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Personal Pontoon Fishing

kf4zht

Red Skull Member
Joined
May 20, 2020
Member Number
561
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Anyone here got one of these? I keep seeing them popup on the local used ads. Seems the most common one is the Colorado XT Colorado XT Pontoon Boat. With some patience and shopping around you can find one with a trolling motor for $400ish

On paper this seems perfect for me. I do a lot of solo camping, adventuring and travel. I want something to toss in the trailer or car and go fishing. While solo water is generally a bad idea this seems like the safest way. The whole thing is inflated, its more stable than a kayak and if the motor dies rowing is pretty efficient. Also packs up pretty decent.

But I have to think there is a reason so many lightly used of these are on the market and apparently setup is a little lengthy
 
2 buddies have them, they like them.
No idea what mfg. Tho.
 
They're cheap because they bought a real boat.


I have the U-boat style, that you are sitting down in the water. Oars and flippers both, so you can maneuver while your hands are full, and then get to rowing and really move.

My dad bought the style like you want, and runs flippers to troll himself around.


They work great in small ponds. They work great if you only have a small vehicle like a Jeep.

He bought a 14' Lund about 15 years ago and the float tubes are still hanging in his garage. He's since bought a 17' with a 50hp and a 19' with a 150hp. I don't think the float tubes will see the light of day until they're given away.
 
They're cheap because they bought a real boat.


I have the U-boat style, that you are sitting down in the water. Oars and flippers both, so you can maneuver while your hands are full, and then get to rowing and really move.

My dad bought the style like you want, and runs flippers to troll himself around.


They work great in small ponds. They work great if you only have a small vehicle like a Jeep.

He bought a 14' Lund about 15 years ago and the float tubes are still hanging in his garage. He's since bought a 17' with a 50hp and a 19' with a 150hp. I don't think the float tubes will see the light of day until they're given away.
Yeah, I figured so many were out there because they were cheap, but not ideal.

I have a 13' whaler with a 35hp outboard. Thats about all I can tow with my Sportwagen. Honestly its big enough for 2+ my kid so that's fine. It doesn't get taken out as often as I would like. The ramps here aren't setup for solo launching and most of the people I take are pretty useless.

Really looking at it for a kayak replacement. It seems better than a kayak in a few ways - easier to load/unload (in pieces), easier to troll with a motor or flippers, more stable, no annoying kayak on top of the car. But it also seems like while it packs smaller the setup and takedown is longer, kayak is toss in the water and go.

I dunno. Its tempting but the same money is tempted to be spent a couple other ways. Been working on focusing fun money spending to things I will use often or things that hold value and not sure I'm sold on this, plus it will decrease in value over time.
 
I've had a colorado xt pontoon for about 5 years now. I drift it down the river and fish solo when no one wants to go out in the drift boat. It's convenient to just throw in the bed of the truck and launch anywhere. I've drug it through the brush and over rocks and it's help up pretty good so far. The oars it comes with are kind of cheap but they work ok. But overall it's pretty stable on the water and easy to row. It does suck when the wind picks up, you get blown around a bit. I've never had a motor on mine but I'm sure it would scoot around pretty good.
 
I've had a colorado xt pontoon for about 5 years now. I drift it down the river and fish solo when no one wants to go out in the drift boat. It's convenient to just throw in the bed of the truck and launch anywhere. I've drug it through the brush and over rocks and it's help up pretty good so far. The oars it comes with are kind of cheap but they work ok. But overall it's pretty stable on the water and easy to row. It does suck when the wind picks up, you get blown around a bit. I've never had a motor on mine but I'm sure it would scoot around pretty good.
Do you ever deflate and take down or just leave it whole? If you do how long does setup take?
 
Do you ever deflate and take down or just leave it whole? If you do how long does setup take?
When I'm done using it I deflate the tubes and store it whole. It would take probably 5 minutes to pull the pins out and disassemble the frame. Its pretty easy. Just round tube that sleeves together in sections and held together with a couple of pins.
 
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