Rube meets pontoon - first trip

Put in on the Little Androscoggin just above the dam, it's slow water and
I rowed upstream for like an hour and half. Just getting the hang of it.
I'm not a rower, I'm a paddler so it's not intuitive, but I got the hang
of it and had a pretty good workout. I finally stopped on a shallow bar
and rigged a fly rod up, put on a muddle and started drifting downstream.

As someone else mentioned the pontoons don't track in a straight line.
the little andy is a small river and I found myself making frequent
adjustments to the drift, which precluded stowing the oars. Hence the
oars were in the way all the time. I can see why some people also use
fins, I'll take mine next time, it was an oversight forgetting them.

Fairly quick I had a hit, small fish looked like, but I managed to miss
it. As I drifted along I would see fish rising from time to time, so I
switched over to a dry fly. Missed another fish. That were my hits for
the day. At one point I saw a huge fish on a shallow bar, 16-18" fish.
Could have been a smallie, brown or a rainbow as all are in this river.
Furthur down there were some really small fish jumping at black flies,
looked like little browns, which is good news for the river. Next time I
hope to put in a few miles upstream at a bridge and drift down to the
place I put in today, nice river, no houses except on the lower end.

The pontoon will take a bit of getting used to, but I think once I get
the hang of it this is going to be a heck of a little platform for river
runs.

Break down at the truck was cake, far easier than I expected, I popped
the frame apart, diconnected the pontoons, opened the valves and the
pontoons deflated themselves while I loaded the rest into the truck. 10
mins maybe to pack up.

My arms and shoulders are a bit sore, I guess I got my aerobic rowing
workout.

Flyfish

Flyfish wrote in
:

creative snippage here and there of a good TR

As someone else mentioned the pontoons don't track in a straight line.
the little andy is a small river and I found myself making frequent
adjustments to the drift, which precluded stowing the oars. Hence the
oars were in the way all the time. I can see why some people also use
fins, I'll take mine next time, it was an oversight forgetting them.
Flyfish

...that has been my major complaint with my pontoon boat Dave, the oars
seem to reach out and grab my flyline unless I "stow" them parallel to
the pontoons and out of the way of my casting. The solution I found is to
anchor, stow the oars, then fish out the area, up anchor and move on a
bit. I *bought* a really nice heavy mesh "anchor bag" at Cabelas, fill it
with rocks and there you have a "no snag" anchor. Should work fine in
light to moderate current. My boat only weighs 15 lbs so not much weight
would be needed to keep it in place. As has been suggested here earlier,
some drag a 6' length of chain to slow down the drift and I should think
that would keep the pointy end where you want it. I wonder about the
noise of it on the rocks, seems like that would spook the fish way before
you get in range. Anybody tried this method of drift fishing?

Frank Church
**bought is really a misnomer..I use a Cabelas Visa card and earn points
(1%) Doesn't sound like much but I average $12,000 +/- a year on the
card, mostly gas purchases for my on the road travels, also, I make a
point of using the card for any major purchase to build up the points.
Helluva deal for me.

Frank Church wrote in
9.11:

..that has been my major complaint with my pontoon boat Dave, the oars
seem to reach out and grab my flyline unless I "stow" them parallel to
the pontoons and out of the way of my casting. The solution I found is
to anchor, stow the oars, then fish out the area, up anchor and move
on a bit. I *bought* a really nice heavy mesh "anchor bag" at Cabelas,
fill it with rocks and there you have a "no snag" anchor. Should work
fine in light to moderate current. My boat only weighs 15 lbs so not
much weight would be needed to keep it in place. As has been suggested
here earlier, some drag a 6' length of chain to slow down the drift
and I should think that would keep the pointy end where you want it. I
wonder about the noise of it on the rocks, seems like that would spook
the fish way before you get in range. Anybody tried this method of
drift fishing?

On a scale of slow to moderate how would you rate the Andy where we went
last fall?

I do not wish to experience first hand the horror show of a pontoon that
decides to throw me because I anchored in water that was too fast. But I
also don't want to be wimpy about it either...

I looked for mesh bags locally, with no success, and I have one someplace
that I used float tubing, but dammed if I know where the hell it is...now
that I think of it, it is probably in one of the tube pockets....doh....

Flyfish

Flyfish wrote in
:

On a scale of slow to moderate how would you rate the Andy where we
went last fall?

I do not wish to experience first hand the horror show of a pontoon
that decides to throw me because I anchored in water that was too
fast. But I also don't want to be wimpy about it either...

