My first Pontoon Boat, looking for ideas

[GRN]

I have wanted a small pontoon boat for several years now, but with the existing battery of watercraft (15' SC Lund/Honda 40, 16' river canoe, 12' Pack canoe w/ oars, Super Fat Cat) it's been difficult to justify.

I stumbled on a Outcast Oncilla, new on EBay for $249 shipped... not to difficult to justify! The only immediate additions I have in mind are a rod holder, some straps to secure a rod travel tube (holds multiple 3-5pc rods in their socks), and I have a HUGE fanny pack that can be easily secured to the back of the seat for layers, rain coat, food, water, etc... and I'll utilize two old down rigger balls as an anchor (the rest of anchor rigging is built into the boat). I'll also rig a shock cord as a 'safety' line for my 35" TLC XL teardrop net. One thing I am curious about is the possibility of configuring a portable DC rig for my Lowrance... since I already have one, why not, right?

I will be using this primarily for half day (4-6 hour) outings on still water. I am a minimalist and work out of the front portion of a Fishpond Double Haul in pretty much all of my different fishing environments (only wearing it when I wade), always C&R, so I don't need much in the way of gear or cargo capacity. I have some standard fins and a high capacity, dual direction pump that I use with the Fat Cat. Depending on how far I need to deflate it to get it to seat well in the back of my truck, I may get lazy and add a DC pump to the mix as well.

I would like to hear comments, suggestion, concerns, ideas, etc from those of you with pontoon boat experience. If you have any good ideas how to make all this damned snow and ice go away faster, I'll actually pay for those!

TL's~

[Fly Goddess]

GRN, I made my sonar mobile. First off, I mounted the transducer to an aluminum tube with holes to raise and lower it plus secure it with a pin. Second, I had a MOUNT for a Fishing Buddy that is just PVC with straps (easy enough to make)



The Battery, I use the small rechargeable you can get anywhere that sales electronics, specially home security systems.






For the screen, at first I mounted the screen to a piece of aluminum and put a bolt down the middle like in the picture, but, then I mounted it to a small block of wood with a hole it the middle, which I stick on top of one of those Scotty rod holders for tubes. This way works better, but no pictures yet,



However, on my pontoon and Navigator, I have a tube mounted to the frame and the shelf for the transducer:

[Clay]

I bought the same boat off of Ebay and it is still in the box. I'm just tagging this thread for good ideas. I bought a simple set of fins and look forward to giving the gills a hard time out of this thing when they are biting on a lake or two. Maybe try some bassin' and even a carp of the fly rod with this thing. I have big plans for this season. I hope that only half of them come true and it will be a grand year.

Rick

[billknepp]

GRN, Minamalist.....? I somehow doubt this statement!

[GRN]

GRN, Minamalist.....? I somehow doubt this statement!

I'm confused, is that a comment, suggestion, concern, or idea?

[Fly Goddess]

I'm confused, is that a comment, suggestion, concern, or idea?

I believe you are a minamulist, after all, you did give up your favorite rod to my old man LOL