Flycraft Patrol

nelsony

Steelhead
Forum Supporter
I've been waiting for this boat to be in stock for quite a while (maybe 6 months). It became available on Monday, with a black Friday discount + free shipping. I ordered it Tuesday morning and fished it today. Extremely happy with this purchase. I will post a review later, but if you've been eyeballing this one, might be time to get it.
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nice!

does that have a bladder? is that a zipper I'm seeing? I'm mostly just curious....I predominantly fish out of a Stealth Pro, which seems somewhat similar.
 
That's just a rubber bumper around the edge, there's no bladders.

Here's my initial impressions of this boat, I'll try to leave out the tech details that you can look up on their webpage.

I wanted a frameless craft small enough to fit into the back of my small bed pickup, fully inflated. This fits between the wheel wells to a point, then I have to tip up the stern to close the tailgate, which is fine with me.

The inflatable seating was very comfortable. I felt I could fish all day (which I did) and my back would be fine (it was). I could sit all the way back in the seat for lumbar support and still have my legs in proper position for kicking. On other boats I own, I have to scootch forward to do this and my lower back gets sore. I'm 5'8" for what it's worth.

The aluminum bar that holds the stripping basket was a game-changer, I found it easy to net fish right in front of it, then I could lean my elbows on it to remove the hook without fear of falling off the seat.

The boat feels rigid and stable. The instructions say to pump the hull (2 chambers) to 3.0 PSI, but I got it up to about 0.5 PSI and the hull felt tight as a drum (I stopped there, need to research this more). There's a separate inflatable floor that adds to this.

There's a lot of room behind the seat for all my extra gear (2 small coolers and a net, probably a bit more). However, there's a mesh cover that snaps over this area that I didn't find useful. There's also no self-bailing holes.

There's no saddlebags on the pontoons. A small equipment bag is provided that attaches to the inner hull with a Velcro wrap. It's enough to store minimal fishing essentials, however, it felt overstuffed when I put my extra pair of glasses in there. Thus the 2nd cooler behind the seat for raincoat, glasses, eyeglass cleaner, etc.

Setup was easy, except that I struggled with the provided pump. But I've never met a pump that I liked. I'll figure out how to make this work with my Ryobi inflator. The YouTube video setup instructions, which you access via a QR code, are for the Flycraft Recon, which is just the raft version of this boat. I haven't checked out the care and maintenance documentation yet (also available via QR code).

Two accessory mounts built-in, which is a luxury I've never had before. Used the provided rod holder for one. Packing straps and a snapback trucker hat also included. I'm picky about my hats, I like this one.
 
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I see a couple of things glued topside on the rear. Are those for a motor mount?
 
I’ve always been intrigued by these types of crafts. There doesn’t appear to be any foot rests. How did it row with your legs in the water?
SF
 
I’ve always been intrigued by these types of crafts. There doesn’t appear to be any foot rests. How did it row with your legs in the water?
SF
If I want to row with relative speed, I straighten my legs to get them out of the water as much as possible. This might not work for everyone. The only craft I can compare it to is a Cruzer Max, where I do the same thing. I think the Flycraft rows a bit better, I think it's because it's a little more rigid on the water (less drag).
 
I see a couple of things glued topside on the rear. Are those for a motor mount?
I contacted Flycraft about this, they said "Those are attachment points for strapping down gear if you need to, and also attachment points for some possible future accessories that we are working on for the boat."
 
Had to check against my Scout*. Nearly the same weight, 16" shorter, 8" narrower. 3.25" smaller tube diameter. So it's more in line dimensionally with the Cruzer Max. Very cool.

I like those glue on mounts. Wonder if that's a Scotty product?
 
I love my Stealth 2.0 and primarily use it for stillwater. Super versatile and fits in the bed of my Tundra. Enjoy the new boat.
 
That's just a rubber bumper around the edge, there's no bladders.

Here's my initial impressions of this boat, I'll try to leave out the tech details that you can look up on their webpage.

I wanted a frameless craft small enough to fit into the back of my small bed pickup, fully inflated. This fits between the wheel wells to a point, then I have to tip up the stern to close the tailgate, which is fine with me.

The inflatable seating was very comfortable. I felt I could fish all day (which I did) and my back would be fine (it was). I could sit all the way back in the seat for lumbar support and still have my legs in proper position for kicking. On other boats I own, I have to scootch forward to do this and my lower back gets sore. I'm 5'8" for what it's worth.

The aluminum bar that holds the stripping basket was a game-changer, I found it easy to net fish right in front of it, then I could lean my elbows on it to remove the hook without fear of falling off the seat.

The boat feels rigid and stable. The instructions say to pump the hull (2 chambers) to 3.0 PSI, but I got it up to about 0.5 PSI and the hull felt tight as a drum (I stopped there, need to research this more). There's a separate inflatable floor that adds to this.

There's a lot of room behind the seat for all my extra gear (2 small coolers and a net, probably a bit more). However, there's a mesh cover that snaps over this area that I didn't find useful. There's also no self-bailing holes.

There's no saddlebags on the pontoons. A small equipment bag is provided that attaches to the inner hull with a Velcro wrap. It's enough to store minimal fishing essentials, however, it felt overstuffed when I put my extra pair of glasses in there. Thus the 2nd cooler behind the seat for raincoat, glasses, eyeglass cleaner, etc.

Setup was easy, except that I struggled with the provided pump. But I've never met a pump that I liked. I'll figure out how to make this work with my Ryobi inflator. The YouTube video setup instructions, which you access via a QR code, are for the Flycraft Recon, which is just the raft version of this boat. I haven't checked out the care and maintenance documentation yet (also available via QR code).

Two accessory mounts built-in, which is a luxury I've never had before. Used the provided rod holder for one. Packing straps and a snapback trucker hat also included. I'm picky about my hats, I like this one.
I have taken the boat out a half-dozen times now, and liking it very much overall. I started to accessorize it, and that's when I encountered some issues. Flycraft doesn't offer any accessories for the built-in mounting bases, but I figured out the mounting base is a dead ringer for the Railblaza RibPort base. I confidently ordered a Railblaza swing arm for the base, and a Garmin mounting plate for the arm, to bring the sonar forward so that it's not behind my shoulder. Unfortunately, the Railblaza post wouldn't fit in the base. I spoke with Flycraft and they say the mounting base is from another supplier, very similar to Railblaza but not manufactured by them. The Railblaza post is similar enough to the base though that I was able to file it into shape so I could insert it, and even lock it in using the base locking mechanism. Below is the unmodified Railblaza post for the Garmin mount on the left, Flycraft (for their rod holder) in the center, and my filed-down Railblaza swing arm base on the right.

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A Dremel tool would have made the job a lot easier.

Flycraft includes one accessory with the boat, a rod holder, which I disliked. I wanted a Scotty but that can't be used in their mounting system. So I got the Scotty 1.25 inch rail mount, and replaced the existing rail with a longer dowel so I could mount the rod holder without interfering with the oars. I asked Flycraft if they planned to offer accessories that fit their built-in mounting bases, but they were non-committal.

Here is my accessorized vessel in dry dock. Hope to take it out on a test run soon. Dave
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I struggled with the provided pump. But I've never met a pump that I liked.
FYI, if you haven't tried a K-pump, you should. I use it for my Southfork and my 2-Salt Steelhead, way better than those foot jobbies and those stupid hook-to-your-battery things, or the huge handle pumps. I haven't been able to get my Ryobi to get enough pressure. Over time I've found that when the K-pump gets hard to pump, that's a nice internal pressure. Yes I have a gauge.

Enjoy your boat, customizing it for yourself is a lot of fun, isn't it?
 
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