Cataraft Help.

[Shane]

I have been talking to all the manufactures of inflatable boats and of course theres is always better than the next guys. I need the real scoope from boat owners with the smaller personal fishing crafts. Which shape of pontoons is better in rough water. What Material holds up to abuse. What would you have done different with yours. Any info Would be helpfull.

[FlyChucker]

Hi Shane. If you haven't already go talk to Dave Chapman (Owner) at Four Seasons Fly Shoppe in LaGrande. Dave is an shop operator who knows how to use what he sells. Ask Dave about the modified frame that he uses.

Dave will do you right. Besides, I think is always best to shop locally if you can.

We're in Hermiston now but lived in LaGrande for 20 years.

Mike Adams

[fishbait]

Shane,
Fishermans in Jantzen Beach has a nice one for $199.00........Special sale as the two tubes are a slightly different shade of green. New its $599...........Great buy.

[Shane]

Thanks mike I have talked to dave in the past but I am not real impressed with outcast. Alot of people have them and love em others have horror stories. I would like to find people using other brands to speak up and tell there experiences. Kind of funny you said you now live in hermiston I lived in elgin for 28 years and have just moved to IONE!

[FlyChucker]

Well hotdog, we're "neighbors" again and didn't even know it. Not much fishing in Ione that I've seen but just up the road here in Hermiston it's 24/7/365 if you want to. We've only been here for 2 years and have just scratched the surface of all of the fishing possiblities.

If you're interested send me an e-mail

madams@eoni.com and we can get together for a fishing trip. We float the Umatilla quite a bit using my Outcast 10 footer when by myself or the driftboat when taking others. You'd be welcome to use the Outcast to compare against other boats.

There are many different boats on the market you just have to find the one that you are comfortable with. None of them are cheap.

Mike

[Osprey]

Hey Shane,I know a little about these
As far as materials go heres how I rate them

4) PVC...a lot of boats are PVC,the problem is this material is not as tough as the others and does not handle UV rays very well,prolonged exposer will shorten the life of these rapidly.
3) Hypalon simular to PVC in it's quality,a little heavier than PVC. no real advantage.
2)Bladder systems i.e. Outcast,Aire,these have bladders and zippers,for the average guy these work fine,real heavy compared to other boats.
1) Urethane,the best and most expensive.This material has a puncture resistance almost 10 times that of PVC :shocked:
Only a few manufacturers around,Wing,Sotar,Maravia
Wing uses the best quality of the three,Sotar has gone to a spray-on coated urethane as has Maravia.

Tubes are the basic start,now frames
since I don't want to take up any more space here,Let me say,not to many out there to fit my needs so I started buiding them.
drop me aline and I'll send you in the right direction.......Os

[Tanner]

Yo Shane,
Listen to Osprey, He knows his Doo Doo when it comes to Cats. I own an Outcast Pac 800 and it is a great boat for real mild rivers and lakes. I see you are in Elgin and probably want to do stuff like the Grande ronde, right?
I have 2 words for ya. Wing Inflatables or Sotar.
I wanted a larger cat that I could do extended floats (Up to 1 week) So I talked to Osprey and he showed me the cataropes (sorry little play on words there.
Anyway, I started looking around on the Web and made up my mind that I was getting either a Wing or Sotar. I ended up getting a steal of a deal on a 16 foot Sotar. Osprey made the trick 3 piece modular frame for me and I couldn't be happier. I know both companies make smaller 1 man type boats, but they are gonna be considerably
more money then an Outcast.
As far as frames, I know a great frame builder (huh Osprey?)

http://www.sotar.com/
http://www.wing.com/
[ 12-17-2001: Message edited by: Tanner ]

[ 12-17-2001: Message edited by: Tanner ]</p>