There are a lot of personal 10 foot or so 1-man pontoon boats on the market today. Just to name a few: Black Bear, Dave Scadden, Whitewater, Skookum Steelheader. I believe these are better products than say Water Skeeter, Bugs Bags or Outcast products or at least the price would indicate as much.

I know the topic has been discussed many times over the years, but a couple newer companies have recently came on the scene. Does anyone have any personal favorites they would like to recommend? The winter shows are starting up and I would like to get a good feel of what I might like before I attend.

Thanks.

I wouldnt rule out bucks or outcast boats while they didnt pioneer the catagory they were the first large companies to bring these boats to the mainstream.

They make great boats and they will be around in five to ten years when your bladders wear out or if you need repairs done to your boat. that cant be said about the other companies.

Another boat i would check out is the coho cat
made by sotar. sotar makessome of the best pontoons and rafts in the industry.

DaveD,

My buddy has a cheap Water skeeter and I had a Bucks Bag. Both worked well for the fishing that we do. We fish Lake Lenice, clearwater, Grande Ronde, & Big White Salmon I would not take either of these two pontoon boats down any serious whitwater though. You pretty much get what you pay for. I will be buying a new pontoon this spring. Probably a 9' fishcat at Sportsmans warehouse. I believe the Steelheader is one of the best boats for serious whitewater, but look at the price. I guess you need to look at where you are going to use it, then buy accordingly. Hope this helps.


Sampsom

I have the 10' steelheader and I really like it.
I wanted to make sure I had a good strong float under me so I didn't mind the price to much and I can pack a ton of stuff for a weekend on the river.
I even drug it a good long ways around a log jam on the Green last year and didn't hurt it a bit, gnarly
I have even made up some wheels for it so I can get into lakes I can't drive to. (have pic of it, don't know how to get it on here).
Great for getting from hole to hole and I've pulled plugs too! as long as I get my anchor out of the water as much as I can and keep an eye on shallower water for to anchor fast when it's fishon time, it sits nice at anchor and I can stand up and fight the fish. Oh man I feel a float trip coming on.
Get a good inflatable PFD for the trip

I'm not happy with my steelheader (10'). Little things like cheap galvanized nuts and bolts from the "factory". For that kind of money, it should be constructed of nothing but the finest stainless steel hardware and locking mechanisms. That's all I got to say about that!

Agree about Sotar. That's good **** Maynard.

Outcast, baby. Quality and selection, year in and year out always one of the boats to consider.

Two thumbs up.

I have a 10ft Bad Cat for sale in the classifieds area if anyone is looking. Has pics.

Cheaper than a Steelheader and still has the stand platform that you can fish off of.

treb@verizon.net

Gusty

BadCat or Xstream. Their base model 10' boats are the same. I shopped around a lot before I bought and after comparing boats, prices, and owner feedback, the Steelheader was last on my list.

Hey Queetsqueef do you have an older steelheader? I only have 4 nuts on the seat and two pins in the frame. Do you have alot of bolts and nuts or something?
I have noticed that in recent years that the other brands are starting to copy Bill Day's toon's but other than price it is solid and it has to be if I'm going to get on the water with it.

I have been shopping and comparing for several months now. I am going to the Portland Sportsmans show to look at the new Featherweight II (two man boat) by Whitewater Fabrication. I think I have settled on this boat because being a fabricator myself and judging by the pictures this looks like a quality product, my final decision will be looking at the product in person. Also I have had the best response from this company, that makes me feel better knowing I can get an answer to my questions and customer service down the road. My .02 cents.

Thanks to all who shared their personal thoughts. I am shying away from the Bucks, Outcasts, and Water Skeeter brands because I am looking for a better fishing platform than what they currently offer. No doubt they make good lake and easy flowing river products because they sell a lot.

The Badcat advertised looks like a quality boat. I did a Google search and found nothing on their products. I will check out XStream. It seems that STS has lots of newer companies advertising new products. I guess that's what makes shopping for fishing toys so much fun.

Thanks again.

DaveD

Bad cat and xstream boats are are cheaply made imports that they buy from a company called maxxon . At least the pontoons are.
If they use the maxxon frames they are outcast knockoffs made in china. While they are both functional i would spend a little bit more and buy either a steelheader , water ready or a sotar coho cat.


I have two boats . I just purchased a 15'6" sotar sl elite cat with a down river equipment frame . My other boat is a pac 9000 that i have ran thru several class Iv rapids . It is a great whitewater play boat.

Bbobber: That's my point. It only has 4 nuts and a few pins, but for that price it's like buying a ferrari and locking the tires down with galvanized lug nuts that somebody forgot to tighten. As you drive away from the dealer, the last thing you expect is for a tire to fall off at 155 miles an hour. Get the point?

I replaced the four nuts with stainless nuts and lock washers, so that while running boulder drop my seat doesn't suddenly shift forward, backwards or fall completely off. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I got tired of cranking down my seat every time I wanted take out my cat. Bill is a good dudeand of course the pontoons are quality and the frame, deck, anchor system are nice. but for that money, it's the little things that can be important and or life saving.

Interesting. I set my seat the first time and it never has moved on me yet, I'll will have to look at it tonight and see if it has lock washers, I don't remember. But any who here is my ride with wheels attached for the walk in lakes or rivers.

Badbobber -hey i've got the 9' guide model Skookum . FYI- it's a great boat and very stable - hit some nasty water on the SolDuc last winter and was surprised how well it did- it handles up to class IV whitewater.
I need to get my anchor setup put together this spring. What are you using? I got a new Oregon Taclke 15lb pyramid weight that Steelheader69 recommended, but i forgot how and what he used to get it rigged up pulley system wise.
.the 15lb's seems a bit beefy for just one personon that size boat? what you got rigged up?

Bobber- I also notice you've got cataract oars. I believe that was an improvement a year or two AFTER I bought mine. I got some sort of skeeter oars that, although a little durable, are basically junk.

BTW, you're set up nicely. It almost makes me want to put mine back together and dump it in the water.

Lofty- I ran a 35lb pyramid off the back of mine out of desperation. It handled it fine. I know what you're thinking, but actually you couldn't even tell it was there. A 15 would be ideal

I need to rearrange things, I have my backup oar in a bad spot for a quick replace if need be.
I am using a 20lbs pyrimid outback it seamed to hold good, I was pulling plugs for the first time with the 10ft and hooked into a 12lbs nat buck and swung toward shore to clamer water and dumped the anchor and I don't even remember the 'toon stopping oh by the way I did have alittle trouble with the release with out taking the fish out of the water but I'll work on that.
As for the anchoring system there are 3 pullies and a pully rachet stop type up front here is the only shot of the front and back I happened to have right now but I think that there is a pic on Bill's web site. If you go to piscatorial's photo gallery and bring up the pic's there you may be able to zoom in for a closer look.
The wheels under the 'toon are canoe carriers from cabela's and then modified for the steelheader, maybe not the best way to do it but it works and its is easyier for me to put them on in the water than not unless you have someone with you.

I found a good pic of the anchor parts steelheader
hope this works