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kg6ysf

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Anyone fish from an inflatable pontoon? I just got one last spring and thus far love it. It gets me on lakes with no motor restrictions and lets me float rivers I wouldn't be able to otherwise.
Fly gear, conventional gear, trout, salmon, steel head, bass, panfish, cats, it doesn't matter. Mine can be folded into a bag that could fit in the trunk of a small car. I know it fits in the back of my Jeep Wrangler and it's an older one not a new four door or Unlimited.
 
I have had one since 2008. I put a small electric on mine. They are a lot of fun! I mainly fish for crappie, but works well with all species

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Nice rig. I've been thinking of putting a motor on mine and a fish finder. Don't remember who makes it but the one I was looking at was at Cabela's. It is made specifically for toons and tubes. I gotta get some wood sold first. :) I took mine down the Klamath river this summer and fall. It was great, just sitting and letting the current take you while you basically troll for fish, they call it side drifting around here. It made for a relaxing five to six hours. All depending on how often you stopped to fish a spot. Looking at the Lower Sacramento, Yuba, and American this spring and summer. I also use it on a bunch of the little mountain ponds. The whole reason I am building a very trail capable Jeep. :D I like getting away from the crowds.
 
I have often considered selling my fancy bass boat and get exactly something like that. I normally fish only small inland lakes. And in my boat, I roar across the lake to the other shore, then put the trolling motor in and cruse the shore casting. Something like that might make it slower to cross the lake, and you'd have to watch the winds and waves, but it would do me just fine.

I once had an Uncle Bucks Pond Prowler 8' plastic boat for a long time. It had a large trolling motor on it and I used to scoot all over the lake and fish walleye, crappie, sun fish, etc.. and it worked nice. It fit in the back of my pickup truck and was easy to get it in and out. Until one winter.

Early trout season came. I launched the Pond Prowler and was about 50 yards out in the lake. The fish were biting. And all was well in the world when I noticed... I am taking on water and sinking. So we cranked the trolling motor and headed for shore. After all that water was ice cold. Well I almost made it. I sunk about 30 feet from shore.

I then had to swim out and pull that boat up to shore. Along with all my gear. It took three trips. And the people across the lake were probably covering the ears of small children because I was upset and making it plain that I was upset. I got the boat to the side of the bank, and flipped it over. Here, unbeknownst to me, the bottom had cracked open sometime during our winter.

I went out two days later and purchased my bass master boat. And have never sunk yet.
 
I have been fishing from pontoons for several years. I Mostly go for Catfish, Walleye, and Sturgeon. Yep sturgeon. The biggest one I have caught was 7 foot long with a trout pole. It took me a long time to land it. It jumped 7 times and almost landed on me. This is the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9icz71j ... DQ&index=3

These pictures are of my old boats.

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This is what my new boat lookes like. It is a Skookum Steelheader Cataraft. A bit larger than a pontoon and can handle a gas motor.

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Here is what a sturgeon looks like on a fish finder.

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The Skookum Steelheader is the best boat I have ever had. It has a weight capacity of 1000 pounds. It can take up to a 5 hp gas motor. I traveled over 100 river miles in it last year fishing for sturgeon.

Ron
 
Ron.. are they pretty stable in ruff water? I notice you have a chair in yours or you can sit with your feet in the water. Also those must not need much water to run in.

My Bass Hunter did not need a lot of water. And with a 50 lbs thrust trolling motor, it was surprising how fast it could push me across the water. What size motor do you run on that thing of yours?
 
I am almost 300lbs and I have a 9' boat and I can float in 5" of water. :shock:
Oh Ron nice boat what one is it and how long? I could use a bigger one. :oops:
 
cayuga said:
Ron.. are they pretty stable in ruff water? I notice you have a chair in yours or you can sit with your feet in the water. Also those must not need much water to run in.

My Bass Hunter did not need a lot of water. And with a 50 lbs thrust trolling motor, it was surprising how fast it could push me across the water. What size motor do you run on that thing of yours?

This boat is actually made to run white water with so it is VERY stable. It is not hard to stand up and keep your balance. I can stand up and cast for distance or to take a leak. The Catarafts like this one are built different than the smaller fly fishing pontoons. The rowing seat is quite a bit above the water, so I sit on the standing deck so I can use flippers to kick with. Here is a picture of me sitting in the seat.

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I can float in less than 6" of water if I am in the boat. If I am out it will float in a lot less.
I have three motors for it. I have a 40 pound thrust electric for lakes that don't allow gas engines. I have the 2.6 hp Coleman that will push this boat up to 5.7 MPH. I have a new motor that I just found. My uncle had a 4 HP Johnson Seahorse that has never been used he gave me it this last fall. It is new in box with the new tags still hanging on it. I plan to use it for long rides to the sturgeon hole. One I go to is a 18 mile round trip. This is what the new motor looks like. Ron

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kg6ysf said:
I am almost 300lbs and I have a 9' boat and I can float in 5" of water. :shock:
Oh Ron nice boat what one is it and how long? I could use a bigger one. :oops:

