Pontoon boats on Puget Sound rivers

[speedbird]

Hey all! I'm thinking about purchasing a personal watercraft to get access to a little more water, and avoid the combat fishing gauntlet. Drift boats and rafts look wonderful but are very expensive, and having to be shuttled back to my car would complicate trips and lead to the boat not getting as much use as I would want. A close friend of mine studied Summer Steelhead on the Skagit with WDFW last Summer, and they almost exclusively traveled around the upper Skagit (Newhalem-Rockport) using them. Looking online they are pretty inexpensive and would be even cheaper used. They are also easy to transport, and would be nice to use on stillwater, or on calm days get me that extra 20 feet from shoreline that gets me close enough to Humpy's. From a safety perspective, how dependable are pontoons on water like the Skagit. I'm also interested in fishing the Sky below Sultan, and the Snohomish.

 

[_WW_]

Go for it! Been doing it for 30 years with no problems.

 

[Matt B]

Completely legit for those waters and more. Make sure to be able to read water and know the moves before you set off, and/or go with a friend who has those skills. Let them go first and do what they do. It’s a blast!

 

[Long_Rod_Silvers]

You mentioned needing to be shuttled as a deterrent to why you wouldn't want a drift boat or raft.

You'll still need to be shuttled on the Skagit and/or Sky in a pontoon boat. Heck, any river where you start at point A and end at point B, you're car will still be at point A when you end a t point B. Necessitating a shuttle, or a way to get back up to point A.

 

[Wetswinger]

If you have a choice, get a longer model for river use. Length equals stability. Pontoons are a good choice especially if you don’t want to deal with a trailer. Go on a lake the first few times to figure out how to row. It's actually more challenging than you would think as a newbie.

 

[Divad]

I shuttle without help a lot and bring a little old mountain bike. I hide it in the stream-side brush, locked and swap it with the tube to peddle with my rods back to the truck.

Sometimes I’ll ask a homeowner and promise them a 6 pack next time if I can leave it in their yard. One day I’ll add a little 2 stroke motor to that bike.

 

[Long_Rod_Silvers]

I shuttle without help a lot and bring a little old mountain bike. I hide it in the stream-side brush, locked and swap it with the tube to peddle with my rods back to the truck.

Sometimes I’ll ask a homeowner and promise them a 6 pack next time if I can leave it in their yard. One day I’ll add a little 2 stroke motor to that bike.

Of for sure. My point was just that whatever you end up doing to get back to your launch point, it doesn't necessarily change because you have a pontoon boat instead of a drift boat or raft.

 

[Divad]

Very true! I cannot hide my old drift boat easily then again it’s also too big to easily steal.

Wear your helmet if you go the biking route!

 

[speedbird]

You mentioned needing to be shuttled as a deterrent to why you wouldn't want a drift boat or raft.

You'll still need to be shuttled on the Skagit and/or Sky in a pontoon boat. Heck, any river where you start at point A and end at point B, you're car will still be at point A when you end a t point B. Necessitating a shuttle, or a way to get back up to point A.

You are correct but even if I get lower use as a result, I will have spent way less money than I would on a drift boat or raft

Completely legit for those waters and more. Make sure to be able to read water and know the moves before you set off, and/or go with a friend who has those skills. Let them go first and do what they do. It’s a blast!

Being someone who has never operated any sort of watercraft on a river before, what's the best way to start to learn?

 

[Zak]

Wear a PFD!

 

[Divad]

Start on water less wild, dam controlled will limit the logs downstream. Look at USGS water conditions and research the streams floatable cfs.

But take the boat first out to a lake. Get familiar with rowing, turning, stability limits, etc.

 

[speedbird]

Thank you all for the suggestions, hopefully I'll have some pictures to share this fall!

 

[Brian Miller]

Being someone who has never operated any sort of watercraft on a river before, what's the best way to start to learn?

Take a class. I think Dave's one-day class gave me a good foundation as a newb.

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Boat Rowing School​

This school is for those wanting to better understand how to safely operate boat with oars on moving water. Whether it is a single person pontoon, raft or drift boat, we will cover basic oar strokes, reading water for speed, depth and direction and creating navigational plans for multiple move, technical pieces of water.

