Kayaks and Pontoons

[Rob]

The boys and I took the pontoons and my Kayak down the Yuba river.








Cody and I switched boats and we liked the Kayak better than the pontoons.


With the Kayak you could move across the river easier. It was also easier to put in and take out.

The fly rod holder worked great.




We did not fish from the Kayak or the pontoons.

I was impressed how well the Kayak did on the River.

I took it down the roughest water I could find and it handled great.

I did have some water come over the front and inside ,but not much.

The Kayak is 9' long x 30'' wide and 39 lbs.

Next trip we plan on doing more fishing.

We had so much fun with the boats we did not fish.

Take care
-Rob

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Very nice..........

Did you have the people at Sycamore RV/Camp Ground shuttle your vehicle?

[SullyTM]

Hi Rob.. I read with interest your posting about your "boats". I've been researching kayaks but have been relunctant to plop down any $$$. You said you haven't fished from it. Is it hard to fly cast from a seated position? I would like to be able to get around a local reservoir and I thought a kayak would be ideal. Also, I know that you can install a skirt aound the open section to prevent water from coming in...Thank you. Thom

P.S. Yes, always wear a life vest, even if you know how to swim.

[Hairstacker]

Rob, sounds like you had a blast! I really like that rod holder on your kayak.

Thom, you should seriously consider getting some kind of personal watercraft. It changed my fly fishing life over night, as it got me out on the Delta, instead of standing and struggling on the side of a levee -- a kayak will put you on the right side of weedbeds. Plus, you can park it on top of weedbeds.

It does take a little practice at first to get used to handling a fly rod and a paddle at the same time. Wind and currents tend to move you out of position but, with a little practice, you can maintain orientation with one hand while casting with the other. I haven't found casting from a sitting position to be much of a problem as long as I don't try to cast far. I was reluctant to plop down big $$$ too, so I bought a $59 Coleman inflatable online at Wal Mart. My last Coleman inflatable kayak lasted two seasons, and I recently replaced it with another. (It might have lasted longer if I hadn't kept it stored in the trunk of the car full-time.)

[SullyTM]

'Stacker...It does pay to talk about things on the Forum...Inflatable kayak...never crossed my mind! Don't your lungs get tired blowing it up?! HAHA...I notice the Rob's pontoons have motor mounts for an electric? That's a nice feature. Guess I'll be doing some kayak shopping soon.

[Hairstacker]

Lungs? I don't think so, ha. I use a double-action foot pump -- takes about 5 minutes, literally, to inflate the entire thing. Oh, and by the way, it came with the paddle. Here's a picture of it I previously posted on another thread, complete with fishin' pole, thermos, camera, and landing net. Like sitting in an easy chair. . . .

[SullyTM]

...ahhhh, got a patch kit for holes? How strong is the material? 3mm, 5mm thick? I like the width of it. Looks stable. Thanks Mike.

[Hairstacker]

Actually, the material is a lot sturdier than it looks in pictures. I know it looks like a balloon in the picture but it's actually made out of heavy gauge PVC --30-gauge PVC bottom and 23-gauge PVC top. I've slid over shallow rocks and submerged trees many times with no problems.

It has 5 air chambers -- one under the storage net, one on the bottom, one for the backrest, and two for the main chambers -- and valves that lock the air shut even without the tops on. Anyway, when my last one was reaching the end of its useful life, I fished out of it once with one of the two main chambers almost fully deflated. Was harder to maneuver that way, as it sat lower in the water, but had no worries about sinking. Use to patch it with pieces of vinyl and superglue -- worked like a charm. Problem was, like any vinyl, after many repeated cold and hot spells sitting in my car trunk, the vinyl started getting stiff and losing its elasticity -- it became susceptible to splitting at the seams at that point, which is exactly what it started doing. At the end, I kept patching it and it kept splitting. Finally gave up and bought a new one. But I got a LOT of use out of that first one. Enough to convince me it was a no brainer to get a new one.

It is VERY stable. I've leaned way over the sides in all directions many times while unhooking flies from tules, trees, logs, etc. Never even got a hint of tipping.

Ah well, not trying to sell it, just pointing it out as an inexpensive, extremely portable option. Having said all that, I'd like to get one like Rob's some day too. I'm sure Rob's will last many more than just a couple of seasons.

[SullyTM]

...does it come in green? Red is not my style! $100 vs say $700-800...not even close! It all boils down to use. How many days are you going to use it? If I dropped $100 on an inflatable and it lasted say 3 seasons...then I'd say that was a good buy. Hmmmm, time to start dumpster diving for aluminum cans. Thanks for the report.

[Hairstacker]

No, it doesn't come in green. I wish, ha. The first one was yellow with orange accents, then Coleman replaced those colors with red and black, respectively. I used mine about 40 times last year alone. If I seem hyped about it, I guess it's just because I've had such good times popping topwater for bass out of it. Anyway, if it wasn't one of these inflatables it would be something else -- I didn't realize how much I had come to depend on it until my last one started dying.