Maiden Voyage

[Jack Murphy]

Well, it's done and no one got hurt.

I took my new FishCat 9-ir up to a local lake last night and it fished great. Caught mostly stocker rainbows and cutts. It is amazing how much water you can cover just using the fins. I noticed my seat may need to be moved back as I had a little up tilt on the front of the pontoons.

I found out I need a net. It is too difficult trying to fight the fish and land it around the side of the boat. Any recommendations for a pontoon net?

I had a few items almost make it into the drink, including my Leatherman and a Snickers bar. The side compartment bags are nice but I think I need some zingers and a vest to hold the most used items.

All in all a successful trip.

[pvsprme]

Jack, I found a nice PFD at Cabelas that's a vest; mesh top & 3 pockets on each side. Very handy for the essentials, gear bags hold the rest. Don't remember the model # but about $39. Zingers are ESSENTIAL, check Target/WalMart/KMart, much cheaper than fishing stores.

[Otis28]

Jack, I have had my new B.B. 9' toon out twice, and the net I have is a C&R rectangular shaped net a little over 20" long. I am already thinking about getting a longer net, I feel like I am having to play the fish longer than I would like before I can get them into position to net them. I think with a longer net I could get them in and back into the water and on there way a lot fast. Hopefully some of the others with pontoons will chime in on this subject.

Otis28

[Wayne Kohan]

I had a few items almost make it into the drink, including my Leatherman and a Snickers bar. The side compartment bags are nice but I think I need some zingers and a vest to hold the most used items.



Do you use a stripping apron? It seems to catch most of my stuff, though I keep my Snickers on a zinger.:D

I use a regular net without problems. Most of the time the fish are far from played out when I land them. A longer net would require more skill to nab the fish. My fine motor skills seem to be getting worse these days.

Wayne

[Jack Murphy]

Do you use a stripping apron? It seems to catch most of my stuff, though I keep my Snickers on a zinger.:D

Wayne

I didn't use the stripping apron but I probably will from now on. I had a few tangles in my boots and frame.

[fishfinder]

Well I have figured out I need a larger net. Last week while fishing in a local lake I hooked a 20" RB trout. It took awhile to get the fish to the toon. Then it turned out that my net was too small to handle the fish. I called a friend over in his toon and we put our toons together nose to nose and while he handled the net I handled the rod. He had the same size net but two hands. After a couple trys he was able to net the fish. After all this she was pretty well done in so I reluctantly kept her. Moral of the story, Get a bigger net.

[bfic]

Get a cheap, long handle, aluminum frame rubber net from Sportco or Walmart - less than $30. Nothing to look at, but totally indespensible. They have a big shallow bag and it's easy to cut down the handle if you want it shorter. A rubber net is the only way to go.

My buddy keeps his on a heavy duty zinger. I keep mine attached to the boat with amagnetic net release.

And yes - the stripping apron will help a lot.