I had such a lousy day yesterday fly fishing out of my pontoon boat at a lake that is supposed to offer up a 50-100 released fish per day, that I’m considering selling everything I can, and buy an aluminum fishing boat with a 25 hp motor. I remember fishing for put-and-take rainbows with leaded line and pop gear, or mono line with a line counting reel, and having very successful days. Yesterday I got skunked. Five of us fished that lake and 3 of us were skunked. To make matters worse, I was about a mile north of the southern launch and a storm came up out of the south with winds of about 30 mph. I fought whitecaps and currents in more than one direction caused by high winds. With about 1/2 mile left to go to the launch, my left oar malfunctioned. All tolled, (including the time it took to repair the oar) I had 1 1/2 to 2 hours of hard rowing just to get back to the launch. Today, my left arm hurts so bad, I doubt the pain will ever go away. Yes, I’m griping and I appreciate your listening. I just needed to vent. BUT, that 14 foot aluminum with a 25 horse Merc sounds better all the time. Warm feet, no waders, lots of storage and speed into a nasty headwind when needed.
Thanks for listening.
Joe -
Boring !! Need I say more ??
John
Joe,
You need to PM Fly Goddess and get info on hooking up an Electric Trolling Motor on your Toon, and invest in some good Oars.
Doug
Gas at $4 a gallon, (it will be back) Noise, Launch Fees, unable to use it on many small lakes due to motor restrictions, Lining up to launch and take out. I agree with DShock, find a way to mount an electric trolling motor on your toon.
Eric
Hi Joe,
You are a very skilled carpenter. Why not build your own? Take a look at this web site:
http://www.jemwatercraft.com/free.php
Hopefully I will get to do one of these myself sometime.
Joe,
At last years CWFI I was using my brand new Fatcat float tube when I got a chill in places that you shouldn’t get a chill. My trusty Simms waders had finally sprung a leak and that lake water was dang cold (warm water fishery my eye, it was cold as the Dickens). While sitting in my brand new Fat Cat Float tube with cold water invading my waders I watched my fellow FAOLer’s in their motor powered boat and drift boat casting comfortably in DRY clothes.
I would advise against a 14 foot aluminum boat with a 25 horse motor. I’m thinking of a 16 footer with a 48 inch beam and a 25 horse motor. Anyone who advises a wood boat must be a younger person in good physical shape. The maintenence on a wood boat is for the young or folks who can afford to have someone else do it.
REE
Hi Joe,
Sounds like you had a tough and somewhat dangerous day. I’m glad that you made it through the waves right side up. As an old Yankee lobsterman for twenty years, off and on, I’ve got a question for you. How did your oar malfunction? Motors malfunction. Oars are the only thing in this whole wide world you can trust to do the right thing. On many occasions, I rowed home two to three miles in some really bad weather when the old Evinrude decided to stop working. Just curious. 8T 
Joe,
Dont sell the toon!!!
It’s a much more versatile craft than the jon.
I use my catarafts / toons on rivers (current) that are very rocky and often shallow. But…if I used any of my toons on still water (lakes/ponds, etc), I would definitely be rigging up a Minn Kota on my rear deck! A 33# thrust and the lightest battery you can find will scoot you across the lake like a charm, and no wearing out your shoulders trying to row into such a wind.
Upgrade oars to either the Carlisle HD’s or Cataract Mini-Mag’s, depending on the OD of your oarlocks, for use in moving water.
The oar malfunction was in the oar stop collar. That’s the collar that goes around the oar to keep it from sliding out of the oar lock. It somehow loosened and the oar could slide freely through the oar lock. It was just a matter of tightening the screws that hold it in place. I carry 2 stubby screwdrivers on my toon. One phillips and the other slotted. The problem was trying to hold the boat still in slippery rocks and a high wind while tightening the oar stop. Needless to say, I was very grateful I had decided to carry those screwdrivers with me.
I don’t use those but can say I’m sorry you had a bad day. B-4 you make any decisions, I would my self take time to recuperate, then head back out and wipe that day off the books…
Keep the 'toon.
Buy the boat.
Boat is a better fishing platform.
Toon will work in places you can’t launch the boat.
No reason not to have both if you can afford them.
