you were the first person i thought of! welkl talk when i get back from my deployment
Kewl, thanks man.
Sounds like fun! You may have to install a spray skirt to keep from drowning! Beef up the deck with some additional support and the craft should be able to handle the weight of the motor. Zodiaks do it all the time so it should be pretty similar.
Good luck on your deployment. Where are you off to? Very long?
Dave has put as 25 on the Avenger, so 10 is no big deal. Plus Dave beefed up the deck already. Really pretty easy.
the middle east, 6+ months
Good luck, Zach, and God Bless!! Thanks for being there for us.
**The nice thing about having a gas motor is, it weighs about the same as a group 24 battery. I’m still using the same tank of gas I had in June.
I use it (motor) to get to where I want to go- not as a crutch, I also have my oars on the boat and still use the fins to fish with.
Get to point A- fin and fish to point B, motor up to point C, fin and fish to point D.
Wind comes up- who cares. No battery to run down. No need to worry if I’m going to make the shore the same day.
Watch all the float tubers kicking the calories away to make shore before the sun goes down when the wind kicks up.
I like the new mega rear deck because I can put a cooler, the fuel tank, a basket with my other goodies, my jacket, and still have tons of room back there.
These boats are incredibly stable because of the one piece design. So I love the standing platform and sight fishing.
And cpierce, go for the motor mount- with your framless it’s a dream.
**
I love the versatility of these boats. It is nice to have a single craft that you can use in so many ways and on such a variety of different waters and conditions. Everything from rivers with class 5 rapids to large lakes with a motor. Yet you can still finesse fish with your fins when you get there. You can just get to so many more places!
I have been thinking about a small gas motor, but so far I don’t fish enough really big waters for me to justify it. If I was fishing something like Strawberry frequently I would consider it a NEED!
Lately I have been hitting the mountain areas and little streams. The lakes are beginning to call me though.
[inline streams1.jpg]
[inline streams2.jpg]
Nice pix. Fun trip. But I’m sorry - ya’ll need a shirt-load more PVC on them thar tubes! Gotta make the deck impress! - Now really, if ya need to you can spray paint 'em so they color-coordinate.
But seriously - I’m curious, what do you like MORE about a Tube setup than, say, a small flat-bottom fishin boat, or something bigger even.
I can see - the close contact, the portability (unless your deck is SO big you need a semi to haul it!). But I find sometimes I like being able to fill a cooler full of ice, or have that extra space to stretch one’s legs. Mine is a SMALL boat, but a full float nevertheless.
Though I figure someone like TD’s finesse approach is benefitted by the p-tune approach. Just curious for your insight.
hey - sorry ya got outfished. It’s only “good” if it’s to a gal, or a kid, right?[:/]!
What I like about a Toon set up over a small boat is the fact I can use my feet/fins. I watch boats struggle a little to stay in a spot with a breeze, and granted you can use an anchor (on both) but what if you don’t care for anchors. Those cases where you might have to chase a fish (on fly gear, you only have 90’ to 100’ of line before backing, and I try to stay out of the backing range)
Plus you can crawl so to speak with fin power…can’t do that in a boat.
I won’t mention that we can put our two boats plus the two Escapes in the back of our truck as we do pack them on a trailer for less set up time.
But boats are nice in the slight ice capped waters[;)]
We have a small boat and gas motor, but we don’t use it very often. Only if we are going to a really large piece of water where we want to fish far away from the launch point.
We prefer tubes/pontoons I think because it is a more personal fishing experience. Each can individually decide what speed they want, where they want to fish, and so on. Plus I don’t fish in the same spots as my husband. We cover more water that way and find where the fish are holding sooner!
I like the portability of being able to launch from just about anywhere. I can carry my Fish Cat float tube in my car trunk, and that includes the fish finder and elec. motor and battery. I could carry my Renegade that way also, but I prefer to use our truck to transport it already softly inflated. I am basically lazy!
Because I am retired and my husband isn’t, I also like the more lightweight tubes and pontoons as they are easier for me to tote on my own. I don’t have all the hassle of towing and launching at boat ramps.
I find it much easier to fish where I want with fin power than with a boat. A motor is nice to get to the area with and come back, but I like using my fins for most of my actual fishing. I seem to be able to stay closer in to the fish with a tube than the boat. I think it doesn’t spook as many. I think it is easier to turn and hold in the wind in an area. Unless it is really really blowing, then I want a boat or off the water!
Like I said, they can be very versatile, and you can set them up to cover a lot of different fishing opportunities. Many more than if you have just one type of boat.
i can cover larger lakes like the berry with my toon with both motors on, and then take them off and float the green. if we need to do some hiking, we carry the renegade and escape on our backs without motors.
hey new little bro.. do us all a favor and keep your eyes and ears open .. and your head and ass low as can be and get back safe and sound to do a lot more fishing… (among other things.. 
)
MacFly
now thats cool lol
i can cover larger lakes like the berry with my toon with both motors on, and then take them off and float the green. if we need to do some hiking, we carry the renegade and escape on our backs without motors.
This I want to see…
I like the escape because it fits in any trunk and has oars to row on larger waters. But I find myself avoiding the big waters and hitting smaller more remote lakes with mine. I do have motor mount but frankly it is more of a pain to set everything up than just kick/row around the lake. I could use to lose a few LBS anyway. LOL!
now thats an idea.. get one of those car boats with a convertable top.. drive out into the lake.. catch some fish.. then drive home.. no set up.. not take down.. just driving and fishing… :-)..
MacFly
i can cover larger lakes like the berry with my toon with both motors on, and then take them off and float the green. if we need to do some hiking, we carry the renegade and escape on our backs without motors.
This I want to see…
I like the escape because it fits in any trunk and has oars to row on larger waters. But I find myself avoiding the big waters and hitting smaller more remote lakes with mine. I do have motor mount but frankly it is more of a pain to set everything up than just kick/row around the lake. I could use to lose a few LBS anyway. LOL!
It is the coolest thing watching Zach and Mojo go motoring off into the sunset. These boats are sooo cool and versatile.
I have the motor mount for my Escape, but I do need to get a smaller battery for it and then license it…next year.
The good news is, they don’t require the Idaho Invasive Species sticker if we don’t put the motors on the Escapes…LOL
Do you mean going backwards?
Sort of, the boat is backwards from what we use, but they just turn the frame around so they are facing forward. The curved end of the boat becomes the front for them and they do go forward…like a Zodiac.