[Sagebrush]

Hi all,

first post here. I just purchased a used scadden expedition that's in beautiful condition with hardly a scratch. This is my first
pontoon, although I've float tubed for many years. This board has been really helpful for a lot of ideas. Something I'm not sure of is how much do I inflate the pontoons? I don't have a gauge, always just relied on feel with the float tube. Do I do the same ?
Also, I bought a 15 lb pyramid anchor ( store only had 10 and 15) is 15lbs too much? I'll be using it for both lakes and rivers.
Finally, I picked up a stripping apron, besides excess line, they are nice to lay equpment on while you are working on them. But the seat is bit high compared to the oar posts so it kind of lays in my lap, is this the usual way they are in pontoons?
I'm taking her on her maiden voyage this weekend in Kamloops, so leaving late Friday night. Don't think I've been this excited since I was a kid!

 

[Mumbles]

Sagebrush, welcome. Without a gauge you should inflate to firm, not hard. Pushing your thumb into the pontoon it should give a little bit. I do not know the recommended PSI for the scadden boats but most boat manufacturers recommend 2 to 2.5 PSI. When in the sun or on warm days the air inside will expand. When gaining elevation the air inside will expand. Burp out excess as needed...if crossing a pass, pay very close attention to this, stopping frequently or having the tubes adequately soft to allow for elevation expansion. Personally I think the 10# would be fine for the lake and river since you normally will only anchor on the bank. The 15# is just fine though. It might sink in very soft lake bottoms a bit. I've had three boats with stripping aprons, two have sat right on top of my legs and it seemed like there was not much option to elevate the apron. You'll get used to it just fine in an outing or two. Sure beats having line all over the place. If you can lower your seat you might consider it. If there is a swivel you cna drop the seat a tiny bit by removing it. I don't care for a swivel, I've seen some who like a swivel. Travel safe, float safe, always wear your PFD so you can tell us your report of your outing and we don't read about it in the newspaper. Enjoy, welcome, stay excited.

 

[jumbo215]

first off congrats! Im jelous kamloops sounds great.As far as inflation psi goes the standard for inflatables goes about 2 psi. But rarely will you find a gauge at the put in, Sometimes it depends on the kind of water your going to be floating, in a lake with cooler weather you can get that puppy preatty tight, if your going to face some white water or really hot weather youd want a little cushin. I find its more important to have even pressure though out the bladders. Youll figure out how tight you like the tubes after a little trial and error.The most important thing is to bleed your tubes if there are out of the water or sitting in the sun. Another reccomendation is getting yourself a Kpump your back with thank you.

Your anchor will be fine

good luck

 

[Rick Todd]

Ditto regarding elevation and temp. I took my Outcast Fat Cat out last weekend and the lake I fished was 1500 ft higher than where I inflated it. Also, it was getting hotter. Took it out of the pick up bed and it exploded! Some duct tape and yankee ingenuity got it to hold air OK for the day, and I need a new bladder! Rick

 

[ral]

I can't add anything to what has already been said but congratulations. I have had a Scadden expedition for about 12 years, use it 20+ times a year and the thing wears like iron. Here's a tip: if your expedition has zipper pulls like mine, cover the holes in the zipper pulls with tape. It is really frustrating to have a fly get snagged in the zipper pull and then you cannot reach it to free it.

 

[docstash]

Put the apron on the bottom frame between your legs far enough back so when finning it is no impediment, I find that the ideal location with a pontoon. As everyone has stated pay attention to air pressure. Onion sack and rocks works quite well for an anchor.
Craig

 

[Sagebrush]

Wow, great advice. Many thanks. I plan on taking most of the air out of the pontoons, including possibly disassembling depending on how much stuff is in the back of the pickup. And will inflate once I get there. I'll try to keep a tight
eye on inflation levels on the lake and if I travel else where, really dont want to blow a tube!
Do many of you use the pressure guages? I never used one with a float tube, but this looks a bit more critical.
Think the 15lb anchor is too much? I can return for the 10 lb easily.
Looks like I need to tape some zippers once I get there and try a new location for the apron

 

[Plecoptera]

I wouldn't worry about getting a gauge. You'll get the feel for it after a few outings. Often times I will carry the pump on the cargo deck when I'm out on the water (if I have room). A full pontoon will shrink a decent amount when it gets in cold water, so it's nice to be able to adjust in on the spot. Just be careful when you pull it up on shore, especially on a hot day.

