Personal Pontoon Boat Questions

[Narille]

Hello Folks.

I am brand new to PPB and fly fishing from one. I was lucky to go down the Bow last summer, twice, on a drift boat with the Hook & Hackle club and found the great ability to go places walking will not allow. Now, I am hooked and NEED to float.

The boat I got was a used Outcast IR-8, came with a trolling motor and fish finder, both of which unless I hit a lake wont be using.

Recently I have been outfitting the boat and modifying it a bit....
10lb mushroom anchor
rope
life jacket
cleats
quick vinyl patches
k-pump mini
rod holder

So some questions....

-I am wondering how to run my rope to the anchor drop at the back, designs and such.

-I keep seeing 25' is a good length for the river, true?

-How do you know the pontoons are at the 2lb fill suggested?

-is there a site the will give you all the locations for launching and exiting the river?

-What about a wheel modification or addition I can add?

-Areas on the river to really watch for or avoid?

-Some must haves on the boat to take with?

-is the a group the gets together and kinda loosely float together I can meet up with?

Yeah I know I asked a lot of questions but I did mention I am new to the boating. Any information, links, pics, or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[haggis57]

You'll have fun - those are great boats. I used a 13 year old one for a couple of years. They almost handle like a float tube on a lake. I used mine primarily for lake fishing so can't offer any specific advice to floating the Bow.

I added a couple of small blocks/pulleys to guide the anchor rope (blue) to a cleat up front beside the storage bag. See photo. A friend created a metal tray to replace the netting behind the seat. Perfect for a battery.

I picked up a used Launching Gear Wheel from Kijiji. Fantastic product but a little pricey new. I would put everything on the boat at my truck, including motor and battery, then walk the boat to the launch and take off. I switched to a frameless Outcast Scout now but just added some plastic dolly wheels to my motor mount, primarily because of my previous experience with the Launching Wheel. Website is http://www.launchinggear.com

I used Scotty mounts for a rod holder on one of the foot rests and for a mount for my Fishin Buddy sonar for lakes.

Note that my layout for anchor rope routing, rod holder, etc. is based on me being left-handed!
Good luck
Ken

[Narille]

what my boat looks like.

49888052517_cc3e098d3e_o.jpg49888052522_98b83d2a2f_o.jpg

[kilgoretrout]

Please be careful where and when you drop anchor ...... ie not mid river in a fast run ,,,,, we would prefer not reading about you in the paper or on the news as some with drift boats have done over the last few years .......carry a knife in case you need to cut your anchor line .... have fun and be safe .....

[scel]

There is one consistent rule in fly fishing---if your line can tangle on something, it will tangle on it. It is important to be judicious on what and where to add things.

I am not certain that rod-holder will work for a fly rod. Scotty rod mounts are probably the best way to mount a rod. They have a footing that is designed for metal tubing. The rod mount is one of those things I find needs to be in front of me.

For the record, I would never anchor my pontoon in the river. Once on the bank, simply drag it up a bit. Anchors are nice for lakes though.

Kick fins are still very useful in rivers.

I absolutely adore the Outcast stripping net. It helps mitigate the tangle rule of fly fishing.

Good luck!

[commieboy]

https://maps.calgary.ca/RiverAccess/

[Narille]

Hey folks, thanks for the replies and help. The map link from commieboy is a great help!

The other side of all this is that today my boat lost a pontoon. The seam that was thermal welded/sealed split. I was hoping to get out on the bow when the water went down. After spending time and money to get prepped I am now going to have to spend a bit of cash on a new one as it seems not a lot of units are for sale used.

I am not deterred by this, I am just glad the split did not happen on the Bow.

This will most likely be the new boat....

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/clas...t-pontoon-boat

[Unclerj]

-How do you know the pontoons are at the 2lb fill suggested?

You can buy a low pressure gauge for inflatable boats. I found it was very helpful when I had my 'toon. I'm a big guy and needed to properly inflate. You really have to watch when you are going from cold lake/river water to sitting in sun on shore or on vehicle. Temperature can cause a big change in pressure.

[haggis57]

Checkout Facebook - Marketplace. There is an 8 ft Fish Cat Streamer XL-IR at Sylvan Lake for $400.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...2813785789374/

I would also send an email to Outcast and see what the cost of a replacement bladder is. They were have been very responsive to my questions on the older Streamer XL I had as well as my newer Scout. I received a parts order from them is less than two weeks.

Ken

[Narille]

Hey unclerj, all I have hear for non gage testing of pressure is if you can push down on the zipper seam at the middle and get about 1/2 inch deflection you are pretty close to the required pressure.

haggis57, I contacted outcast and their repair guru contacted me and as it turned out the thermal weld had gone and the material separated from the cloth and there is no way to fix it that he knows or heard of.

I have ended up with the fish cat steamer xl-ir. Hope it is as much fun as I have been dreaming.

[Scottmisfits]

I picked up a pressure gauge for inner tubes at Canadian Tire for $12. While this doesn’t work with bladder style, it works for tube style. I’m going to see if I can rig up some kind of an adapter to use for bladder styles as that what my Dad has and what I’ll be going to I hope. Mine is a tube style belly boat but Dad has an open front belly boat and a pontoon boat so I hope I can get something that’ll work.

[haggis57]

Congratulations on picking up the Streamer XL. That should be a great way to start your adventures on the Bow.

Ken

[haggis57]

I bought one of these pressure gauges.
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B06XSDP34K/...800_TE_3p_dp_1

It is difficult to see from the pictures but it is an inline gauge. You connect the bottom of the gauge to the fitting on the boat, then connect your pump to the top of the gauge. Works good. I found I was tending to under-inflate my Outcast Scout using the 1/2" guideline.

Ken

[Scottmisfits]

Originally Posted by haggis57

I bought one of these pressure gauges.
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B06XSDP34K/...800_TE_3p_dp_1

It is difficult to see from the pictures but it is an inline gauge. You connect the bottom of the gauge to the fitting on the boat, then connect your pump to the top of the gauge. Works good. I found I was tending to under-inflate my Outcast Scout using the 1/2" guideline.

Ken

Ok, no Jerry rigging for me. That's awesome. $21 gauge on a $7 pump, but I think it'll be worth it. I'm not exactly a small guy so having everything topped off is pretty important.