Ron, you got it. Whenever is good for you give me a call. I am free pretty much whenever and I go thru Buhl almost every Sunday morning. As far as SFCR you have a point and I was thinking mostly the snake as it is close to home. But heck for SFCR I will hoist a sail and troll ( certified to sail to 35’ single handed LOL) where there is a will there is a way. That or buy the motor I been looking at.
Gosh I can hear the comments now LOL. Funny though they do make sail kits for pontoons.
And then the main purpose which was for the Salmon, Clearwater, holly heck I might even try Oregon’s rivers. Them steelhead and salmon are getting under my skin so bad I friggin ITCH.
I apologize if I sounded like I was getting on you did not mean for it to be that way.
as far as any current I can’t see somebody trying to use fins to steer and fish. Actually in any type of raft,cataraft ect your not fishing thru whitewater / heavy current. More a means to get to the spot and then fish, either in or out of it.
I think we are kind of talking about different levels of current and white water. I drifted the Snake from Swan Falls to Marsing. Below Swan falls the river last year was going 3 mph on even the slow parts. The fast stuff was pretty fast. In the class II splashers
(that is what I heard the called) we targeted catfish in the “white water” on the trip. We would see slack water behind rocks and use our feet to kick our boats into position to drag the bait around the rocks and into the hole below. It was quite effective.
Again this kind of floating is not on par with real white water fishing by any means.
In this video I am keeping in the hole with my fins as I am fighting a 30" catfish on an ultra light rod. If I was in a boat that was taller and I need to row I would have had to either beach or keep floating. In either case the ultra light would be too out classed to get the job done.
When I am Sturgeon fishing I have to use my fins constantly to stay in the holes. When you have a sturgeon on with one of these small boats I don’t know if a guy could do it if you had to row all the time.
Again I just don’t see how one boat can be the best at everything.
I saw one on I think it was steelheader.com called the osprey that I liked a LOT. Ron
Ron, you got it. Whenever is good for you give me a call. I am free pretty much whenever and I go thru Buhl almost every Sunday morning.
I think I am free this Sunday. I will call. Ron
Yes steelheader.com has the osprey. 9’ 15" toons and I also looked at it seriously next to the X-5. Not going any further on it. I have a standing platform that I could sit on and use fins with - although the toons are 20" so what affect it would have ? All the things needed to find out if I decided to try that route. That’s going to be the fun in it playing on the snake and trying different things. Do they make a perfect boat ? If you ever consider the osprey I am pretty certain they will work with you on outfitting it to your desires.
mudsucker, I did not mean to ignore your question. I have a friend that cartops a 9’ outcast. He has done it both ways. If he is not going to use it for a while he deflates it. Mostly he tries to leave it inflated 3/4 full in the garage , pops it on top of the subaru or in the back of the truck and off he goes. If it is deflated it takes maybe 6-minutes for him to inflate it at the lake.Hopefully others can give a better input.
Looks like you guys have been busy on this thread!
Here is a little more info on what I plan to use the toon for and maybe this can lead to more “discussion” and suggestions…( I think that’s what has been going on)
I will mostly float sections of the Henry’s form from the warm river confluence down to menan. And as far as the south fork goes the only float I am ga,liar with is Lorenzo to menan (did it in a drift boat and didn’t see anything I wouldn’t do in a tube or toon)
I will also take it out on lakes and reservoirs likes Henry’s and ririe.
I would like something easy to transport because my wife wants to replace my SUV with a swagger wagon ( minivan)
I was at sportsmanship today and looked at their toons and really liked the quad style they had but it was out of my price range. I’m looking to keep it under $600 if possible
I stick behind NFO as with the lifetime warranty it is perfect. I knew the type of whater you were talking about as I have read many of your posts, plus you are a fly fisher[;)]
I prefer frameless due to transporting and weight , but I do have a trailer for the X5 which is hook and go.
You could find a NFO or KSL or Craigs or maybe Divin’s friends.
I have seen the boats Divin’ talks of and to be honest if I were going to do White Waters a lot, that would be my choice for sure. But to do an occasional river and a lot of fishing plus stillwater, I think they are over kill, is all. You can not put your feet in the water, but they are designed that way.
There are the Pontoons sold at Costco or Sam’s club that will also do the job although the quality isn’t the same. I am sure you could get several good years out of them. Only down side as I said is quality. Check frame welds. Going to weigh a l;ot more. Vinyl bladders require more attention. But again, will do the job.