 

[Steelheader69]

Yup, forget the gauge. If it's overly taught, let air out, if it's too soft, put air in. Not rocket science. I always have a pump with me on the boat.

 

[Michael Nelson]

My Scadden Outlaw Rampage has five air chambers. I inflate them all with a 12V LVM pump and then top them off with a K-Pump K100... and I *always* use a Kwik Check gauge to make sure the pressure is at the recommended 3 PSI in all of the chambers.

If you have never checked your pressure with a gauge I would almost guarantee you are under-inflating your tubes. You won't harm the boat by under-inflating it, but you'll never get the best performance out of it either.

I carry the K100 & gauge in the boat.

 

[Kent Lufkin]

Mike's right on about the gauge, LVM and K-Pump. I've been using inflatables for years and never really knew whether I was over- or under-inflating them. The LVM, gauge and K-Pump make proper inflation a snap. And yes, 3 psi is the pressure most makers recommend.

I bought a new/used Scadden Skykomish Sunrise a while back and then added the factory stripping apron. It doesn't fit worth a damn, even after tweaking the mount points and adding Delrin hardware and snaps to replace the shitty Velcro straps. I've had several pontoons, and none of their stripping aprons fit as poorly as on the Scadden (which I think is because the oar towers on the Scadden boats are lower relative to the seat than on Outcast or Bucks Bags frames.)

That's a good tip about taping the zipper pulls (and probably the D-rings on the end of tubes as well!)

You'll get better anchor advice from others for anchoring on moving water, but for lakes I use either a 5 or 8 pound anchor which hold just fine, even in windy conditions.

Enjoy your new 'toon!

K

 

[Michael Nelson]

BTW, that LVM is supposed to get the tubes up to 2 - 2.5 PSI. Mine sure doesn't!

After leaving it pumping until the pitch of the pump's motor changed I popped it off (minimal air loss since the valves on my boat can be inflated by the LVM while they are in the "closed" position) and checked it with the Kwik Check gauge and it was around 1.5 PSI. Then it takes 20-30 pumps in each chamber with the K100 to get them up to 3 PSI.

There is a HUGE difference between 1.5 PSI and 3 PSI in terms of performance and stability.

 

[Matey]

Wow, great advice. Many thanks. I plan on taking most of the air out of the pontoons, including possibly disassembling depending on how much stuff is in the back of the pickup. And will inflate once I get there. I'll try to keep a tight eye on inflation levels on the lake and if I travel else where, really dont want to blow a tube! Do many of you use the pressure guages? I never used one with a float tube, but this looks a bit more critical. Think the 15lb anchor is too much? I can return for the 10 lb easily. Looks like I need to tape some zippers once I get there and try a new location for the apron

I'm a newb so I like using the gauge that leaves no question. With experience I'll learn what the proper feel is. My WM Kodiak probably has more drag and is less susceptible to wind than a 'toon but a Cabelas 4 blade 3.3lb small boat grappling anchor holds real well in stillwater in a stiff wind and it's easy to weigh anchor. In moving water my 12 lb pyramid holds better than the 8lb pyramid I have finally settled on that is much easier to weigh and holds me in water I can't otherwise hold in by rowing. I'm guessing that at least for now I'm better off not anchoring in moving water that is faster than the 8 lb will hold. That said I think I'd go with with a 10 lb for your 'toon.

