Pontoon Boat, buy or no?

[Jim]

Thinking of selling my Ranger to buy a pontoon. I think the family would enjoy it more.

I would look for a fishing one with a trolling motor, but nothing fancy. Am i being dumb here?

 

[gogittum]

No question a pontoon is better for general family enjoyment, but my main concern would be the area you'll operate it in. Not familiar with your area, but will it be mostly protected waters or open ocean ?? My understanding is that pontoons don't do well in rough water. Also, if you do a lot of water-skiing, pontoon may not be the best.

 

[poorthang]

yep, like gogitem said, protected water only and no salt. no stumps, drill pipe, old docks, rocks, sunken cars, etc: they are a magnet to destructive structure! yu can buy them cheap in the south, as many folks had to spend the night hung up on something. they are great on clean bottom reservoirs and wide deep rivers.
then theres the $4 gas for the next several years..........sorry for the negative nancy attitude, just hate to see another victim buy a pontoon and use it 6 times first year, 2 times second year, the sun monster eats it and the engine suffers so it just sits in a cold market.

wanna hear me be positive about something? go buy some camping gear and take the family fish camping. leave the phones at home, rent a pontoon while keeping that wondreful ranger that you love! win win!!!!! after 3 or 4 days without phones, they will never wanna go fishing or camping again, and you will have that ranger all to yourself! lol

 

[Jim]

Ugh! More to think about now.


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[JL8Jeff]

There are a bunch of pontoons on the Delaware River where I keep my boat. The river is all flow, not tidal in my area. So it gets pretty shallow in the summer and pontoons can go where normal outboards can't (you really need a jet to be safe in a lot of areas). I watch people with pontoon boats tow kids on the tubes (some water ski), just float down the river with everyone in the water or anchor up with other pontoons and tie together and have a picnic and swim (most of the boats here have picnic tables and grills on them for cooking). Several guys do some serious fishing. The river is pretty narrow where we are but it's pretty flat and smooth so the pontoon boats work great. I'm not sure I would want to be on one out in a bay or larger lake when it gets choppy though. They work best in smooth water. But they are really stable and people can move all around on them with minimal movement of the boat. Just don't let too much weight be up front when running, they can submarine the pontoons if unbalanced, I've seen/felt it happen.

 

[LDUBS]

There are a lot of pontoon boats out not the lakes I frequent. As others have already said, I think they are ideal for lakes. They sure look comfortable. Of course they are slower. But I've seen some move along pretty good. It is not unusual to see set-ups for trolling, bait fishing, etc. Moving one along a bank while casting for LMB would be a question in my mind. Would the TM be able to move the pontoon around like you would want? IDK.

I can see how a pontoon would be great fun for a family. It would probably work better for the type of fishing I do (almost 100% trolling). It really is going to come down to how you are spending your time on the water.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

There are a lot of pontoon boats out not the lakes I frequent. As others have already said, I think they are ideal for lakes. They sure look comfortable. Of course they are slower. But I've seen some move along pretty good. It is not unusual to see set-ups for trolling, bait fishing, etc. Moving one along a bank while casting for LMB would be a question in my mind. Would the TM be able to move the pontoon around like you would want? IDK.

I can see how a pontoon would be great fun for a family. It would probably work better for the type of fishing I do (almost 100% trolling). It really is going to come down to how you are spending your time on the water.

Im in the same boat as Jim...

As far as fishing goes I have thought about two trolling motors, one front and one rear to control the boat. Just moving the boat around isn't the issue, it is crosswinds and having the ability to crab walk the boat sideways if needed.

 

[C&K]

Thinking of selling my Ranger to buy a pontoon. I think the family would enjoy it more.

I would look for a fishing one with a trolling motor, but nothing fancy. Am i being dumb here?

Pontoons are the most popular hull style on our lake. There is nothing wrong with them at all and they make a great relaxation, fishing and family boat. I'd say if you're interested in one go ahead and buy it and try it out. It's not like it's a permanent thing, like anything else it can be sold and buy a different one if it's not for you.