I'm not really in the market right now, saving my pennies. But I was curious what companies to look towards and which to stay clear of. I want to get a head start on researching before I buy one in march

I want to 10ft or 12ft pontoon that I can fish both rivers and lakes. That has or can have a standing platform installed. Also an electric motor mount.

Thanks

Bad cat, Skookum, water.ready are a few

So you want a trolling motor and standing platforms.

Although the one boat isn't complete, put a lean bar up front and a 2 HP Honda outboard on back and you got a serious side drifting machine (at least for a pontoon boat).

Or you can get US-made pontoons or an aluminum frame.

Forgot catchercraft. Sorry about that

Catchercraft / Skookum

+1

That's sweet.

You can't go wrong with Catchercraft!
Fishermen building boats is the best you will get.

stay away creek company boats

I owned a creek company that I bought when Gi Joes went out of business. I'll never own another one

What? you got something against rowing out into a lake and slowly sinking then limping back to shore with a 1/2 deflated pontoon trying not to lean forward or back so you don't tip over?
Me too

The Catchercrafts look really nice, I've been debating DB/Raft/Toon for a while now. 3 man 14ft raft is getting mighty tempting.

+ 1
They should come with a life insurance policy and a free PFD.

I've looked at every "store brand" pontoons and I haven't seen anything that catches my eye or looks as sturdy as those catchercraft pontoons.

I know what ill be spending my money on when the time comes. Catchercraft 1 or 2 salt Steelhead looks perfect

We'll be "unveiling" our 3-Salt Steelhead at the Washington Sportsman Show in Puyallup, along with another model or two. It is based off 14 foot pontoons and has a seat for the rower and a front and rear module for two other anglers. It should be a nice alternative for flyfishing guides who want to accommodate two anglers as well as gear anglers who want to side drift.

I didn't go through all the specs due to bad phone connection.

But can I get 12' pontoons with a single seat setup? I was sure I seen that 12's come as 2 salt models?

Absolutely...you want one seat on 12' pontoons, no problems. One thing about building our own frames is we can put together most any package an angler wants...up to a point.

Perfect thank you. My eyes are set on the prize.

Agreed. Heard and seen nothing good from them.

BADCAT or a Skookum nothing else
I would suggest getting a 2 man off the bat, I had two 1man toons starting from a 9' and 10' now have the 12' 2man. River fishing your 1man your gonna miss fishing the "good" water because your on the sticks all the time and good luck on landing a fish by yourself. 2 man your buddy or your self will be fishing not missing the good water while someone or yourself is rowing. Landing a fish is easier when you have another dont go cheap if your wanting to float a river even if its a "easy flat" river things go bad quick and fast if you have a weak boat.

IMO BadCats are the best because there frames are compatible w/ NRS frame parts so if you want to extend or upgrade its all nuts and bolts not welded chain link fence posts like skookum and catchercrafts(skookum rip offs)
hope this helps

Rag,

You don't really expect me not to respond and correct your erroneous statements do you?

But you do make a good point...allow me to expand. By getting a rower module/one seat frame on a set of 12 foot pontoons, it opens the door to easily adding a front module at a later date for a second person. It will strap right in front of rower perfectly. That way, you can upgrade later, without having to buy everything up front.

Speaking of NRS, I just dropped off an NRS frame for Ken to repair. Let's see, that makes two NRS bolt together frames he's repaired over the last year vs. NO repairs out of the close to a thousand he's actually built himself. He did repair one frame for a customer once, but only after the customer admitted that he ran over it with his truck and didn't do it on the river like he said. He has NEVER had to repair a frame that he built out of galvanized steel that didn't involve a truck running over it. Some of the inferior parts Skookum used needed replacing over the years but never the frame itself due to a boating incident.

Regarding your chain link fence post comment, wrong again. It is galvanized EMT. If you want an aluminum frame, we can do that...but it won't be bolted together like some, but rather welded.

Finally, please explain to me how Catchercraft ripped off Skookum? The frame design, pipe bender, frame welder has all been Ken Rambow since day 1. And he now co-owns Catchercraft. So again, tell me where we ripped off Skookum?

I'm glad you like your Bad Cat.

