Hey all you pontoon folks out there, I need your advice??

[stumpjumper]

I'm thinking of buying a toon. Mainly to catfish (drift) and crappie fish out of (nightstalkin). My ? is how long of a toon is best I thinking of a @24' is that to big. I'd like to get one big enough so we could stay on it at night if we wanted. What makes are best known for quailty. Thanks in advance.:D

[dixieangler]

My brother-in-law owns a 20 foot Bentley aluminum pontoon boat with all the bells and whistles. It is a nice boat. Super stable. He has a 50 Merc on the back that runs real quiet and a foot operated trolling motor forward. Live well, depth finder, radio, change booth, plush seats, internal and external lights, popup canopy, rod holders, and so on. He does not have a trailer for it. He keeps it on the canal by his house and takes it across the lake to the public boat ramp for the dealer to service it. Great for the family who has lots of poles to fish from.

[gater]

We have a 24' Bass Buggy. A good deal came up on a Ranger so we bought it. The Ranger is nice for just my husband and I, but the pontoon is great when we take the kids or friends fishing. Capacity is 10, and we have fished 8 out of it with plenty of room. A couple weekends ago our teenagers and a few of their friends took the pontoon out catfishing and had a ball. We have taken it out catfishing with 2 other couples and it was great. My opinion if you want it, 24 foot is great if you plan on having extras along. You just cant beat a pontoon.

[jk888]

Stumpjumper I have a 25 foot Suntracker with a trailer. I can load it and un load it as fast as most people with their Bass boats. Mine has a 115 merc and goes 24 mph. Which if it went 15 mph would not bother me. I don't know what the correct motor size you would want, just how fast would you want to go.

The thing that I would look for is all metal. My deck is aluminium plus there is no wood in the seats.


Jim

[driller]

My 20 footer was OK for putting around the lake, but it catches way too much wind to call it a fishing boat. Darn thing is like a sail.

I GAVE it away a few days ago. The local dive and rescue team needed a new boat and I donated it to them. At least I can "write off" the value of the pontoon on my taxes.

[gooch]

I'm thinking of buying a toon. Mainly to catfish (drift) and crappie fish out of (nightstalkin). My ? is how long of a toon is best I thinking of a @24' is that to big. I'd like to get one big enough so we could stay on it at night if we wanted. What makes are best known for quailty. Thanks in advance.:D

Stumpjumper I have a 32 foot Aloha with a 8x12 sundeck. It makes a great nightstalking boat. I to love to stay out on the lake at night, and this boat serves that pourpose well. In fact we usually just put our tent up on the top of the boat. We have a grill and stoves so cooking is a snap. Just make sure you have good anchors and long anchor ropes as the wind will reap havoc on a toon. Also splurge and buy a second or even third trolling battery as you cant have to much light on a toon on a night stalk.

Bottom line is I love my toon for nightstalks and fishing condos I can tie up close to. We even drift fish occasionaly if the wind is just right. Other than those occasions we take my fishing boat.

[JoyJoy]

We have a 25 foot voyager. Ours is set up for cruising but they make some great fish and cruise models. We have a 150 HP on ours but I think the boat is rated up to a 225 HP. Voyager is a small company out of Camdenton, Missouri.

[Cooler O' Slabs]

Very different from other boats, but easy as anything to manuever after a few trips, especially on the trailer, if it has guides. THE BEST LENGTH: sometimes my 21 ft is too small, other times its too big. there is not a significant difference as far as manuevering and catching wind between a 21-25 ft. toon. As soon as I finish my jon boat conversion (painting and decking), I am buying an (object in the vague form of a pontoon boat) basically just two pontoons and the deck trim. There is a website called PontoonStuff.com that sells aftermarket seats, rails, biminis, carpet etc. I am going to custom build the pontoon. Just like with other boats though YOUR BUYING THE MOTOR AND THE BOAT AND TRAILER ARE ACCESSORIES!! MAKE SURE YOU GET A GOOD MOTOR

[skiptomylu]

Just traded mine in for a G3 175 pan fish. It was an 18' fish by G3 and didn't have all the extra furniture. Had 4 fishing chairs, bench type seat and the seat for driving behind the console. My son has a 22' with more furniture and I think mine had as much deck room as his. I liked the maneuverability of the 18' and I had a 4 stroke 75 HP Yammer on it. It would run over 26 mph and I did put the shield on too which helps running in the waves.

It had all the room I needed to catfish and crappie night stalk. The G3 also has a 8 1/2' wide deck. Loved it for what it was, but pontoons are not good for troll motor fishing and my favorite fishing is trolling with the troll motor. Is why I traded it in.