB which I use to support my sons sport of sailing. My boy is now moving into a bigger, and faster boat, and I need to get a bigger, faster RIB.
Owning, and housing 2 boats has the problems of costs and space, so I was thinking about getting rid of all boats, and getting a RIB that would meet both needs, yet from what I see RIB's are not great fishing boats. Yes their ride and stability is brilliant, but they don't like sharp objects, and the tubes take up a bit of space, making things like live bait tanks, storage etc a bit difficult.
Does anyone have experience with using a RIB for fishing, and if so how does it go, what modifications etc.were put in place.
My choice of fishing is generally river and estuary.

Thanks for any help.

Cheers
Mick

[Skusto]

Why do you use the RIB.

LIke what is the main reason why you use it to follow your son?

Just thinking if you like it because of the soft sides you could maybe try those collar things that people put on the sides of there tinnies?

Then you could possibly have the best of both worlds.

[MickS]

Hi Skusto. Yes, it's the soft sides for rafting up, or helping upturned boats that makes the RIB the preferred boat.
I had a look at the boat collars. They drill holes in your boat to attach, and once on they do not come off. This could devalue the fishing boat. The collar is also narrow, bouncing boats on waves can be an issue.
At times we have used a stack of fenders, ok on small sailing dinghies, but not ideal.

[scottar]

Looks like a great idea to me.............not

[PB]

You could go a Pelagic FRV with Foam Collars

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[Craigo]

Ribs are great for fishing very stable and the rounded soft sides make it really comfortable to fish out of
Easy to net fish, dont know if i would recommend a gaff, get covers on your the tube tops they protect it well
You do sacrifice a bit of deck space though