The Bow In A Pontoon Help

[Guest Jeremie]

Last weekend, me and my dad made a trip down to fish the bow, i did great, him not so much. Trying to control the spinning of the boat along with the fish didn't work out so well and he lost a lot more then he caught. But we both have the same problem and that is, We hook into a big fish, fish goes upstream boat goes downstream and you cant do anything about it = losing the fish. Is there anyway to slow down your pontoon while you're floating? We thought about having an anchor out dragging but that would tear up the river bed or get caught and then you would actually be in trouble.

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

[bigbowtrout]

Maybe a drift sock will work for ya.

[Harps]

Are you using fins and oars?

 

Dragging an anchor can be dangerous for you and can harm the substrate (hurts invertabretes resulting in lower river productivity if sever enough- like a 1000 boats dragging each season)

 

Dave Scadden has some pontoon fishing articles online if you search for them. There was a good one in Flyfishermen magazine (I think) not to long ago. He also has this on his site:

http://www.northforkoutdoors.com/Articles/...treamdraft.html

[Guest Jeremie]

not fins, going to try that next time a drift sock will not work with the way the current goes i think, unless im wrong. I think the fins would work, anyone else got any other suggestions?

[Harps]

This was his other article about using fins:

http://www.flyfisherman.com/content/pontoon-boat-basics/

[murray]

Jeremie, I have had the same problem with losing the big fish while drifting in my pontoon. Not every fish, some of them actually swim downstream but enough to know what your talking about. I'm not sure what the answer is, I always use my fins while floating but instead of trying to slow the boat down a bit, I use mine to try and get to shore. Generally when I float I try to stay about 30 or 40 ft off shore so you should be able to kick your way into shallower slower water without too much effort. That being said, the fish dont wait for you to get in to the bank and I still lose my share.

As far as the anchor idea goes, I highly reccommend you DO NOT use it. Your world will turn very dangerous in a blink of an eye. Just imagine if your anchor gets stuck under a big rock. Your boat will stop moving but the river keeps pushing with lots of force. On top of that, the anchor will probably be 5 or 10 feet upstream of where you sit in the pontoon boat and it will be impossible to dislodge your anchor. You would probably have to cut the anchor rope.

 

If you do another float sometime this summer on a Friday and want company, send me a note.

 

Murray

[Guest Jeremie]

I think im going to use fins on saturday, not exactly sure if im fishing sunday but this time i will be floating fish creek to mckinnon. Hoping for an awesome day on the water, maybe see a few of you!

 

Thanks guys! Tight lines

[Tpetey]

I got a long handled net and find it's easier to fight the fish from the boat.

If I'm floating along and the current and my kicking will help get me to shore, great, if not, I sit there and enjoy.

Don't be in a panic to get to shore, most (not all) fish will drift with you for a little while.

[Guest Jeremie]

Alright, im gonna use some heavier tippet this time too so i can be a little more aggressive on setting the hook. Definitly using the flippers, makes a lot of sense to me! I'll be out in my olive raincoat and my green fishcat pontoon floating Policemans to Mckinnon! Feel free to say hi!

 

Tight lines!

 

jeremie

[mmaciej1]

I use McKenzie Drifter while fishing with another person, so flippers are not an option. If I really need to slow down my boat I use a 5 foot section of chain as my anchor. Works well and it never got stuck, but I always have a sharp knife handy and I don't use this system very often - maybe couple times per season (not the healthiest thing for the river bottom). We had few years ago anchor stuck on actual drift boat - it was dangerous and we had to cut ourselves loose. Flippers are a good idea and I use those on my Outlaw Rampage, but small size kickers are not very efficient, full size "Dave's Flip Fins" from Dave Scadden work much better.

 

Maciek

 

[Jayhad]

. If I really need to slow down my boat I use a 5 foot section of chain as my anchor. Works well and it never got stuck, but I always have a sharp knife handy and I don't use this system very often - maybe couple times per season (not the healthiest thing for the river bottom). Maciek

 

you just let the chain drag on the bottom of the river?

[mmaciej1]

you just let the chain drag on the bottom of the river?

Yes, doesn't stop the boat, but slows it down. You need to play with chain length/size but it works well and actually doesn't do a lot of demage to the bottom.

Maciek