Go welded all the way...and catchercraft does make a great pontoon!!

That's a nice custom ride and pile of fish to boot. You ever consider putting rod holders up front and pulling plugs with that bad boy?

are you kidding me? you ripped skookum you just made some dumb anchor mount and called it your own. Merg's handicapped buddy staring at the vending machine waiting for that candy bar to magical drop would point that out.

Why dont you see all the Real whitewater guys using galvanized frames and only NRS parts and aluminum tube....... because its the best you can get.

Yes...I have rod holders mounted...it pulls plugs well

Rag,

Okay, I can't tell if your trolling, confused, or enjoying an adult beverage but you are not making any sense so I'm backing away from this until you write something rational because I'm still waiting for any shred of evidence that we ripped off Skookum.

By the way, I will gladly meet you at any floatable steelhead river in the state. You bring your Bad Cat, I'll bring two Catchercrafts...one with the anchor mount and one without. We'll test row all three and if you still think our deluxe anchor system is just "some dumb anchor mount", I'll buy you a 6 pack of your favorite beverage. We'll video tape it and post it on PP.

Nice...I looked and didn't see them so that's why I asked. But then again, I'm not a big plug puller.

Ok, I gotta chime in here...

So the frames that all the hardcore whitewater guys use are Down River Equipment, NRS, Recretec, River Boat Works, AAA Inflateables, etc...

These frames are the best. They are all bulletproof, and as for me it may be overkill but I am ok with that. There are quite a few people who do real whitewater and use a frame made from emt, however.

And the tubes...
.
I personally am not a fan of the Chinese glued pvc Maxxon or Saturn tubes. They are pretty tough, though, and will last a while. But they do not compare to the Maravia, Sotar, Aire or Hyside tubes in durability or performance. The high end boats cost a little more, but if you do some homework you can put an affordable package together that will last forever and handle well.

I run a 15' sotar cat with a frame I loosely modeled on an NRS frame (I weld). And those NRS fittings are bombproof, btw.

Oh, and if anyone is still reading this there is a great deal of info about catarafts on mountainbuzz.com. check out the "gear talk" forum.

Skookums boat
http://shop.steelheader.com/viewcategory.php?groupid=0
The imposter
http://www.catchercraft.com/Products___Prices.html
Dude same bends and breakdown....just you put a different anchor mount/system on "some" and even your kick boat is the same as the Osprey

you tell us what the difference is? Im stumped.


Your right drinking the High Life tonight might blaze up that pinner hear in a min.

Just make sure you buy a whitewater rated boat...that's not a boat that is made out of tent poles, a la Creek Company.

The above mentioned boats are all in the ballpark. I've been running two man Skookums for many years and have nothing but good things to say about them. The Catchercrafts look just fine to me, as do the BadCats, Water Readys, and anything from NRS.

Fish on...

Todd

not according to catcher his buddy had to fix 2 this year....

I am just trying to be fair...

aka "The Steel Curtain".



They say hauling hanging beef is a tricky load for any trucker.

One advantage I do see to this set up though is at least folks won't pester you about how you did.

BTW, that bar definitely looks strong enough to support a stainless cleaning station. A little aux pump and you could clean while you drift.

Danno84,

Good post, nice to see some true WW knowledge come to the thread. One problem with Maravia, Hyside, Sotar, Aire is they don't make smaller pontoons, of which the original post was pertaining to. Sotar is the only one even close with their 11 footers that retail for $2275 just for the pontoons, no frame (they do have deals sometimes). Most fishers don't need that quality of pontoon for fishing applications. JPW offers a great US made pontoon that is reasonable and that is why I mentioned it in my earlier post. Not even Saturn offers 9, 10, or 12 foot pontoons so everyone is pretty much stuck with Maxxon or JPW at the smaller size, which is why Skookum, Bad Cat, Water Ready, and yes, even those crazy loons at Catchercraft all use Maxxon or JPW pontoons in the smaller boats.

And just to confirm, I'm not suggesting that NRS frames are junk in anyway...but the fact is we are repairing 3 cross members right now.

Rag,

First of all, our Kamloops frame is made from galvanized steel and made in North Bend, WA. The Osprey Frame is made overseas out of aluminum and then power coated. It says so right on their website. If you only knew how much they paid for the Osprey frame and how much they are marked up...

