Anyone fish out of one of these?

[MN Shutterbug]

Since I got rid of my boat 3 years ago, I've really been missing not getting on the water. I tried a canoe, but with one person in the back, it's too tough to navigate with even a 7 mph breeze. I'm seriously considering this for this year. I'd be sticking to lakes under 700 acres. I'm thinking with a foot operated electric motor I should be good to go. It would certainly be more stable than a canoe and the wind wouldn't catch it quite as easily. It measures 4 ft. 9 1/2 ft.

[Lunker]

I fished out of one years ago. Kind of creepy feeling because it is so small, yet you sit pretty high on it. However it was stable. It gets to be a bit crowded if you try to fish 2 out of it. We actually had 3 guys in one of these at one point...not fun.

[MN Shutterbug]

Was it the 9 1/2 footer or the 8 footer? The video I saw shows a couple guys fishing out of the 8 ft., and they do look pretty cozy. How was it in a stiff breeze?

[MN BassFisher]

What does the price of those things run? Like roughly? If they are pricey, you could get yourself a kayak and a paddle and hit up lakes/rivers. That's what I'll be doing this summer!

[crappiegetter]

I have fished and hunted out of one. Used a five and a half horse on it to works well for hunting. Only fished out of it when we were kids on a mill pond we grew up by worked very well there too since we were kids and had to carry it to the water when we couldn't drive. But I do believe my buddies is about 12ft long.

[bobbymalone]

my dad used to have one and i fished out of one on a 10 acre private pond. Agree with the above. It feels weird at first, they are very stable, can get tight with two guys but definitely manageable. It does alright in the wind, better than a canoe for sure. Make sure you adequately power it though.

I also agree that 700 acres is about the max you would want to deal with. It's best suited for a much smaller lake with little traffic though.

[MN Shutterbug]

With shipping they are about $680. Motorguide makes a 40# and 54# transom mount with a foot control that could mount on the bow. That would work great for trolling. I had a transom mount Minnkota on my canoe but it was a pain trying to steer with the wind blowing and still hang onto my rod. It was also uncomfortable to reach behind for the motor. I'd never go back to a canoe.

I just rechecked the specs on the lakes it is intended for and the largest is 352 acres. The lake where it would get the most use is just 30 acres and kind of in a hole. It's also only 12 miles from home. I can put this mini pontoon in my 5 X 10 utility trailer.

[EJ_Mac]

Raft up (i.e. lash together) those two kayaks and you have essentially the same watercraft, still seats two, but with more cargo area and the ability to go in separate directions if you so choose.

I think the primary advantage of boats like that over kayaks is the ability to see and cast farther. I've been fishing from different kayaks for almost 10 years and love the portability, not having the need for any kind of motor, the mobility when on the water (I would imnagine that raft would paddle like a brick), etc.

Try out a couple of kayaks. You might be surprised.

[MN Shutterbug]

I'm a solo fisherman 90% of the time and though my main prey is bass, I still enjoy trolling for eyes on occasion. It would really be tough to troll with a kayak.

[MN BassFisher]

A lot of people actually troll with kayaks. You just need a rod holder (most people who fish out of kayaks install one or several of them on their boat).

Or you could by a Hobie (pedal operated kayak - hands free), there is also kayaks with trolling motors as well. Plenty of options for trolling baits however the least costly is to just set your rod in your holder and paddle slowly.

[MN Shutterbug]

Interesting, but I need to be able to stand up once in awhile and stretch. I'm not as young as I used to be.

[MN BassFisher]

Interesting, but I need to be able to stand up once in awhile and stretch. I'm not as young as I used to be.

Haha, that's understandable. If you are interested in kayak fishing, I know there are some that are better than others as far as balance for standing. Heard a lot of people and seen in videos people standing and sight fishing or casting. Even fly fishing. I'm just not too sure on which brands are good for that or I'd help you out with that.

[MN Shutterbug]

I have looked at kayaks on the net and the better ones cost a lot more than the mini pontoon. Also, the pontoon would be much easier to transport. My SUV doesn't have a luggage rack and neither Thule or the other company (can't remember the name right now) make the carriers for a Saturn Vue. My 5 x 10 utility trailer I just purchased will work perfectly for this pontoon.

[TooTallTom]

Sounds like a good solution for you, MN Shutterbug. Can you move it (safely, thinking of the "watch out for your back" thread) by yourself?

Also, I know MinnKota makes (made?) a model called "Vector" which was a transom mount, but had steering that they called "3X". Basically, a 20-degree movement of the tiller would move the prop 60 degrees. You could also easliy and temporarily switch the motor around on the shaft for back-trolling. Essentially, this would allow you to have the tiller right in front of you, pulling the boat in the direction you're facing. I think you can switch the motor on all the MinnKota tillers fairly easily, but it's something that requires tools and probably wouldn't be done for just a few hours at a time. Just another thought for powering something like this.

[MN Shutterbug]

The boat weighs 130# and you can also purchase snap on tires for the back for wheeling it down to the water. If you add dot com after the word that's in the middle of the picture, you can get all the details and watch a video of it in use.

[TooTallTom]

Fair enough. I don't have any experience with these, but it sounds like people are mostly positive about them for smaller water. Maybe you could find a dealer that would let you test-run one? Don't forget to bring all your stuff to make sure you've got enough room when you're actually using it.

[MN Shutterbug]

It sure would be nice to be able to test drive one first. I'm really not too concerned about the size. I made the mistake of buying a Sevylor Fish Hunter inflatable boat a few years ago. This pontoon will have twice as much room as the 9 ft. inflatable, and I fished two out of that. It wasn't much fun. The usable size of that was probably 2 ft. 3 1/2 ft. The rest of the size was taken up by the inflatable sides.

[TooTallTom]

It'll be nice to have some more room. But like with a lot of things, I bet it's not too long before you have it filled to capacity and are looking for more.

[MN Shutterbug]

It'll be nice to have some more room. But like with a lot of things, I bet it's not too long before you have it filled to capacity and are looking for more.

Been there, done that. That's why I went from a 14 ft. boat to a 15 footer a few years ago. But, I couldn't find anyone to make the 130 mile one way trek to a clean lake often enough to make it worth keeping it around. I've now decided to settle for the glorified potholes in SW MN and really don't need much, especially if I only go out 1/2 dozen times a year. That's about the total number of days we have down here that it's not raining or the wind isn't blowing over 20 mph in the summer.

This mini pontoon is the only one I can find that is 1 piece construction. All the others have a tendency to start leaking as soon as the warrantee expires.

[TooTallTom]

That's good to know about the construction. I imagine that repair on something like that is not super easy either. Getting to the back side of the seam might be tough...

[Duffman]

Interesting, but I need to be able to stand up once in awhile and stretch. I'm not as young as I used to be.

I hear ya, after about 3-4 hrs in my solo canoe my back is screaming "get me the #$&% out of here".

I also understand the need to gain some altitude, even with polarized sunglasses, it's really tough to see what's going on beneath the waters surface from the angle that a canoe or kayak provides.