I'm in the market for a new pontoon and have been trying to get in contact with skookum for the last two weeks for info about their steelheader. But.....they don't answer their phone, don't return messages, don't return emails.... so now I'm worried that I might be making a mistake if I happen to get in touch and buy one. their customer service just doesn't impress me at all. what might they be like during/after the sale ?

I know that the e-mail on the site has been down for a while...try this one for Bill Day, the owner...

intellectinc@msn.com

Good luck,

Todd

With my experience NO. My thoughts before purchasing it were that it could be assembled and inflated in 40 minutes, The tubes could with stand sharp objects, I would be able to fish were driftboats did not have access, and it would allow me to fish some pretty intense stretches of river.

My experiences after purchasing were. It was very heavy to drag over rocks to launch, I did have a rock puncture the under side of it, and the frame was pretty %$#%ing hard to assemble and break down, it was also extremely heavy inflated. The intense rapids went from challenging to this is going to kill me. Every time I hit a boulder the pontoon boat would turn 180 degrees and I would end up going through shoots backwards. I finished that fishing season in my driftboat.

I then decided I was going to take it hunting because I remembered someone telling me It could hold something like 1100#. I'll be the first to tell you it can't hold anything more than 300# down a river safely. Its designed to hold the majority of storage in back so this weighs that backend down making the front pontoon tubes stick up in the air. This made rowing extremely difficult and uncomfortable. If you moved the weight to the sides it interfered with your strokes. I could not wait to reach my take out.
With all that said I really do think pontoon boats have there purpose I may have abused mine thinking I go where others couldn't. If you don't have a driftboat first don't buy one. Save up an extra 500$ and buy a used driftboat. You'll find out that you can fish just about anywhere in it and bring a friend.
You should also look at purchasing a raft. If your fixed on pontoons I would recommend one that could be broken down alot easier and half the weight. I should also mention I had the Steelhead guide model. Customer service was alright probably because I wasn't in a hurry to get it. It did take an aditional month before I received it. Actually! I take the customer service part back. After writing a check for something around 1400$ I needed one tie down strap for my truck, in which I paid an additional 4-5$. I have no idea why that pissed me off so much, but it did. I also had to call numerous times to receive a phone call back. This happened numerous times.

I'm going to agree with meat pie on a couple things and disagree on a couple.

Skookum's customer service has always been lacking. I've read threads for years about not being able to get ahold of them, not returning calls etc and that's just not good business. When a guy has a pocket full of money to spend, you don't keep him waiting. Definitely a lot of room for improvement there.

They aren't light. You're not going to pack one very far by yourself, and if you try, you'll probably wind up putting a hole in your tubes. My buddy has two Ospreys so we have the packing to the river covered.

But they do offer access a db doesn't. With a buddy, you can launch in all kinds of undeveloped access points, and make a drift the db's can't or get the jump on the crowd of db's that will be coming down from the developed access points later.

I have a db and I don't think I'd buy a pontoon myself. But it's nice to have a buddy with a pair of them because we can get off the beaten path a few times a year and fish 12-15 miles of river without seeing another dude. I do think a db with one or two guys up front covers the water way more effectively than two pontooners can work the same water.

Good luck in your future adventures. Let us know what you wind up doing, and what you think.

Interesting.
I bought a 9 footer from Outcast. Weighs about 45 lbs and has 300 lbs capacity. You can't stand up in it the way you can with the Skookum but it's a whole lot lighter (and less expensive). I have run some really thin water with it where there's no way you can float a DB. If you get stuck you just stand up and carry it!

You can't really fish from it, so it's more for transportation between spots, and IMO that's the tradeoff.

I've been waiting days for a pricelist after submitting the form on their website but nothing in the mail yet. I've seriously considering buying one. The weight seems to be a downside on Steelhead/Guide, especially when I consider things like an anchor system and all of the gear I'm bound to take.

For those that have/had these, do you wish you had gotten something else or even a differnt model (9' vs. 10')? Also, have you ever put them on a roof rack of an SUV or are they too big? Do you fish standing up while on anchor in the river often (seems like a good selling point)?

Some of what has been said surprises me, like rapids seeming "worse", really bad reaction to extra gear/weight, and how easily they are punctured. I'm not saying it is wrong, I'm just surprised. The stories of quesitonable customer service aren't good to hear.

-

Very stable while standing up and the anchor system very good. I should also add The river system I took the poontoon on was pretty extreme. I know I could of done much better in a raft though. The Pontoon just seemed to bounce off the rocks in shoots. (places where I needed alot of boat control.) I've seen a couple skoocums on roof racks and they ride just fine. I put mine in the back of my Tacoma with the top of the pontoons riding on the cab. Worked great.
I'll finish my replys tommorrow I just got a pretty good fishing reports. Its time for NATES ON A FLY!!! Doesn't get any better than that... Whish me luck. I only do it about 10 times a year now.
Peace and good luck on finding the right boat for you!!!!

I've got the 12 foot Steelheader II Guide Model, and it is the best boat I've owned...but I did not buy it to pack it into remote spots.

It is big, and it's heavy, though two guys can carry it 100 yards with no problems. It takes about 10 minutes to tear it down, and about 20 minutes to put it together, but mines on a trailer and never comes apart.

I fish it with a full driftboat anchor system that I custom built into it, and it can anchor anywhere a driftboat can...it has two big casting decks, so we spend at least 90% of our time, maybe more, fishing right out of the boat.

In my experience it handles rapids great...but I've rowed a long time, and it's a pretty good sized boat...I'd probably feel less comfortable with a boat less than ten feet...if I had a one man 'toon, it'd be a ten foot Skookum.

It isn't a driftboat, so don't expect it to act like one...it turns on a dime, much better than a DB, but if you want to stop in moderate to fast moving water, or God forbid row upstream, that's when you'll definitely find that it is not a driftboat...it's a tank in those situations.