Next, and I'm going to be very clear so there is no misunderstanding...Prior to February 2011 the Skookum Steelheader frame and since March 2011 for Catchercraft, the 1- and 2-Salt Steelhead frames are exactly alike because they were built by the same man, Ken Rambow out of North Bend. He provided the Steelheader frames for Skookum Products until he built them their last frame in February 2011. Since that time, Skookum must have contracted with somebody else to have their frames built.

For example, Todd's Steelheader II frame, yeah, it was built by Ken Rambow. After Ken stopped making frames for Skookum, he started making the same frame for Catchercraft...the same frame he had built for over a decade. Now I ask you again, how we ripped off Skookum?

And regarding the NRS frame that you refused to believe we are repairing, I'd be more than happy to have the guide contact you if that's what it takes. Again, not saying that NRS makes inferior products, just saying that we happen to be fixing one right now, coincidentally.

<---abu
Catcher?.....why would you want to keep the design that another boat compay used? Why wouldnt you want to start with a new design for catchercraft?
theres 1000's of ways to build a toon frame and you decided to use a style that allready has a name?

Rag,

Not a bad question, I'll do my best to answer it.

First of all, the Kamloops was an entirely different frame design than what anybody else was using.

Second, Ken was the one who put the time, labor, sweat, energy, thought into the frame design, not Skookum. Just like any quality product, Ken took pride in building his frames and the craftsmanship. Why wouldn't he use something that he put so much effort into perfecting? Would you?

Third, efficiency-when you get that good at something like Ken is at frame building, it takes time, labor, sweat, energy, and thought to produce something different. That increases costs. Why do you think we can sell a better boat (better in that our fab guy is more experienced at building the frame and we have better anchor system components otherwise the stock boats are very similar) for less money than Skookum? Efficiency and experience. They have to find somebody new build the frames and are not going to be as proficient right away.

Fourth, It is a good, proven design that has remained relatively unchanged for years. Pretty hard to improve on something that has stood the test of time. Besides, there are only so many ways to bend metal. A design needs to be strong enough to provide a lifetime warranty (which we do) yet not bulky as to add unneeded weight.

Five, We actually do have some big differences compared to others that we have recently added to our options. Even though you disregarded the deluxe anchor system, it really does VASTLY improve anchoring and GREATLY reduces swaying. I was being totally serious about taking it out for a spin to see for yourself. You'll be a believer too. Ken tried to get Skookum to use it but Mr. Day refused because it added shipping costs so Ken quietly offered it to his other clients who thought might appreciate it. Besides, it provides a great place to put a cooler for fish or beverages. We also offer other frame options such as raised seats and wider frames and riveted rod holders that the old Skookum was hesitant in trying.

Go back and look at some of the older threads on sinking drift boats. One reason was the anchor rope coming un-done from the clam cleat. Working with Leelock, they built us a unit specially designed for smaller pontoon boats that replaces the clam cleat, which GREATLY improves safety while drifting through rapids.

Are you satisfied or do you want more?

If I built a top quality frame and changed companies I would certainly still use my frame design.....unless my prior company had rights to it.

Who really cares what company copies who. All that matter is that you put out a quality product that is safe. Safety is the key

Same frame, less money.

Yeah, I was DaveD on board from 1999 until very recently. Actually, I didn't feel I was getting a raw deal personally and appreciate the opportunity to educate a few folks.

We don't have a huge sales pitch. We won't say our products can handle Class V rapids. We won't say we make our own pontoons when we don't. We shoot straight, let our products speak for themselves, give honest feedback to questions, and let the consumer make the final decision on what to get.

Only a couple points...

Rag, I'm down with you and, even moreso, your avitar pics.

I will also say that Catcherman seems to be dropping 100% fact/knowledge. I can back 2 of his statements. First, those frames that Ken built ARE badass. I have a good story about watching my 2 man Skookum do the krzEEstyle on the river. Straight up sideways into a sweeper, LOADED up HUGE with power, and then flipped like a pancake at Denny's WITH a novice rower still on top of it. Upside down, boat got pounded under the sweeper in a few feet of water. Bent out one of the angled brackets that lead to the oar lock. Floated out with the oar in a weird position. Ended up being able to bend it back without noticeable damage to the weld. That was probably 4 years ago and the boat has been down Beaver Creek and its tributaries (Little Beaver Creek and Pink Beaver Creek) since without incident.