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I am not recommending a book instead of a class but along with a class, a decent book on the subject
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Also go with someone who's experienced a time or few; solves the shuttle problem.

 

[Long_Rod_Silvers]

In addition to the good suggestions above, there are some good nuggets worth noting in both of these videos.

 

[cdnred]

First, do you have a pic of the type of pontoon you're thinking of getting..? Just to give us an idea of what you'd be dealing with, pontoons vary in size and build. If you could carry a pontoon on your back via straps and limit your weight, if you're close to a decent road then maybe consider getting an electric scooter (40 minutes of continuous use) to shuttle you back. Either that or look at getting a small folding e-bike (15,5 mile range) or regular folding bike that you could stash in your pontoon for your return trip. This would eliminate having to stow the bike somewhere hidden plus provide a safe shuttle back. Check around you could find a nice deal on a used one that's more affordable..

Just a thought..

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[Scottcat]

Start on water less wild, dam controlled will limit the logs downstream. Look at USGS water conditions and research the streams floatable cfs.

But take the boat first out to a lake. Get familiar with rowing, turning, stability limits, etc.

If you're gonna fish right out of the gate bring the cheap stuff!! AND go with an experienced person in the other craft.
You only drown once!

 

[speedbird]

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but how is something like this: https://www.sportsmans.com/fishing-...-93Wg8AlBlEe62giYTiKD5R5PFajtfkMaAlQZEALw_wcB

This is what my friend has. It appeals to me mostly because of the low price, I want to save my money for a raft or drift boat once I find a decent deal on one, but I definitely do want a pontoon boat for lakes, very near shore Puget Sound fishing (I’m talking 50 feet out from the beach to cast at pinks) and for the days where I just don’t feel like towing something

 

[NRC]

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but how is something like this: https://www.sportsmans.com/fishing-...-93Wg8AlBlEe62giYTiKD5R5PFajtfkMaAlQZEALw_wcB

This is what my friend has. It appeals to me mostly because of the low price, I want to save my money for a raft or drift boat once I find a decent deal on one, but I definitely do want a pontoon boat for lakes, very near shore Puget Sound fishing (I’m talking 50 feet out from the beach to cast at pinks) and for the days where I just don’t feel like towing something

I’d say biggest thing is check that the oars and oarlocks are reasonably robust. I’ve had an oarlock go out on my packraft - not ideal to basically lose 90% of control over propulsion while in the water! The oars look a bit skinny too, but a little hard to tell. You want to be able to yard on them without any fear they’ll snap or bend.

 

[Haggis57]

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but how is something like this: https://www.sportsmans.com/fishing-...-93Wg8AlBlEe62giYTiKD5R5PFajtfkMaAlQZEALw_wcB

The Clark Fork would probably do for smaller lakes and close inshore. For $110 more though, you could get a Lost Creek 9 which is an Outcast Fish Cat 9-IR re-branded as Lost Creek. This would be a much more robust boat for rivers with 9 ft pontoons, 7 ft oars and heavier duty pontoon construction. It also has a trolling motor mount behind the seat if you want to fish larger lakes that are exposed to winds. My experience has been that 9 ft long pontoon also provide more directional stability than 8 ft boats. I like the convenience of the removable gear bags on the Fish Cat 9IR as well. I believe the gear bags on the Clark Fork on integral with pontoon cover. Outcast customer service is excellent as well.

Ken

 

[speedbird]

The Clark Fork would probably do for smaller lakes and close inshore. For $110 more though, you could get a Lost Creek 9 which is an Outcast Fish Cat 9-IR re-branded as Lost Creek. This would be a much more robust boat for rivers with 9 ft pontoons, 7 ft oars and heavier duty pontoon construction. It also has a trolling motor mount behind the seat if you want to fish larger lakes that are exposed to winds. My experience has been that 9 ft long pontoon also provide more directional stability than 8 ft boats. I like the convenience of the removable gear bags on the Fish Cat 9IR as well. I believe the gear bags on the Clark Fork on integral with pontoon cover. Outcast customer service is excellent as well.

Ken

I’ll do some research on it! It looks like a great option thank you