The TM on the toon is like DSL compared to Dial up. Quick access to downloads!
I would love to. I found out after I sent that, my parents are going to be here from Arizona. So I am going to have to miss this trip.
I really need another lesson on cats. I went over by the Knolls last Thursday and didn’t even get a bite. I tried minnows, jigs and crank baits without even a bump.
Pat,
Do you have a picture of the rod rack that you put on the deck on a pontoon boat?
Seems like I remember a rotating rack that you built. I just couldn’t find it.
Jim
Sorry you missed the action at the Knolls. That is a large area, with different underwater structure. Like many lakes, and parts of lakes, the fish are sometimes holding in only one small area. It can take a lot of searching.
I plan to do some of that this next week.
Here are the pics you wanted. Hope they help.
TD how did the this rod rack work for access or what disadvantages did you find with this rack? It sure looks like a winner to me.
If you do not have a rotating seat, it can be a problem turning around to select or replace rods. I actually moved it farther to the outside to compensate for that. Otherwise, it works like a champ. It does not interfere with rowing action and keeps the rods upright and out of the way, on the non-casting side.
You can use the same principle…rotating on a secure shaft…and mount such a holder anywhere on a toon, by drilling and bolting to the main frame. Just be sure to locate it well and don’t “swiss cheese” your frame until you weaken it.
Thank you. That is exactly what I was looking for.
The tire on the front looks like a very good idea also. I am going to have to work on that one.
Frozenover and I have gotten into some places where we had to pack the toons a ways. It wasn’t fun.
The tire on the front would have made it much easier.
Well I am off to Home Depot for more parts.
Hey Pat,
Great job on the rod rack, it has given me some good ideas.
What are the pvc pipes running under both ends of the toon? I can’t tell what they are or even if they are attached. Oh yea, great method of attaching the helper wheel up front.
The extra PVC is a tie down rack to attach to the top of my vehicle, and to secure to the existing cartop carrier. Actually, I only put it on the vehicle once. I found that the natural contour of the toon fit my rack just fine.
Here are some more pics of the helper wheel. The guy I bought the toon from had it rigged with screw down clamps. They worked fine, but I always gotta mess with things. So, I rigged it up with a push together PVC setup. Easy on and easy off.
Now I have a question, cause I think this is the coolest idea since peanutbutter , does the line on the poles or rods ever get tangled up with this set up?
Just curious, cause with my fly rods, I try to put a slight ark in the rod to keep the fly from falling off and hooking me or something more valueable LOL 
. I also find, by doing this, even though my rods are sticking out toward the back and side that they occasionally get tangled (specially if it is windy 
).
I know spinning or bait you don’t need to put that ark in them but they are kinda close.
Where I have a TM and the deep cell battery I am going to use the motor mount frame to attach my porta wheel. It’s not quit ready but I have my “first go round” that I will put on and take a picture of when I get ready to enter the contest[;)]. There has only been 1 time that it would have come in handy, but with a couple buddies helping to carry the toon it moved well. Most of the time I back my trailer down to the waters edge and unload and load up.
I don’t know how others handle the potential for tangles but I have a couple of ways. First, I seldom get tangles even if I don’t take special precautions. I always hook my lure or hook in the hook keeper ring and the drag on my reels is usually enough to keep the line tight.
One thing I have done is to drop the hook or lure through the bottom guide (on spinning rods) to keep it tighter against the rod. If you have a casting rod, with smaller guides, you can first hook the lure in the hook keeper and then wrap the line around the rod a couple of times, securing it on a guide to keep it snug against the rod. Easy to undo when you are ready to fish. That works with flyrods too, if you don’t have the drag too loose. No need to put a big bend in the rod. That only invites hanging up on something.
Thanks TD. A little hard NOT to get a slight bow with a 9’ to 10’ rod. That is a lot of exposed line as compared to 6’ to 7’[;)]
Plus with the nickle plating and the agote guide, I have never been one to hook off the guides. Not big enough to pass the fly through.
Usually, If I am running two flies I use a “Y” connection with one being shorter than the other. So, I wrap the longer one around my reel and hook the shorter one to the longer. Still tough not to get a little bow thing going on.
We will have to experiment more on this.
Flygoddess,
I have a quick question for you.
I put a trolling motor on my pontoon and took it for a test drive today.
On low speed, I didn’t have much trouble steering with a fin. On high speed, the toon wanted to go around in circles.
It didn’t seem to matter how much I used the fin, it still tried to go in circles. I would even crank the motor over to the one side just to try and get it to go in the right direction.
Have you found this to be the case when the motor is on high?
If so, do you have any corrections?
Thanks for your help,
Jim
I built the rod rack and installed it on the back deck.
It looks like it will work as intended.
Thanks for the insight.
I haven’t had the problem with circles on high. I did have the problem back with my 6’ but, I also had a broken leg so only one flipper in the water and it was a ruff day.
Are you letting the motor pull you? In other words are you going backwards? Remember, Pontoons don’t have Keels.
Also, if your oars are in the water it can through you off.
I did notice you say FIN, did you have two on? If you only wear one, you will have a problem as I did.
One more question, did you have the fins on?
I do have it set up to pull me backwards.
My oars were in the water on the first trip and that was throwing me way off. I couldn’t get them to stay out of the water, so I went back to shore and left the oars and tried it again.
It still tried to go in circles on high.
I did have both fins on, but only one in the water. I tried both in the water for a short time with out any success.
Maybe more practice is needed. I was looking for some hints before the next trip..
Sorry, I haven’t a clue on this one[unsure]. I did forget my flippers once and I found out that I could still steer with just my wading boots, but I had to be on 2 or 3 for it to really make me turn.
I know on mine I need to have my motor slightly turned because of something that is creating drag like maybe my fishin buddy’s shaft or the transducer shaft or even the pontoon being slightly ahead of the other or or not being parralel. I believe at higher speed some of these imperfections just show up more.
I have a 50# thrust and on high it really moves out, but I have gone fairly straight without to much steering with my fins.