Since alot of our rivers are gradually losing boat launch access due to vandalism and garbage, i was thinking about buying a pontoon boat instead of a drift boat.i would like to eliminate launching a boat with so many people.With a pontoon boat, i can just pick a spot and throw it in .Now i am a very cautious person when it comes to boat saftey. i have hardly ever oared a drift boat let alone never have oared a pontoon boat. I have heard horror stories about both.I heard that using an anchor system on a pontoon boat can be very dangerous and you can flip the boat real easy. Is this true? With this said and how "spooky" of a person i am, what route should i take and what company and model should i go with??Thanks for any advice

http://www.steelheader.com/

Check these out. They aren't cheap, but they're capable of handling pretty much any water you are capable of rowing.

Check the archives using "pontoon boats" or "catarafts" and there are lots of past discussions.

I too am pretty dang cautious in my pontoon boat. I have a 9-foot Steelheader and I think you would have to be going through some pretty dang nasty water to flip one. As for anchoring, I just don't, unless it almost frog water.

I have dropped anchor in some relatively quick water and it was scary. If the anchor holds in fast water you will have a problem on your hands. I use a round 10 lb downrigger ball for an anchor. It’s not too effective, but I don't want it to hold in quick water, and the round ball isn't as quick to wedge in the rocks, which can be a real problem, if you are in a pontoon boat.

Buy one you will love it. If doing unfamiliar water do what I do, have a young reckless friend go first and give him a walkie talkie. That way he can tell you if he encounters any problems.

Of course, if you do that you need to give him time to get well ahead of you. One time on the Gold my buddy come on the walkie-talkie and said "I think this next run is pretty snotty, you better walk it around this one. " By the time I heard that I was already committed. It was exciting, but I try to avoid that kind of excitement anymore.

Hey, thanks guys for the reply,i really appreciate it .I have Heard before that the steelheader pontoon is the way to go.Hey Dave does that bother you that you are more limited on where you can fish on a float trip since you do not drop your anchor unles you are in frog water vs. being in a drift boat where you can anchor and fish pretty much any hole and any little slot and so forth?

biglarfishin

No It doesn't much bother. Only rarely do I have to pass up water I want to fish. Usually if I see a seam or whatever I want to fish and the water is too quick to anchor, I just row to the beach and fish it from the beach. In bigger rivers you may have to s pass up some good water, but there's plenty of good water you can reach by anchoring in soft water or by taking it to shore. I do about 90% of my fishing with the raft kind of bobbing around my ankles.

Thanks again Dave sounds like I will Have no problem at all fishing the Wynoochee,Satsop,Humptulips,Kalama and so forth since those rivers are not that big.

I have a 9' Steelheader as well. Dave pretty much covered the gist of the benefits of that particular craft. The one thing that's a real plus for me with the Steelheader is the lighter weight. It's much easier to row then my 16' willie, which really helps my poor old back these days.
I too learned real quick where not to drop the hook with the Steelheader. In my haste to fish a very promising spot one day, i dropped the anchor too far to the outside of the seam and it caught fast, before I knew it I looked like I was riding the mechanical bull at Gillies.
Luckily, I got the anchor up in time before I started doing the submarine thing.

Go for it! You'll have Ton's O Fun with a good cataraft

Bill