DanD Posted June 23, 2015 Report Posted June 23, 2015 Does anyone here have a pontoon boat or fished out of one? I’ve been thinking about maybe getting one, in or around the 20-24 foot range. What are the pros and cons of towing, navigating and fishing from/on them? The idea of all the room is what sparks my interest. There’s a bunch out there used, in around the 6-8 grand; but they all seem underpowered; with 25 – 40 hp motors? Do they not need as big a motor to get them moving? Dan.
MrSimon Posted June 23, 2015 Report Posted June 23, 2015 (edited) I have fished out of them for a while and recently bought one last year. I got a used 22' Crest with a very open and fishing-friendly layout. I wanted a fishing chair at every corner, no sun decks or big lounges, and I wanted the railings to extend all the way to edge of the floor (meaning no deck on the outside of the fence). It wasn't easy to find exactly what I wanted, but eventually I did. I put a brand new 90HP etec pontoon series on it and it will do 22mph. Regarding towing, they don't weight all that much, but they feel a lot heavier because of the air drag. If you will be towing long distances or through big hills or mountains, I'd definitely recommend using something substantial. A mid-size SUV with a V6 isn't going to cut it. In terms of fishing from them there are some pretty big pros and cons: PROS: Comfort and room!! It's huge, has a flat floor, plenty of storage, comfy chairs, and even a couch. It truly is like fishing out of your living room. Stability. I was really impressed by how well it handled waves. I was able to cut easily through chop that would have absolutely soaked me in my 16' V hull. A 22' hull usually spans the waves and gives a smooth and dry ride even in heavy wind. Family friendly. I can take my wife and three small kids out with no worries of people falling over. It has a sun cover, plenty of seating, a cooler, and is easy to drive. It's the perfect family cruiser. Capacity. I can go on a trip with 5 or 6 guys and not have to take two boats/vehicles. All my buddies can load up in the Suburban and take the pontoon boat anywhere we want to fish. Range. With almost a 30 gallon fuel tank you can run all week without having to fill up. Cons: Boat control. I opted to not put a trolling motor on my boat as it would be very much in the way and a tripping hazard when not deployed - not to mention expensive and would require three additional batteries on the boat. Therefore I have no way to control the boat other than to drift with the wind. Anchoring a 22' pontoon boat in windy conditions is an exercise in futility. If you like to target specific structure or slowly work a shoreline, you'll have a hard time in a pontoon boat. It's great for drifting and trolling though. Size. This isn't a problem for me as I have room to store it and a truck to pull it .... but not everyone does. Covering it. Not a biggie, but it takes some creativity (or money) to keep it properly covered when parked. All in all I love it. It's perfect for the family or relaxed fishing trips with a bunch of buddies. But for more serious structure fishing, I take my smaller boat that is better designed for that purpose. Edited June 23, 2015 by MrSimon
OhioFisherman Posted June 23, 2015 Report Posted June 23, 2015 Almost all that are seen down here are one lake wonders, it is very rare to see them being trailed to different lakes. I have only seen one on Lake Erie, some guy on a quest we talked with at South Bass Island ( Put in Bay). He claimed to have started in Lake Superior and was headed to Florida, he stopped at South Bass because of high winds and waves. They aren't intended to be speed boats or for rough water? most I have seen probably catch a lot of wind?
Lape0019 Posted June 23, 2015 Report Posted June 23, 2015 Dan, If you go and look at the pontoons, take a look at the maximum horsepower rating on them. Originally, Pontoons were made for slowly putting around on the water and speed was not a necessity so 20-40HP was quite common to see. Most of the newer ones in that size range start at a max HP rating of 75 and go up to 200 so like any other boat, it depends on the model.
DanD Posted June 23, 2015 Author Report Posted June 23, 2015 Thanks for the reply; you've certainly gave me food for thought. How hard is your's to dock, in a heavy wind; are they the sail they look to be? I've been reading about side thrusters and it doesn't look all that hard to build a couple, out of an electric trolling motor? Towing one wouldn't be a problem with the Avalanche I have; I was wondering about trucks passing, out on the hwy; do you get blown around a lot? Dan.
davew3 Posted June 23, 2015 Report Posted June 23, 2015 I would tend to think on what water body you are going to use this on. It is a stable platform but in bigger waves it does get interesting. Waves on a lake like Pigeon are one thing, waves on Lake Ontario are something else. I would think there would be times when you cannot always go straight into the waves. Wind is a factor, smaller lake you may get a wind break, bigger lake lots of wind. We took one from Hastings To Peterborough, 6 people, 50 hp 4 stroke, we wouldn't have won a race but it was a fun day. Regards
KLINKER Posted June 23, 2015 Report Posted June 23, 2015 Pro...Real nice furniture set up for fishing con ...real nice furniture, so you should invest in a cover to keep the sun and any sparks from campfires or fireworks off it. Buddy sold his because it was too nice. get one set up for fishing ,don't try to convert one over. Take the CPS coarse, anchoring and docking won't be a problem. You want a quiet motor.