Not sure how many hard core white water floaters there are here but interesting, might be a new post.
I agree with flygodess (did I just say that 
) that frameless is the way to go. Now staying under the $ 600.
As far as new you have the North Fork Escape 6’ @ Cabelas $ 700
The other options in that price range are framed so either cartop /breakdown. The Outcast Fish Cat 9 IR $699 or Fish Cat Streamer ( 8’ ) XL IR $599 . PM me if you would like the web address where I found the Outcast"s. They also have a pretty good chart especially for flyfishing pontoons.
If you have the time try searching for a used NFO Renegade 9 ’ or Rampage 10’-6" as both are frameless and larger. The Renegade and Rampage on sale run $999 & $1600 so used ?
I sold the hubbys Reny for $700. so it can happen. The Outcast you listed are Asian made I think, that could be the reason for the lower price. Check the bladders also. Are they Vinyl or Urethane. How heavy is the steel frame compared to an aluminum. Just stuff I would look for.
I know the sportsman’s warehouse models are made in china. That alone don’t make them bad I love mine. Outcast stands behind them with a 5 year warranty on new ones and they can help out with older used ones that are not on warranty. I have used the Sportsman’s for a few years now and they are good boats. Used ones can be bought for 200.00 I bought my first one for that and sold it for 250. The only problem is carrying them around in a car or van.
On a side note. I bet my old Sportsman’s caught the biggest fish of any pontoon on this forum. [sly]
Ron
Or at least biggest posted[;)] I agree, Outcast has a great standing reputation and the quality is there. Also, no upgrades in many years, till this year and their version of Scaddens Expedition.
However,the Sportsman’s Outcast are Vinyl bladders, not Urethane and steel frame.
65 lbs for a 9 footer. For $600 you can get the Southfork with Urethane bladders. I see those on KSL and Craigs list all the time.
Hope this works !!
9’ Pontoon Boat for sale.
Excellent condition complete with air pump,oars and custom wheel for easy handling.
for more information call 208-490-0256
Sportsman Outcast 9’ listed right now $375.00
NICE!!!
As far as river ratings go, I can’t speak for other brands, but the river rating on the Venture Outdoor boats was obtained through the Coast Guard. They based it on length,diameter, and materials used in construction among other criteria. I can’t say the Coast Guard still issues ratings as our models have not changed significantly, in design, since they were certified.
Nice, $ 699 for the 10’ Dura Pro. Seems well made for the price and compares to the Outcast Fish Cat 9 IR at $ 699.
I have a question if you do not mind. What is "one-piece rotational-molded DuraBladder flotation system "
I am familiar with rotational molded products - is the bladder a type of solid plastic cylinder ?
Looks like another option for fishingrookie.
Hope this works !!
9’ Pontoon Boat for sale.
Excellent condition complete with air pump,oars and custom wheel for easy handling.
for more information call 208-490-0256
Sportsman Outcast 9’ listed right now $375.00
I saw that one. I would hold out 275 dollars and dare him to pass it up. Ron
Yes they are more or less a “plastic cylinder”. Rotationaly molded using a semi-flexible material. They have a 1/8" wall thickness and rigid enough to maintain some of their form if punctured (although I have never heard of one being punctured that was not on purpose). They do require a half pound or so of air pressure.
How compact can you make them?
I have put a 10 foot pontoon into a 25x25x21 box for shipping. However, the trade off for the durability of the molded bladders is that they should not be stored folded. They can be compressed to about 7" high without a problem.
My biggest beef with the Venture boats is on the DuraPro 10 and 8 they have the same problem as the Creek Company sport. The extream rocker on them limits how much hull is in the water at any time, and they are finicky about frame placement. If you put much on the back rack at all the thing is popping a wheely. The 10 foot might not be as bad but the 8 foot would look like this with less than 30 pounds on the back rack.
Adjusting the frame helps to a point but the fact is this design is not good in my book. If a guy does get the balance right and it does ride level you still got about 4 foot of hull or less in the water. They don’t track straight at all. Here is a picture with one balanced. But it won’t track for anything.
Then the last rule of pontoon fishing. Friends don’t let friends float ugly boats. The Venture boats just don’t do it for me. Ron