pontoon boats(not the party barges)

[foxer]

Hello all, i'm new to this board and was wondering if anybody has any experience with these. Been shorebound for awhile and these things look like a cheap way to get of the bank. been looking at the water skeeter brand. any info would be much appreciated

[oregonwrestler]

I own a waterskeeter pontoon...bought the cheap one at GI Joes (I think it's on sale right now for $189 or so). A lot of my friends own them too. I personally think they're great. You can take them just about anywhere and can breakdown so that they'll fit in your car. A friend of mine had a mishap on his last Saturday. He misjudged a current (was his first time on any river on his pontoon) and his pontoon got sucked up against a tree. He was very lucky because his oar was the only thing that saved him and his boat from being sucked under the tree. Luckily he ended up being okay, very lucky. A couple of buddies of mine got on the tree and took apart the boat to get it off the tree. With all the water pressure being forced on the pontoon, I was amazed at how well it ended up. They put the pontoon back together again and floated the rest of the way down the river with it.
The only down side is I have to get a bigger anchor than I thought. My twelve pound anchor holds in some water, but not when the river's up and there's a lot of water moving through. Oh and another thing, if you do get one, make sure you fill the pontoons as much as you can so you sit as much out of the water as possible. It'll help your anchoring out a lot by reducing the drag from the boat on the water.
If you have any other questions, shoot me an email at wrestle4life@yahoo.com.

OW

[speyfly]

I would think twice about anchoring in the river. those pontoon boats are OK for lakes but not for rivers. You would be taking your life in your hands trying to anchor in the areas where the fish are. You should seek out some good info from a rafting shop before you venture out on your own. Don't want to read about you in the paper. Oh I have read a few posts on other BB's where they have gotten into trouble with the small pontoons.

[foxer]

thanks for the info. i actually have rafted some fairly decent rivers, Deschutes, Thompson..so i can read a river fairly well. i was planning on using on rivers like the Clackamas etc

[True]

I saw the two models in the Fisherman's Marine Supply insert in the Sunday Oregonian and I'll tell you that I think that $200 is a pretty good price to pay for something like this. I don't know if I would be shooting ***** with destiny if I were to float the lower Deschute's with one of these Water Skeeters? I was thinking about just purchasing a couple of 10'-12' pontoons and having a custom frame made. How would you go about finding a place that would have something like this? I've been looking at different websites like Outdoorplay and others but many of them don't sell just the pontoons. Besides, who would have the tools to make a frame? What's the cost? Remember I'm on a budget here. My darling Clementine said that she didn't mind if I spent 200 bucks on a Water Skeeter but buying a new cataraft or kingfisher was out of the question.

Does it have something to do with the $500,000 life insurance policy that I recently signed up for?

Hmmnn...

[TW]

True,

The Northwest River Supply Website has a good gear swap page. You can sometimes find deals there on tubes. http://www.nrsweb.com/swap/Display.asp . Hope this helps. Feel free to email if you have any questions.
Tom

[SnoSldr]

Goto Andy n Bax on se Grand. They sell pontoons, frames, and complete's Far burly'r than a "skeeter".

[NWRedside]

I've been doing quite a bit of research lately. Here are some sites that should help.

Manufacturues:
http://www.aire.com/
www.starinflatables.com
http://www.steelheader.net/boats/drift_boats.htm
www.jpwinc.com
www.wing.com
www.sotar.com

used catarafts
http://www.nrsweb.com/swap/Display.asp
http://www.paddlesportsonline.com/usedraftbarndb.asp
www.DHdriftboats.com
Don Hill: 541-747-7430
http://www.steelheadsite.com/classif...ges/3394.shtml
http://www.boc123.com/Postweb/postingsall.cfm
http://www.rafts4sale.com/
http://www.hcrr.org/classifieds.html

Frames:
www.clavey.com
www.bubbleboats.com
www.downriverequip.com
TMS Outdoor specialties , 503-760-6575. He is located up on SE 118th and Harold

[Tanner]

Guys,
I own an 8 foot Outcast and a 16' Sotar Cataraft with a custom made modular frame system. The Outcast is a much better built boat than the Water Skeeter and I have found that it is best suited for lakes and slow moving water.
Do some research on cats before you buy one. There is tons of info on the web (with some really good ones listed above by NW Redside.
Start with Sotar and Wing Inflatables.
There are many, many things to consider with cats.
What kind of stability does the shape of the pontoons provide. (On a small pontoon 6 - 8 feet, a full rocker design is not stable for handling rougher water) How strong is the frame? (They will twist when going through whitewater). Do you want to be able to stand up and fish?
Do some research before you buy. You may get a kick out of a Skeeter the first few times out but I can guarantee you that you will very quickly want to upgrade to a better boat.

[True]

Wow! Great sites. Thanks everyone that helped me out! I now finally think that I'm headed in the right direction...

We don't need no stinking life insurance policy!

[Osprey]

If you're serious about a cataraft (That's what they call real ones
start with the a 10-12 ft model you'll be much happier.I know Of a guy how builds custom fishing frames ask Tanner or .....drop me a line......Os

[Tanner]

Hot Dog!!!!!!!!!!,
He's back. We love ya man. :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin:

[Osprey]

Thanks Tanner I'll be here all week ....Os