Freshtrax Posted June 23, 2015 Report Posted June 23, 2015 My grandpa had one growing up on the welland river near dunnville. We towed it to longpoint for bass opener one year it was the only time it made that treck it was a handful once the waves picked up but it was a mid nineties model with a 25 hp on it.
MrSimon Posted June 23, 2015 Report Posted June 23, 2015 Launching, retrieving, and docking is not a problem at all. If you have any boating experience whatsoever, you'll be fine. Mine tows great and doesn't get blown around at all, but I'm towing with a 7,500 pound 3/4 ton Suburban on a brand new trailer. If you are seriously considering one, you should rent or borrow one for a few days and get the feel for it.
DanD Posted June 23, 2015 Author Report Posted June 23, 2015 If you are seriously considering one, you should rent or borrow one for a few days and get the feel for it. Yea there a place not far from me that has weekly and seasonal rentals and I may just do that for a week. Dan.
Old Ironmaker Posted June 23, 2015 Report Posted June 23, 2015 I fished off of one years ago on of all places Nippising. It was like fishing from your living room, nice. Reel in a fish, start up the BBQ, have a burger, reel in a fish, repeat. Now having said that when it was time to head in we went on the other side of Iron Island and were met with 1 meter waves. That was no fun at all, everyone got soaked and my brother lost his lunch. A friend down the lakeshore has a medium sized rig with a 9.9. He only has sunk it once when he left it in overnight and a storm came up. He uses his tractor on a sandy beach to put it in and out, easy peasy.They putt around in the small bay when there is zero wind. Not many days it is calm on Erie. It would all depend on what water you are going to use it on and if it will be moored or not. I would actually love one but it would have to be on a small protected lake or river.
chris.brock Posted June 23, 2015 Report Posted June 23, 2015 I bought an 18' pontoon with a 25 hp 4 stroke. It does 12 mph. It mostly stays on one lake. I love the thing. Great to recreational fish from, cruising, bimini top for shade, comfy, can carry lots of people. I have a down rigger mounted on it too. 18' would be the minimum size, docking is easy. I would buy one with a trailer (I did). A carpet floor gets dirty and moldy. A net helps landing fish because you are pretty high off the water.
landry Posted June 23, 2015 Report Posted June 23, 2015 If I owned a cottage it would be a great second or third boat. As a fishing boat - I think they suck but I am pretty hard core when it comes to my fishing.
chris.brock Posted June 23, 2015 Report Posted June 23, 2015 yeah, "recreational" fishing If I had the time and money for a fleet of boats I likely wouldn't fish off the pontoon
Raycaster Posted June 24, 2015 Report Posted June 24, 2015 I've had a bare basic small 16' pontoon (30hp) for 3 years now. Awesome for fishing and able to take family for easy cruises. I've had it on LSC, Balsam, Mitchel, Canal, Sparrow, Scugog, Gull, Buckhorn (everywhere) but weather is a big component on launching. Biggest problem for me are speed and gas. I try to always scout ahead and launch close to the fishing area I want, never going to circle lakes... Towing basically kills my mileage even with a light boat. The boat is so high up on the trailer its like pulling a Billboard deadon!
DanD Posted June 24, 2015 Author Report Posted June 24, 2015 It's real nice to here the good and bad of owning one. Thanks everyone for your replies. Dan.
MrSimon Posted June 24, 2015 Report Posted June 24, 2015 I'll second what Chris said about the carpet floor .... if you are going to fish from it, definitely get vinyl. When talking about rough water, the size of the actual pontoons makes a big difference. The shorter boats will have smaller diameter pontoons that don't handle waves all that well. The larger boats have wider beems and larger diameter pontoons ... making them much more stable in rough water.
adempsey Posted June 24, 2015 Report Posted June 24, 2015 (edited) We used to go to Rice lake every year for many years when I was a kid. One year, somehow we accidently ended up with a Pontoon instead of our regular fishing boat. We were like, wth is that thing?!?! After using it just once we were hooked and rented one each year afterward. They are awesome to fish from and great for a family/friends outing. Definitely a bonus if you have young kids or a spouse that doesn't really like to fish all day. They are relatively slow moving [although,as already mentioned, you can get larger motors on some - saw one with a 75 last time I was out], but easy to dock and navigate - although, I had some problems with the really big ones, I usually rent the smaller 18 footers. I never liked trolling in them, so I'd say they are mediocre for that. If you plan on fishing/boating with more than 3 people/pets quite often, than it's probably worth seriously considering. Not sure I'd want to tow one around though, but I've never tried launching one. Some of the launches we've used I could see it being a problem given their size. Edited June 24, 2015 by adempsey
lookinforwalleye Posted June 24, 2015 Report Posted June 24, 2015 People on our lake use em for cruising....get all drunked up and go for a cruise.... :wallbash:
manitoubass2 Posted June 24, 2015 Report Posted June 24, 2015 (edited) I fished from one once. Never again. Awesome to have for the family and or guests though thats for sure Edited June 24, 2015 by manitoubass2
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