I will also attest to that "clam cleat" being complete BS. In fact, I fished in the ice/snow last weekend and had it let my anchor fly away. Fortunately, Merg has studied the brain A LOT and vibed me in on how to retrieve it.

....and that's all I have to say about that.

-AP

Props to you for working merg into your post. Took it from good to top notch.

<= Loves his Skookum.

<= Removed the LeeLock because he thinks they suck.

Your mileage may vary.

Fish on...

Todd

What size is that????

Interesting...so which LeeLock unit did you take off and what did you put back on as a replacement?

Did it look anything like the attachments?

Kinda...I prefer the old school cleat, like in my driftboats. I also had a boat come with some sort of fancy one way racheted pulley of some sort, too...took it off and put on a cleat.

Not sure if the way I like it is better...just pretty sure the way I like it is the way I like it

Fish on...

Todd

P.S. Yours is fancier than the one I had last...it didn't have a pulley as part of it...though I'm sure that wouldn't really make it much different.

Nothing wrong with an old-school cleat...only one you can blame in a failure is the one tying the figure 8 knot.

I never used the one-way ratchet but I heard plenty of problems associated with them.

Your last statement kinda sums it up nicely. Nothing really matters as long as long as the owner is happy.

True.

When I purchased my skookum, about three years ago, it was shipped from NorthBend.

Really? That surprises me a little. Maybe it was an isolated incident because typically Mr. Day (Skookum) usually stopped by Ken's place and picked up multiple frames at a time and then had them shipped from Skookum rather than the North Bend fab shop. It was probably due to the circumstances at the time.

Totally.

His daughter was running his show due to Bill's illness and had the frame picked up from NorthBend.

Roger that, I know she was helping out more after her father got sick. I happened to meet her last year as I was there on her very last frame pickup from Ken. I think she knew the hand writing was on the wall because she brought a frame that someone else had done for her. It was cracked at the welds. She asked Ken to fix it for her, which he did for free because he's that kind of guy. I thought it odd that she'd have Ken fix someone else's work but it is a true story.

Love the LeeLock. Sayonara to cleats.

Perhaps a custom color one in Purple & Gold?

So catch,
It sounds like this Ken guy is "Catchercraft"..... what do you do are you just a sales rep?...... just wondering sounds like the ken pulls all the weight in the company.....

Love my leelock had one of those ratchet deathtraps on the other boat never liked it from the get go. the ropejam cleats seems like they would pop the rope I dont really trust them...

Rag,

You are right, there would be no Catchercraft without Ken Rambow. After he decided to break ties with Skookum, I asked him if he still wanted to make his frames. He said yes, and after some thought and planning, later I approached him with a proposal to start our own company and we formed the business. We are co-owners, he still builds frames like always and I take care of everything else. Ken pretty much defers to my judgement (right or wrong ) on all business decisions but like a good partner, I keep him in the loop.

Yeah, I like the LeeLock for convenience and safety and wouldn't get a boat without one personally anymore. Saying that, I ran the clam cleat for a couple years without any mishap but there is always a chance. I would NEVER use the ratchet system. I may look into Todd's cleat idea as another option too.

The toons are 16' and the entire frame is 120" x 72"...the solid diamond plate floor is 10' by 42"

Cleats have not moving parts.

It seems to me my boat is riding on a set of Canyon 10'6 cat tubes so there are other options for smaller pontoons that are US made. I have the urethane coated bottom on my tubes and it is about as tough as it comes for fishing applications and they had about 8 color combos and built them to the color I wanted.

I looked into the jacks but they had a terrible shape and were the same old ugly blue color as the maxxon, chafes were extra and they were only 35oz fabric. That blue radiates on the water when the sun hits it.

I run a standard driftboat jam cleat on my cat and have never had a problem, the new thing is scare people into a lee lock, I wonder how many have actually been hurt because of a jam cleat that is basically on every drift boat out there for the last 20 years.