With all the recent posts about kayaks and pontoons I started looking at portable boat options again. I seem to like the versatililty of the Water Master rafts and I am considering the Kodiak.
I used to have a small plastic bass boat that I could only use in lakes. I wasn’t using it enough so I sold it. I’m thinking this raft may work in the small lakes I fish occasionally and also work in the Delaware, Schuylkill, Susky and Lehigh rivers. I’m not going to use it at the class IV rating. At least not while fishing. Another plus is that I can store it on a shelf in my basement when I’m not using it.
I have had a WaterMaster for about 8 years now. Use it often. It is in the back of my truck right now waiting for my next trip to a lake.
It is not as fast as a pontoon boat, which I also have, but when the wind really blows you can actually control the WaterMaster, even when the waves are breaking over the bow.
It is a good and safe vessel.
I was talking to a guide from Alaska who had a booth at the Puyallup Sportsmens show and he uses 6 of them at his lodge.
I float many of the waters you mention. I rented a watermaster once on the upper Del and had a great time. Since then I’ve bought a Bucks Bags pontoon boat, which is my craft of choice for floating. With a pontoon you are higher out of the water, quicker to maneuver, and have better back support. Yes, it may be a bit harder to store, but it’s worth it. If you have to, you can disassemble and reassemble. Shoot me a pm if you want to float sometime, you can never have too many float buddies. There are lots of great floating opportunities in that area.
Thanks for the information. It seems they are very stable and I haven’t been able to find any real negative comments.
Bill,
Thanks for the pontoon perspective. I’ll have to give that some more thought. I do like the idea of sitting higher but I felt that portability and ease of assembly would be an issue. I did see somewhere on here about a pontoon carrier that goes into your hitch.
Do you remember where you rented the WM? That may be an idea to see how it handles.
There is one other nice feature that I thought of with the WM. It has a removable bottom. I’m wonder if that will allow me to bring one of my grandsons with me on still waters.
With my luck I’ll wind up with both. Just can’t do two in one year.
I have used Water Masters many times and find they are quality built hulls, stable and will safely get you down the rivers you mentioned without any floatation problems.
You are sitting low on the water, they are slow, and blow around in the wind more than most pontoons. The one weak point is the oar system and you need some spare oar lock parts with you at all times. The oars are also too short.
It is really about trade offs on performance vs. travel friendliness on a Water Master vs. a quaity pontoon.
Most important though is to get a quality watercraft that will get you down the river safely. The Water Master will do that.
Uhhhhhh, it was the outfitter that was very close to the Hancock bridge over the West Branch Delaware. I don’t recall the name. Unfortunately, they stopped renting watermasters a while ago.
The fly shop at the Hancock, NY, West Branch Delaware bridge was an ancillary shop owned by West Branch Angler and has been closed for a couple of years now. West Branch Angler’s main operation is further up stream near Deposit, NY.
I am pretty sure I saw some Watermasters just outside the fly shop there last year-2008. Give them a call and see if they are still renting them at the main location–800-201-2557.
Don’t know if there are any in the eastern US, but we ran into the guy who makes these - www.waterstrider.com, in Montana, and he evidently started the watermaster, then lost the patent, then started these in competition. They sound pretty cool.
One thing I can add is weight. I’m an older guy and a pontoon boat is to much for me to lift after fishing all day. for me to carry the boat and oars up the bank is a struggle . My water master weight 35 lbs oars included.
—sagefisher—