As far as not catching fish, that does happen sometimes. Even on ‘hot’ lakes, the local conditions can shut the fish down. Doubt that even with conventional gear you’d have done any better.
I’m also with Ron, get a 16 foot boat…that extra 2 feet means little as far as weight or cost goes, but the extra room for two fly fishermen will be appreciated…carpet it, put in two pedestal seats and a foot controlled electric on the bow and you’ll have the ‘perfect’ lake boat for fly fishing.
Buddy
Hum, I was unaware that a little soap, bleach and water along with some paint touch up was high maintenance.
Weight wise the wood boats are comparable to if not actually lighter than aluminum. No matter though because if you are going to be beating around the rocks both aluminum and wood probably are not the best choices.
In that case I would think you might be interested in one of those Polyethylene, Polylink 3, Kevlar or even fiberglass hulled boats. I have an inexpensive Rogue River 14 TK canoe. Cheap and you can beat the crap out of it. Only class II whitewater rated but I am not into white water rafting any more.
I never liked aluminium for stillwater fishing. To noisy. Seems everything you do in one the noise is amplified 10 fold. Drop some split shot onto the bottom and it sounds like someone beating a metal drum all over the lake. Just the sound of the water lapping at the bottom of the boat seems louder. Don’t know how important the noise factor is but I always disliked aluminium boat for that reason.
Wait a minute. NOBODY is talking him out of it?? Ah, come on, Joe! Yes! You need to dump everything! Yep! All of it! Send me all the rods, reels, flies, lines, tippets, OK, you get it … ALL of it! Use the oars for fire wood. Sink the 'toon. :rolleyes: 
Or, you could just go fishing … just you, the rod, and the peace and quiet found ONLY in basic, good flyfishing.
It’ll be fine. Get your feet wet. Listen to the birds. Have fun!
A 14 footer may prove to be shorter and more narrow than you want for a day like you described. In country where the wind can get up and create a good swell, a bigger boat is better. Width is important for stability to stand and fish, and keel length is important for handling a chop. I have a 16x6 and have taken in for some “rambo” fishing on occasions on lakes where there are no ramps. I’d like to upgrade from a 25 hp to a 35 hp, but a good 35 tiller handle outboard is hard to find.
When you get a boat, get one set up for oars. Mine has is, and I have a good trolling motor on it too. I also have a push pole. Thus, I have options on how to get around quietly.
If you need to travel by oars, hire a young man to row you around so that you will not have to complain about arm troubles.
Noise problems can be remedied with metal or marine plywood decking and carpet. It helps with heat, too.
Everyone has a bad day on the water, you weren’t the only one having troubles that day. If you want a boat, buy it, just keep your other stuff, the guy at the end with the most toys really does win, it’s the American way. 
Great point. Check them out and buy what makes you happy. You might want to check eBay and see if someone in your area has a boat you are looking for. You can go eyeball it and that is a good way to get a deal on a well equipped rig.
Oh yeah, when you do send all of your stuff to Betty please ship it via my address. That way I can pack it all up in the canoe and ship that to her too.
KEWL!!!
After perusing this board this morning, I thought we were going to be seeing announcements of Two Garage Sales out west.
Joe,
I’ve been in similar situations with pontoons, tubes and boats and each time the weather came up out of nowhere and each time I’ve thought, I won’t get caught again. I think much of it has to do with our locations and the amount of time we spend on the water.
( First the disclaimer )
Without going into the gory details ( and I’m sure we’ve all got stories ) motorized craft are not immune to power failures or swamping or capsizing due to wind driven waves. While a powered broad beam craft with plenty of freeboard would add a measure of safety in rough conditions, every craft has it’s limitations and as with vehicles of every type, operator performance is the single most important ingredient.
(Something to mull over.)
Now days due to the popularity of manually and automatically inflated P.F.D’s, there’s a pretty good chance that when a boater does end up in the water, they’ll be intrusting their lives to an inflatable device. If they were traveling on a larger vessel that is sinking, they might even find themselves climbing into an inflatable life raft. None of those are immune to malfunctions.
Joe, you were riding in an inflatable device with a very low center of gravity.
There’s no conclusion being drawn here, but I’m sure we’re all glad you’re still with us today and sometimes, regardless of the craft you’re operating or ones skill level, stuff happens.
Good to have you with us, Dave
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