Yeah, I actually agree with sparkey. I used to have a fishcat at one time, but luckily mine was similar to a pac8. Made different a decade ago. Now they look like crap. When I had mine (before I upgraded to a pac800) they were identicle frames on both, tubes were a bit better on upscale (I got a deal on it, only reason I bought it). Then, once I saw the steelheader, I was hooked. The moment I had the money I bought one.

But, depends on what you want and how you're gonna work the boat. If you take care of it, and don't beat the crap out of it, you'll get by with a low end waterskeeter/outcast. If you have the money, move up to a mid level/high end pontoon boat (your bucks/outcasts)

BUT, if you want a REAL high end boat, get yourself a Steelheader. The BEST OF THE BEST of the production made inflatables. (hehehe Sparkey). Only better is custom made at that point.

If you are only gonna do moderate rivers, no worry about getting a high end boat. I agree you need longer oars. Those 6' oars suck. Go up to at least 7'. I rigged 8' on my 9' boat. When I wanted to move, I MOVED!

A boat is what you make of it. Buy what you need. Don't buy a cheap low end boat when you want to hit some hard water. And don't buy a custom build cataraft if you only plan to float lakes and VERY moderate rivers.

I can help you quite a bit. Just let me know what you want and how much you want to spend and can tell you what way to go.