Curious if anyone else does ? I love the space on it. Its a 18' boat with a Motorguide wireless trolling motor. Not a 'fishing' model but we've made a few adds to make it nice. Only limitation is on real windy days its a bear to keep in place because it catches some more wind than my old bass boat. (Grumman Renagade) Actually that was no picnic in the wind either.

I bring the wife and dog out sometimes and everyones happy. I upgraded the Tunes on it and have an iPod jack now also. Its got a pop up shelter with a battery op porta potty for her that works great and a removable swim ladder...and a grill that I can put in the front if I want for us....if the fish aint biting.

Im thinking of putting a butt seat up front to rest the back at times.

All in all I like it alot and wondered who else had one for fishing?

Mark

I love fishing on a pontoon boat.  You can fish from almost anywhere.  They are are pretty good in shallower water and they are comfortable for several people to just relax and do other things while you fish.

There's a reason BPS calls them "party barges"

Great for fishing with multiple people (more than 4)

Otherwise they suck IMO.  The couple times I've fished out of them we got blown all over the place.

Howdy EastMark,

It's my opinion that if your happy with your boat what should you really care about other people's opinions?

I used to fish out of a Regal 2120 Deck Boat. Expensive, sure, but I had a good time. The wind was a problem but Hey, I survived and had a good time.

Enjoy your boat.

I always fish off of a pontoon. It's the only way to go when I bring my kids with. They can fish from anywhere and move around with out any worries. My 3 year old daughter will even bring toys with to play when she gets bored (approx 5 min. after i get my line in the water).

Thanks for the replys guys....even you "cart7t. lol Im pretty sure I didnt say they should replace bass boats on the BassMasters tour with these "sucky" "party barges" Cart. ;-)

I love the wireless trolling motor...made a huge difference. Im looking at a TM mount 565 fishfinder for the front up by where I stand.

That will be a help to. The one on there now is on the console so Im always turning around.

I dont fish tournaments anymore so on the real windy days I just end up behind islands/points or quieter coves fishing....where I bump into alot of others including some bass boats too BTW. Thats what I did when I had my bass boat too.

Happy fishing !

Mark

EastMarkME,

I just bought a pontoon after contemplating getting a v-hull or bass boat.  I have a family of 5 and a pontoon made the most sense for us.  When I went to a boat show, we sat in several v-hulls and bass boats and I realized that the versatility of those boats was limited to fishing and 1/2 a family.  I almost pulled the trigger on a boat but, thought it over more, and eventually bought a pontoon.

I have a fishing version pontoon and I think the versatility is unmatched.  There is a trolling motor and two depth finders installed.  Plenty of space for storage and when I am not fishing alone, I can bring my family and friends aboard for a fun time.  I can go fishing, tubing, and host more than 10 people comfortably.  I cannot think of other boats that can do that.  

Yes, in wind, fishing on a pontoon is not much fun.  So, when the wind is beyond 15 mph, I stay home and don't lose sleep about it.  Anything less than that, I don't have much of an issue fishing.  

Just like Tom Bass said, who cares about other's opinions if you are enjoying your boat.  Heck, my boat is rigged up better than some fishing boats I see out there.  Just last weekend, I went fishing in the morning with a buddy, went tubing with the family later in the day, and hosted another family of 4 with my family of 5 on my boat to go tubing and grilling on the lake the next day.  This was pretty much my expression all weekend

I really dont think you'll regret the decision. Pure hardcore fishing you cant beat a nice Skeeter but all around pleasure/fun these barges rock.

When it gets real windy I dont want to be fishing in any boat to be honest. Ive turned into a fair weather fisherman I guess...although I dont mind a light wind or rain. I saw a nice Toon last year with 2 downriggers trolling for Salmon. Why not ? ;-)  

Mark

I agree. I don't mind fishing in some light rain or wind. But when I start seeing white caps on the lake, I usually stay home too. Gives me a good excuse to catch up stuff that I neglect when I go fishing.

One other great thing about a pontoon is having a changing room.  I put one of those luggable loo's (i.e. port a potty) on board.  It's nice to take care of business in the middle of the lake and not waste the time and fuel trying to find a public dock.

To those with pontoons this websites got pretty info on it.....

http://www.pontoon.net/fusetalk/forum/index.cfm?forumid=3

You might like it.

Mark

Try this one too:

http://www.pontoonstuff.com/forum/

Very knowledgeable and helpful guys when you have toon questions.

Heres a cool setup with downriggers.

Mark

Four years ago I lost the battle with my wife and daughter about what kind of boat to buy. They wanted a pontoon and I didn't.

We wound up with an 18' pontoon that is set up for fishing and I absolutely love it! It is a great fishing platform and there is room for both the wife and the dog (and a couple of others when they drop by).

Picking up a 565 Humminbird this week to put up front. I will send the transducer in to exchange for the Trolling motor mount. Ive been spinning the unit on the console to the front when Im fishing....thats a PIA but more important it puts the transducer around 16' behind me.

Been raining so much I havent been out.

Mark

I put a Fish Eagle 320 that I had on my canoe at the front of my pontoon and couldn't be happier.  I have a simple fish finder on the helm but the 320 does the trick when trolling along the weedlines up front.  I also have a trolling motor mount so I can quickly take the motor off when entertaining.