I'm in business!

[rvanman2000]

Well I finally got my first toon. I decided to go with a sportsmans 9. Can't wait for the ice to come off so I can hit the waters! I will need to do some upgrading also.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Congrats on the acquisition. That's the important first step. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Best advice I can offer is to take it out and play with it for a while before you try to get it rigged up for fishing. It's a lot easier to fish from a craft you are comfortable with and don't have to keep trying to remember a lot of navigation stuff.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Spend some time looking through the pictures on the Picture Board and feel free to pop any questions that come up. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Are you planning to add an electric motor or just stay with oars and fins?[/#0000ff]
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[rvanman2000]

Eventually I would like to add a motor, but for now I am just sticking to the oars to get familiar with it. My plans this summer are float trips, and so I definately need the rowing practice! But for some of the lakes up here a motor would be real nice. Can't wait for the ice to melt!!!
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[flygoddess]

Be sure and get a pair of flippers. Don't rely totally on the oars. If the wind picks up you will be on the oars and won't be able to fish. With flippers you can move around and even fight the wind while still having your line in the water.
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[Hunt4BigBucks]

[]Hey I'm picking up my Sportsmans 9 toon this week also. I am planning on putting an old outboard motor that my dad has on it, it only weighs 12 pounds! The Sportsman 9 seems to be a sweet pontoon, I think I'll buy a Ram Mount to put my fish finder on my tube as well. The aluminum cargo deck should make a good place to mount the transucer. I'll post pics as I upgrade my toon.[] Hopefully be next weekend I'll have it ready to hit the lake.
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[flygoddess]

Remember that your transducer doesn't need to be very deep at all. Even with the bottom of your toons will work, that way it won't get munched when beaching the boat.
What size outboard are you talking? I bought a Merc 3 hrsp for our 11 1/2' pontoons and it was too much. Great to get across the lake in a hurry I guess, but too fast for trolling if that is what you are into. Also, it had no idle so it was either going or off. Plus trying to start it in the middle of a lake is a trick also. These were new Merc's by the way.
Electric is the best in my opinion.
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[rvanman2000]

I hope it is a sweet pontoon. It wasn't my first choice, but I got a great deal on it and couldn't pass it up. I still can't us it for at least a couple weeks. The ice up here doesn't melt very fast! I went ice fishing last weekend and still had 2 feet of ice at 800 ft above sea level. Caught a beautiful rainbow though. Right now my toon is still sitting in my living room. It makes a great front row seat for watching tv!!
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[MT_Pilgrim]

Wow 2 ft of ice? you must be really high up there!!! I live way up in minnesota, and have beeen able to get on the water for 2 weeks now!
Well just sit in your new boat with your rod and reel and watch your fishin videos! spring will be there before ya know it![laugh]
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[rvanman2000]

Some of the rivers are partially open now, but the lakes are still covered. Gives me lots of time to sit in the pontoon before it goes on water!
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[Carp_Punisher]

[#505000]Don't let him fool you he's in Alaska and the ice won't come off till mid-July!! That pontoon is just a fancy sled!!! [] By the way Ryan when you do get a trolling motor I would recommend about a 40lb electric. I got a 30lb and go ok, but with 40lb I could really hum. Looking back I wish I would have spent the extra $50[/#505000]

[#505000]Also nice thing about the electric Flygodess is they are ajustable so with a 40lb motor you could hit warp 9 but then turn it down for a good trolling speed.[/#505000]
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[rvanman2000]

I've heard that people have some trouble "steering" on the pontoons. They say that they will suddenly go to the sides alot instead of straight. You had any problems?

They nice thing about 2 feet of ice under my pontoon is that I don't have to wear a pfd! And I use dogs instead of a trolling motor!
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[flygoddess]

I have an electric motor, we just tried the gas cause we go for a week at a time and no electricity to recharge.
You do need flippers to steer. I have done it without (cause I forgot them) and I was able to steer a little with my feet, but I had to have the motor on at all times.
I have heard people saying they get blown to the side, the only time that happens to me is if the motor is off, my feet are up on the footrest and I am not using my oars.
Otherwise, they track very well. I can row fast and straight and with the motor on I can steer very well with my feet as a rudder
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[Carp_Punisher]

[#505000]Steering is tough if you try to steer conventionally, but I found a few methods that seem to work..... If trolling backwards lock the motor in place and use the fins to steer. Always take fins out. They are great to "fine tune" positions ect while on the lake. One of the frist times I went out O opted to leave the fins home. I regreeted it and I had a lousy time fishing.[/#505000]
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[#505000]If you want to move from point "A" to point "B" really fast lock the motor in place crank it up high on forward, and use the oars to help steer. If you start to turn right dump the left oar in for drag it will correct your drift, if you start to turn left.... well I guess you get the idea.[/#505000]

[#505000]With all those big kings you'll be catching up there on the Kenai I imagine they will do most of the steering anyway possibly dragging you out to sea!!! [][/#505000]
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[flygoddess]

Don't know how you have your toon set up, but I have my motor on the back and I have turned the prop so it is facing the same direction as the controller (at least I did before I modified the motor). So, in the forward possiton (6 speeds) I and being pulled backwards, seldom use reverse except if I need to go forward a little like a snag or coming in to shore. I have much more control this way, motor is behind me, out of the way and I can control speed better, if I need to go slower, I stick my flippers straight down like a troll plate.
To get somewhere fast, I row (really fly rowing). Putting the motor on high really sucks up the battery. You can get tow full days of fishing with the motor on one. But then, I only fly fish so this might not work for you.
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