I'm about to buy a new float tube, but I was also concidering buying a pontoon instead, never used one tho. Just wanted to know if anyone has a preference in one or the other. I've used a float tube before and know how they handle, but is the pontoon the better buy? I just wanted to get some input before I buy. Thanks!
Depends...lots of variables. Where do you want to fish? Transportation/type of car?
I considered buying a pontoon a few years back, after having my tube for about two years. Problems I encountered were: storage, transporting (own small hatchback and Jeep), and handling 70 pounds vs. 12 pounds from the car to the water. No problems controlling the pontoon I borrowed from a friend, much quicker across the water although I was blown more across the lake. Higher vantage point for sight and casting. Too often I fish by myself, so lugging that kind of weight around doesn't appeal to me, especially at the end of a long day.
I settled and upgraded to my Outcast Fat Cat. Packs easily in my trunk or the back of my Wrangler, very little strain packing to the water (get the straps), virtually indestructible, and tracks very well. Most of my fishing is in smaller lakes. If I do venture to a larger body of water, I'll attempt to park close or use my car to take me from place to place if the distance is too great. Plus, if I want to fish a stream in the morning and hit a lake or afterbay in the evening, the back of the Jeep easily conceals my tube. If I had a truck with a shell or liner, then possibly a pontoon.
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There's no greater fan of fly fishing than the worm...
I haven't tryed a pantoon boat. I have to agree with dutchman, I also have a outcast fatcat float tube and it works great, dosen't take up to much room, is durable, you sit up high in it, makes casting a bit easier, And it inflates and deflates in minutes. I use a small oare, You can move along pretty good with flippers and an oar.
The pontoon boat is the way to go if you choose to float a river or a lake. I have a 9 foot creek company that will charge a class two rapid with no problem and handles well on a lake. It is nice to have a place for a cooler and all your gear on a day float down a river or accross a lake. I float a section of the dechutes below shears falls and I carry a cooler, three rods( on just in case so it stays put away), all my trout and steelhead gear and I have enough room on the back platform to add more gear, even an electric trolling motor. Fishing lakes is just as easy, all day floating around and never having to go to the truck for supplies. I will agree that it is a little heavy when completely put together, but most river or lakes have a ramp or clearing were I can get close enough to the water were it is not a problem. It only takes ten minutes to assemble the frame and blow the pontoons up. Really the only thing that sucks about a pontoon boat is storage. I don't have a garage so keeping the frame some were out of the way can be a challenge, but other than that I don't think that a float tube can give you many options like a pontoon boat.
As Flying Dutchman said, if you plan to do much sight fishing, pontoon crafts are the way to go. "Sight fishing" includes dry fly fishing. Here's a specific example. Years ago when Manzanita Lake was an excellent dry fly lake, I tried to fish it using a float tube. Two guys in prams came by and started catching fish after fish. I could tell they were using dry flies. What bothered me the most was that I couldn't see any of the rising fish these guys were casting to even though I was only a short distance away. I realized that because I was sitting so low in the water, the chop of the waves was blocking me from seeing any of the rises. For this reason I wound up buying a Tote-n-Float, a raft-like craft with a raised seat. The raised seat gave me enough height to see rising fish even with a chop on the water. A pontoon craft would provide even a higher vantage point. I still use a float tube, but not where I will be dry fly fishing.