 

[Sagebrush]

I'm back from the Kamloops area, and had a great time. I got plenty of time on the pontoon, :thumb: and really fell in love with using it. It is really a change from the old float tube.
I was so much more mobile that it was eye opening. Not to mention sitting up higher, and not getting overly cold from sitting in the water. A few observations

The 15 lb weight was probably overkill, although I didn't budge an inch in some pretty whippy weather one afternoon. I am thinking of cutting off the tip of the pyramid
to bring it down to about 12 lbs. Another reason for this is, that I found that it dragged in the water a bit. I was not sure if that was because I weigh 250, or that the pontoons
were not inflated enough. I used the advice above and they seemed fairly hard when pushed in with a thumb.

I found the rowing towers a bit low for me, along with the foot rests too close. It interfered with my rowing, the oars kept hitting my knees. I backed the seat as far back as it would go, and that seemed to
work. ok. Maybe the rowing technique in a pontoon is s bit different than I am used too. Wondering if I could get longer oarlocks to raise the height a inch. Also found that my heels tended to drag a little in the water while on the foot rests. Other than that, highly maneuverableand moves fast.

I adjusted to the stripping apron laying on my legs, and it worked ok. still could be a bit higher. I may try to rig something up.

The diamond plate rear deck needs a few mor attachment points for holding the cooler and other future gear. I'll either dremel a couple of holes, or think of something other.

Really like how easy the pontoon was to inflate and deflate. It rode very nicely uninflated in my pickup on the way up and down

Liked the internal anchor system ( rope goes into the frame )

Will probably get a light weight anchor for the the other end of the tube for chironomid fishing

I found that leaning over and trying to revive fish from the pontoon was challenging, felt like I was going to fall out.

The scadden rod holder worked pretty well, but might look into a scotty rod holder too.

Hate wearing boots and caddis fins. (some jerk stole my power fins and neoprene booties last year, out of my truck)

I had a great time, sight fished to rainbows feeding on a shoal. Saw where the standing platform would have been really nice in that situation
Landed a beautiful 23" bow in the pontoon. Got about a 1/2 inch of sleet dumped on me on Tuesday.

The tube is officially retired except for hike ins.

 

[themaninthemoon]

Other than my not knowing what just exactly a chironomid style of fishing is, (something to do with fishing for a certain species of salmon?), I liked the content and writing style that you presented.
I too have just gotten my first toon (which I'm going to try out on the Kankakee river this coming weekend if the weather will work with me).
And yes, it too was purchased in order to be able to retire the tube. (Needs a new inner latex liner, as it has a lot of pin holes and leaks like a sieve.) Hoping that the pleasure I can get from the toon's maneuverability will replace the hard work I experienced using a three foot wooden paddle to propel the tube where I wanted to go. Never got used to using the fins. On one trip in September of 2004, I had a an impromptu experience on my "Gilligan Adventure", I wound up drifting in my tube for seventeen miles on the Iroquois river, which is a story for another day/time.
Glad to hear you have had the excitement of a kid @ Christmas on your maiden voyage.
Times like those come along all too infrequently, and never seem to last long enough.
Again, great article.

 

[Mumbles]

TMITM, chironomids are bugs. They come from the bottom up through the water column slowly and are a pretty significant food source for trout (and any other fish that eat them I guess). Probably more common in areas with softer muddy bottoms but they seem to be able to burrow into just about any bottom to some degree. Some call them blood worms, buzzers or midges.
Click here: Chironomid

 

[Matt Marsh]

On one of my pontoons it came with a large stripping basket that takes the place on the left side of the gear bag. It velcros right to the edge of the seat and I have really enjoyed using it over my apron. Also a great place to lay additional stuff in like wading boots as i like to use my non boot fins over my boat fin force fins. It has plenty of room to strip my line out of the way and still hold my boots, folded fly vest ect. Its a nice option as I never have enjoyed the apron over my lap...except for the few(yeah right!) times i've droped my fly, gear ect into the water between my legs.