This boat is a Skookum Steelheader. Mine is called the 10 foot but it is actually about 10'6'' from end to end. I have had several Outcast boats and they just can't stand up to a gas motor. I like going up stream and floating back down drift fishing. The only way I could do it is with a gas motor. After haveing a catastrophic frame failure on a Outcast boat, I bought this one and never looked back. This boat is an expensive boat but it is MORE than worth it. Each pontoon has two individual sections. If something happened and I popped a toon I would still float because of the two compartments per side.
Another thing is this frame is built to take a 5 hp gas motor. This pontoon is the Jeep of the pontoon world. It is made to last with a 50 year warranty on the frame and 15 year on the tubes. If you decide to talk to them you want to ask for Jennifer and tell her Ron sent you. She will give you the deal.
Here is the web page.

http://steelheader.com/
 
kg6ysf said:
Oh Ron nice boat what one is it and how long? I could use a bigger one. :oops:

I contacted Jennifer. She said she would like to talk to you. She is a great lady and has a great product. Ron
 
Wow just visited the site. :shock: They ain't giving those away! Holey cow $2175 if I saw the right one. Mine was $175 used. Guess us poor boy just gonna be low ridding. :lol: I'll see if I can figure out how to attach a pic.
 
kg6ysf said:
Wow just visited the site. :shock: They ain't giving those away! Holey cow $2175 if I saw the right one. Mine was $175 used. Guess us poor boy just gonna be low ridding. :lol: I'll see if I can figure out how to attach a pic.

I used the cheep ones for a while but I don't swim so I need something that is bullet proof. :lol: Contact her and talk to her. She will make you a deal. And yes they are worth it.
Ron
 
I would love to be able to do that but I am on a very tight income. My last jump in the Army almost killed me. A guy cut under me and collapsed my chute about 70 feet off the deck. Now I am on Veterans disability. A boat like that is a dream for me. But I am glad you were able to get one and like it. I like the one I got.
 
WOW glad your all right!! That sounds like a nasty thing to happen. Thank you for your service. Ron
 
Does that boat fit in the back of a full sized pickup truck or do you have to have a trailer to pull that around? My little bass boat slide in and out of the truck. Was kind of handy actually.
 
Part of the life. The harder you train the more likely someone is to get hurt. And that time it happened to be me. I new the risk, I had seen everything from a guy get run over by an Abrams, he didn't make it, to sprained fingers and everything in between. I was lucky enough to live, I've argued that statement a few times, but I lived. Had three Dr tell me I should be in a wheel chair not walking so I don't complain, most of the time anyway. :wink:
Most of the time it was a blast. I got paid to jump from airplanes, both static line and H.A.L.O. I got paid to blow stuff up, shoot all kinds of weaponry. I was trained and got to call in Naval 16" guns! How many people can say that? I have called close air support from A-10s, F-18, AC-130 and Apaches. I got to test new explosives for God's sake. It was worth it most days anyway. You couldn't believe how many tax dollars I used. When I got out they said they figured that in six years they had spent almost 1.5 million on my training.
I wish I could go fish any day I chose but my body don't always agree as to what is a good fishing day. Oh well there will be another one soon. It would be nice to say I earn my pat but I can't work so a little for doing nothing ain't bad right. It is what it is. The bills are paid the stomachs are full and there are alot of people in this world that have it way worse than I.
 
cayuga said:
Does that boat fit in the back of a full sized pickup truck or do you have to have a trailer to pull that around? My little bass boat slide in and out of the truck. Was kind of handy actually.

I use a trailer. I have a camper shell that I camp and sleep in so I needed a trailer. This boat would be too wide to fit it in the back of a truck. But it is in a different class than the little bass boat. This is my trailer but the boat is my old one I sold to buy my new boat. Ron

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kg6ysf said:
Part of the life. The harder you train the more likely someone is to get hurt. And that time it happened to be me. I new the risk, I had seen everything from a guy get run over by an Abrams, he didn't make it, to sprained fingers and everything in between. I was lucky enough to live, I've argued that statement a few times, but I lived. Had three Dr tell me I should be in a wheel chair not walking so I don't complain, most of the time anyway. :wink:
Most of the time it was a blast. I got paid to jump from airplanes, both static line and H.A.L.O. I got paid to blow stuff up, shoot all kinds of weaponry. I was trained and got to call in Naval 16" guns! How many people can say that? I have called close air support from A-10s, F-18, AC-130 and Apaches. I got to test new explosives for God's sake. It was worth it most days anyway. You couldn't believe how many tax dollars I used. When I got out they said they figured that in six years they had spent almost 1.5 million on my training.
I wish I could go fish any day I chose but my body don't always agree as to what is a good fishing day. Oh well there will be another one soon. It would be nice to say I earn my pat but I can't work so a little for doing nothing ain't bad right. It is what it is. The bills are paid the stomachs are full and there are alot of people in this world that have it way worse than I.

You have a great attitude. If your ever in Idaho and want a fishing trip let me know I would be glad to take you. Ron
 
We have a lot of very hard to reach pocket lakes. Sometimes the road to them is just a dirt trail with very little room. So I was thinking something that fits in the back of the truck. Might have to look at a Gheenoe. They are real stable, and easy to move around by yourself.
 

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