Banging into the occasional rock is a lot softer experience in a big 'toon rather than in a hard boat, and though it draws less water than a loaded DB, when it does hit shallow water, the skids are pretty sticky on the rocks.

I do put mine in the water, and take it out, in places where no trailer or DB is going to get in or out, and that's one of the big reasons I got it, that and the shallow draw.

On the very rare occasion that I pull plugs, I can do it out of the 'toon...and, no, it is not as easy as a driftboat. So long as you are good enough on the sticks and can do minor adjustments with both oars at the same time, you can keep it nice and straight and fish plugs just fine.

I didn't buy mine directly from Skookum, but I've e-mailed Bill a few times (at the above e-mail, not the one on the site) and he's always got back to me in a reasonable time.

Good luck with the boat search.

Fish on...

Todd

I know a guy who's selling his pontoon, but it's HUGE. You could fit about 6 people on it.
It requires a winch to drag it up onto the trailer.

Their response time isn't the greatest but I think the boat is well worth the little bit of a hassle that I've gone thru to get mine.

I have both the 10' Osprey and 12' Steelheader II.

I sold an Outcast PAC 1000 to buy the Osprey. People talk about having alot of rocker in your pontoons being a good thing. It's only good if you have a light load and stay away from any big rollers. Having very little rocker, which Skookum has, distributes weight much better so it will respond quicker and draft less water than a boat with more rocker.

Even though they were slow to respond to my calls and emails I'd buy another one in a heartbeat. I'd rather support a smaller company if given the choice.

since I haven't bought anything yet, I'll try the address from Todd. thanks for that.

I'm now also looking at the bad cat line of pontoons. their 10-foot magnum seems comparable with the steelheader. Any experiences with Bad Cat ?

Not to start a feud between pontooners and driftboaters, for my way of fishing, the pontoon seems to fit better. I'm basically a banker and have used my pontoon in the past just for transport and getting in the river at places other than a launch. So here's a pretty loaded question :
what advantages does a driftboat have over a good pontoon(say a steelheader) ?

1. You can fish more effectively as you drift along. Fishing from a toon isn't easy, especially on fast, rocky rivers. Every time you have to grab the oars, your presentation suffers. Having an oar monkey in a db allows the front-seaters to probe all the water you drift by more effectively.

2. DB's are way easier to pull plugs with. Toons don't like holding a straight line very well, so you're constantly making adjustments with the oars to keep it going down the slot without weaving all over. Only a concern if you pull plugs and/or divers and I usually do neither.

3. DB's don't have tubes that could spring a leak. You can sink a db, or bust one open, but you're not going to have a tube go flat on you because you drug it across something sharp at the put-in.

4. You can take the kitchen sink with you in a db. You have limited storage space on the smaller toons like the Steelheader or Osprey.

But you can't disassemble a db, you can't just toss one off the side of the road in most places, and you depend more on developed access. And they cost more if you look at new/new or used/used.

There's pluses to both and minuses to both. Kind of a hard decision to make, really.

Having owned a toon for 10 years or so I just like the portability aspect, throw it on my roof, tie down and go. Dont fish out of it much anymore, had a few close calls pulling anchor...i have drug mine all over the place and the higher quality tubes are pretty damn tough. I had a steelheader and didnt love it, too heavy for me, those badcats look awesome but I have no personal experience. cant go wrong either way, I fish solo alot so the toon is a better fit for me.

AK,

Just thought I'd let you know that I got a response and pricelist from Bill at Skookum by e-mailing the address that Todd supplied. Bill said they were having problems with the contact page on their website.


-

Dan did a pretty good job of answering this, but left out what I feel is one of the most important things lacking in a 'toon...

A heater. Keeps you warm, and you can grill steaks on it.

All good points. Toons are for still water at best. The one thing I found totally unacceptable about one for steelhead is this. Runs with moderate rapids can be run with a drift boat and the bow beats the rollers down and everyone stays dry. Try that same rapid in a toon and your gonna be soaked.. bigtime. No fun on a cold winter day. If the water is flat, a small one would be fine if your get out of it to fish. The idea that they are totally portable is B.S, they are heavy. I know of lots of toon in garages that don't get out on the water anymore.

In real BIG whitewater a larger toon is the deal.. but then again your in a wet or dry suite and you expected that wave to crash up the middle and hose you anyway.

I have 3 10' steelheaders. I think they are great boats. They work fine in most all waters. The main thing like any boat is experiance with it Knowing what your boat will do.I dont think you will regret getting a skookum toon. As for the comment about getting wet. You will. I wear neopreens with a goretex jacket. Stay warm and confortable most all of the time Make sure you by a extra oar, basic safety item. You may not think you need one but when you do, you do!!!!ok bye JP

I guess when I have put mine on my back and hiked up some nasty banks to the road makes it not very portable, or quickly slipped it down places a driftboat wouldnt imagine trying that makes it not very portable? I dont anchor in it at all, do have a slick way to drift fish out of it while on the move though. To each their own, I rarely get wet in winter/dont care if I do in the summer and seem to catch a fish or two on occasion so I am happy with mine. Being able to grill a steak on a heater would be nice though...:)

Finally got thru to Bill, thanks to Todd. Ordered up the 10' guide model. Should have it by mid-april. Can't wait !!!

So while i've pontooned before, I've never gone alone. With the new boat, that will probably happen more often. For all you guys that travel alone, how do you set up your take-out? I've heard about the scooter chain-up, is that how most do it ?

hitchhiking has worked many times, just have your expensive gear with you...mountain bike, small motorcycle, shuttle service and even a taxi a few times on the sky. a little bit of a pain but all of the above work. enjoy that boat, it is a good one for sure.