Purchased My First Pontoon

[jasonvilly]

Well I turn 30 on Friday and my wonderful lady friend bought me a pontoon boat. Wow what a woman. Maybe it had something to do with my constant badgering :-)

 

Picked up the Outcast Fishcat 9-IR. Put it together and I am happy with the purchase. Also picked up an anchor, life vest and grabbed a swivel to upgrade the seat.

 

I already owned flats wading boots which I will use with some flippers in the future. I think this will be better than the ones that go over your boots.

 

Plan on giving her the first run this weekend at Bullshead on the TUC trip I won in the auction.

 

Going to have to come up with a name in the next couple of adventures.

 

Anyhow does anyone have any suggestions on future upgrades that I should do? (better rod holder etc)

 

And if anyone is willing (when the water goes down to take a trip to show me the river pontoon ropes that would be awesome.

[slingshotz]

Grats on an awesome gift, I have a Fish Cat as well and you won't be disappointed. I've heard about people upgrading their seat with a swivel but I have never seen it before. Where did you get the swivel and does it replace the entire seat or just mounts underneath the existing one?

[TerryH]

........... Anyhow does anyone have any suggestions on future upgrades that I should do? (better rod holder etc)................

If you're going to do a lot of stillwater fishing -- chironomids etc. -- I'd highly recommend a sonar/fishfinder. I know others on this board have poo-pooed sonars, but I think they're a must, especially on new water. If I recall correctly, there was an earlier thread on pontoon accessories. You might want to do a search.

 

Congrats on the new pontoon. You'll love it. I just upgraded to a Outcast Discovery 9-IR. They're a great boat. Terry

[jasonvilly]

Swivel was $8 at wholesale, Hardware to install it was $5 at Rona. You will need shorter wingnuts and some lock nuts and 4 short bolts. Took me 5 minutes to change it to the swivel.

 

Terry

Thanks for the idea, I think eventually I will grab a cheap sonar, if just for the water depth and temperature. I know the cheaper ones arent great but depth and temp would be helpful.

 

Also thinking about a trolling motor for lakes. I have seen them for under $100, then all I need is a battery.

[slingshotz]

Thanks for the info on the swivel.

 

Trolling motor is awesome for getting around on a bigger lake, the only thing I've found is that you need to figure out some kind of steering system as pontoons don't really go straight naturally with a trolling motor pushing it.

[TerryH]

.................I think eventually I will grab a cheap sonar, if just for the water depth and temperature. I know the cheaper ones arent great but depth and temp would be helpful.

You don't need to spend a lot of $'s -- I think I paid $130 for mine. Also, don't discount the fish spotting capability of a sonar, especially in depths over 15' or so. Often times, the sonar can help you deside what depth to hang your chironomid. Terry

 

These are fish!

[jasonvilly]

Where did you put the transceiver/transducer?

[troutlover]

usually it just hangs below the boat it isnt a permenant mount

[zed]

Well I turn 30 on Friday and my wonderful lady friend bought me a pontoon boat. Wow what a woman. Maybe it had something to do with my constant badgering :-)

 

Picked up the Outcast Fishcat 9-IR. Put it together and I am happy with the purchase. Also picked up an anchor, life vest and grabbed a swivel to upgrade the seat.

 

I already owned flats wading boots which I will use with some flippers in the future. I think this will be better than the ones that go over your boots.

 

Plan on giving her the first run this weekend at Bullshead on the TUC trip I won in the auction.

 

Going to have to come up with a name in the next couple of adventures.

 

Anyhow does anyone have any suggestions on future upgrades that I should do? (better rod holder etc)

 

And if anyone is willing (when the water goes down to take a trip to show me the river pontoon ropes that would be awesome.

 

beer holder

[TerryH]

Where did you put the transceiver/transducer?

I rigged up a system using rare earth magnets (you can get them at Lee Valley Tools), so that I can easily mount and remove the transducer. These magnets are very strong, and hold the transducer assembly in place without any difficulty

 

This photo shows the two main components. The wood piece on the left holds one of the magnets and it is bolted on under the seat of the pontoon. The aluminum square tube on the right has a matching magnet on one end, and the tranducer on the other. The groove in the wood keeps the tube lined up vertically.

 

This photo shows the wood block bolted in place on the (uspside down) pontoon. I have a drop down wheel on the pontoon, so the block is actually bolted to part of that assembly, but one could work out an attachment scheme using the bolts that hold the seat in place.

 

This photo shows the transducer in place (again, an upside down view).

 

[Tungsten]

Thanks for the info on the swivel.

 

Trolling motor is awesome for getting around on a bigger lake, the only thing I've found is that you need to figure out some kind of steering system as pontoons don't really go straight naturally with a trolling motor pushing it.

 

When using a motor on a toon you set it up to pull you not push.This way you steer with your flippers or you just let the oars hang in the water.This makes it easier to troll also.

[theiceman2]

I just picked up my first toon also last weekend, used, but really happy with it also. Its a water skeeter river runner deluxe. The rare earth quick connnect is an awesome idea. Right now I have a down tube mounted with a screw clamp. We fished Lake Newell for pike. The fish finder was great for mapping out the weed lines and spotting fish. I am going to have to find a better mount system for that also, the zip ties just dont do it for me.

 

Super pumped to float the bow, if it ever turns from choclate mike.

[jasonvilly]

Need to buy rope for the anchor, how much should I be looking at? 50 feet?

[slingshotz]

When using a motor on a toon you set it up to pull you not push.This way you steer with your flippers or you just let the oars hang in the water.This makes it easier to troll also.

 

Ahhh, I'll have to try that. I don't ever wear fins on my pontoon so that's why I never pull with the motor as it's even more liable to go in circles.