Inflatable boats

[Wild]

Funny but I have been researching some inflatables today and the better ones are not bad boats, some of you guys are just dramatic that's all. I am looking at a sea eagle inflatable and I see that bass pro sells them, 3 year warantee to boot- of course you guys will say if you last that long haha

 

CTC, phhh why bother shopping there, the return policy is getting worse.

[misfish]

some of you guys are just dramatic that's all

Hmmmm ,maybe some of us feal, it,s safer to buy a cheap 12ft tinny that is safer then a BALLOON BOAT.

The Zepplin comes to mind,and yes, they did say the Titanic was unsinkable too.LOL

I,ll take the Titanic any day.

Edited July 24, 2008 by misfish

[Wild]

HAHA but these things do have more than 1 air chamber, and the good ones will bounce off rocks with perhaps a scuff on it. I am looking at the pros and cons and these do fit the purpose in many cases.

[Rich]

They are safer than canoes and kayaks IMO. You just have to know your limits. Think of it like having a float tube. You wouldn't take a float tube in heavy current or areas with boat traffic, and you'd never travel in a float tube without a life jacket (at least I hope you wouldn't). The same general rules should apply to an inflatable boat.

 

The exception is the Zodiac style boats which have heavy, hard floors and are rated for high horsepower engines. I see guys using them out of Port Dover on Lake Erie all the time. They actually seem pretty stable. I still prefer my 14' tinnie or my 10' car topper but if storage is an issue, inflatable is a good viable alternative.

[boatman]

I use 12' Zodiacs at work and own a few aluminum boats. I can tell you that a hard bottom Zodiac is much more stable than a small aluminum boat. They are very safe. More so than a tin boat. However, even the 12' Zodiac seems a little too small for fishing anymore than one person. They also plow water and are harder to plane. I'd rather fish from an aluminum boat, but a Zodiac is a good boat. Now, an inflatable rubber tub like CTC sells is suited for only a very few uses and I wouldn't put "primary fishing vessel" at the top of that list.

[holdfast]

Here's my Take. I used one for many years when I was posted in BC. Worked Great. If you are not afraid of the water, wear a life Jacket, ditch your Boots, you'll be fine. I caught awesome cutthroat trout that I would of never gotten too as it would take a three hour hike up a mountain to Paradise. Without that cheap inflatable, I would of just had a picture of a lake instead of life experience fishing. Some people only feel safe in a titanic, yea some of you are over Dramatic. GO for it, just make sure you have more than two chambers.

[bfong07]

I have an Intex Mariner and can vouch for its safety. The craft is about 12' long and has 4 air chambers plus an inflatable keel that keeps it very stable even in choppy water. There is a hard floor of wooden slats and 2 people can fish in it, even standing up. As for getting swamped by the wake of bigger boats, it doesn't happen. The things just rides up and down on the waves. The rubber it is made of is awesome very sturdy and is formed by 3 overlapping layers. It awesome as a hard plastic bumper all around. I've had it ram into docks, branches and rocks without coming close to puncturing. Just make sure you don't over inflate, as the chambers have some "give" when they hit anything and this prevents it from puncturing. This is a very well-made inflatable (it weighs over 160lbs with a 55 lb-thrust electric motor and battery). The only drawback is that due to its shape, it isn't very fast, so I wouldn't take it any great distance from shore if there's a chance that I'll need to get back quickly. In good weather and light wind, it's absolutely fine, and especially great for shallow weedy lakes. It's no bass boat, but for a budget price, it'll let you access places you can't fishing from shore.

[dim.]

Yep, a good gust of wind & you're in Rochester! Lol..

Well not exactly.

I used to fish on HF280 Sevylor with 3Hp Yamaha. Yes it has limitation and yes you may get wet from waves. That's all. I fished Simcoe around Lefroy and Cooks Bay no problem. I even seen one in WF area in the calm day. But think about portability 30lb + 40lb + 1L of gas Plus you can fill it with water and stay afloat.

And now I have bigger boat but still inflatable and consider it safer than any small metal boat.

Try that with a small aluminum boat http://rib.net/forum/attachment.php?attach...mp;d=1210953021

 

PS Benti_11, I sold 3hp motor but still have Sevylor HF280 with extras PM me if you decide to buy one.