I looked for mesh bags locally, with no success, and I have one
someplace that I used float tubing, but dammed if I know where the
hell it is...now that I think of it, it is probably in one of the tube
pockets....doh....

Flyfish


....well, as I remember, the current ranged from slow to moderate, I don't
recall us shooting any fast water. A mesh bag, instead of typical anchor,
won't tip your pontoon boat because it will drag instead of digging in.
In the case of your heavier-than-mine pontoon boats, you probably will
require a bigger load of rocks. Having said that, there's nothing wrong
with letting the thing drag, allowing you to fish out the holes rather
than speeding by.
Don't you have any of those Navy mesh laundry bags stashed somewhere? ;-)
Come to think of it, I may have one lurking around somewhere.

Frank Church
FWIW, in the past I have used a 10# mushroom anchor off the front of the
pontoon boat. *Never* anchor over the side, that's asking for a dunking.
If I recall your pictures, you have a rear anchor system which is fine
too..I just don't know how you can reach around and bring the anchor up
without straining something important.

Frank Church wrote in
9.11:

FWIW, in the past I have used a 10# mushroom anchor off the front of the
pontoon boat. *Never* anchor over the side, that's asking for a dunking.
If I recall your pictures, you have a rear anchor system which is fine
too..I just don't know how you can reach around and bring the anchor up
without straining something important.


The whole rig is setup to pull the rope up from the left side of the seat,
pulleys and a locking device all right there...

Flyfish

Flyfish wrote in
:

BTW Dave, I'm off to Spokane, WA tomorrow AM and when I get back in about a
week I'm gonna be chompin' at the bit to do a number on those Maine bass.
I've lost your address and phone number..how about emailing that to me
whilst I'm on the road. C ya.

Frank

"Frank Church" wrote in message
9.11...
.. As has been suggested here earlier,
some drag a 6' length of chain to slow down the drift and I should think
that would keep the pointy end where you want it. I wonder about the
noise of it on the rocks, seems like that would spook the fish way before
you get in range. Anybody tried this method of drift fishing?


Frank, et al:
Try a sea anchor. In whitewater rafts, when we want to continue to drift and
keep the boat in the main current (they tend to eddy out if you daydream),
we tie a 20 foot rope onto to a bail bucket and toss it overboard. The boat
floats a little slower than the surface current (that surface tension thing
that causes menisci) and the bucket floats deeper in the faster water. The
result is that the boat will point downstream, will drift a little bit
faster than normal, and will stay in the main current. The disadvantage, of
course, is that you have to be careful with casting across the rope, or when
playing a fish.
I'd suggest tying on something bucket-like, and securing it with a 6-10 foot
rope. You ought to be able to cast over that, and with your tip up a running
fish wouldn't be able to get the fly line around it.

--riverman

In article , riverman
writes
I'd suggest tying on something bucket-like, and securing it with a 6-10 foot
rope. You ought to be able to cast over that, and with your tip up a running
fish wouldn't be able to get the fly line around it.

See my other posting. The drogue I use is like a parachute - a piece of
material about 4 ft square with lines attached to each corner, then
brought together. The whole then attached to the boat by a length of
line about 10 ft long.

The principle is the same as your suggestion.
--
Bill Grey
http://www.billboy.co.uk

In article , Frank
Church writes
My boat only weighs 15 lbs so not much weight
would be needed to keep it in place. As has been suggested here earlier,
some drag a 6' length of chain to slow down the drift and I should think
that would keep the pointy end where you want it. I wonder about the
noise of it on the rocks, seems like that would spook the fish way before
you get in range. Anybody tried this method of drift fishing?

Not with just a length of chain, but with a drogue. Very effective.
--
Bill Grey
http://www.billboy.co.uk

"Flyfish" wrote in message
...


TR snipped


The pontoon will take a bit of getting used to, but I think once I get
the hang of it this is going to be a heck of a little platform for river
runs.


I had a similar experience yesterday on the Shenandoah. The pontoon is a
slow, slow boat. By my GPS, the fastest I could row in still water was about
2.8 mph. I could plan on a sustainable cruising speed of 4 mph in my canoe.
There's no glide to the pontoon, either. You stop rowing, you stop moving.
Now I understand the trolling motor mounts. If I was going to do any
serious mileage, I'd get one.

Handles pretty good in whitewater, though. I had no problems at all in the
rapids.

It's a fun fishing machine for short trips, but it won't take the place of
my canoe.



My arms and shoulders are a bit sore, I guess I got my aerobic rowing
workout.


Amen brother. Legs and stomach, too.

John