Pontoon Boat Basics
With 85 pounds of gear strapped on the cargo decks of our pontoon boats, we watched the Beaver float plane lift off. We were on our own, 50 miles from the nearest human and over 100 miles to the nearest town, at a mountain lake at the head of Alaska’s Alagnak River drainage. It was as close to heaven as I had ever been. There were no cell phones, no radio, no Internet, and nobody else but our group in sight. The best news of all was that there were crimson-red sockeye salmon stacked in every run. Before us lay 60 miles of Alaska’s Alagnak River, inaccessible to conventional boats—a wilderness of salmon runs and giant egg-eating rainbows.
While not all trips will be as extreme as this, pontoon boats allow anglers to fish water they’ve only dreamed of fishing, whether it is exotic as a virgin river in the Siberian wilderness or Belize flats, or something closer to home like your favorite trout river or lake. Shallow floating, lightweight, and able to be steered by oars and fins, pontoon boats have the mobility and portability to allow you to fish the best water in solitude.
Pontoon boats have taken the independence float tubes provided for lake fishers to another level. These boats allow you to sit higher out of the water than in a float tube, so you can spot fish better and make longer, more accurate casts. Plus, you can navigate rivers better in them.
A pontoon craft is a floatable craft that uses parallel pontoons as its floatation base. The pontoons can be separate with an adjoining framework or joined at the ends. Many of the new V-shaped float tubes fit into this category.
One person can easily load a fully inflated pontoon boat into the back of a pickup or on a car roof rack. Since most models have a packable aluminum frame, you can take these boats places where you could never haul a boat or carry a canoe. Some frameless pontoon boats can be rolled up, stowed in a conventional backpack, and hiked, biked, or motorcycled into remote waters.
Oar Basics
The best place to learn fin and oar techniques is on a lake or pond.
Rowing a pontoon boat is just like rowing a regular boat. Place your feet on the footrests, point the back of the boat in the direction you want to go, and start pulling on the oars. Most models come with oarlocks and footrests mounted on the frame. Even the frameless models have strap-on oarlocks.
Pull the right oar to turn the back of the boat to the left; pull on the left oar to turn the back of the boat to the right. If you want to move quickly to the left, leave your left oar stationary in the water and pull your right oar back toward you through the water. If you want to quickly spin in a circle, put both oars in the water and pull with your right oar while pushing with your left oar (or the reverse). This scissors stroke is handy when you need to turn quickly.
I most often use three basic oar techniques.
Reverse oaring. Extend both oar handles in front of your body. This forces the oars to pivot in the oar locks and situates the oar blades behind you. Pulling the oar handles back toward your body propels the boat backward.
Forward oaring. Pull back both oar handles directly in front of your body. This forces the oars to pivot in the oar locks and situates the blades in front of you. Pushing the oar handles away from your body propels the boat forward.
Offset oaring. This technique is more complex. Instead of working your oars in unison, work both oars independently of each other. To row in reverse, refer to the reverse rowing technique, but operate each oar separately. When your right oar completes a stroke, begin a stroke with your left oar. This creates a fluid, low-impact stroke that can be maintained for long distances. To row forward using the offset technique, do just the opposite.
Fin Basics
You should be comfortable with the oars before practicing with your fins, which operate like the oars. Kick lightly with your legs facing forward to propel your boat backwards, kick hard with your right fin to move to the left, and kick hard with your left fin to move right.
Scissors kick with your fins by pulling your right fin back underneath the boat while putting your left fin out in front of you. In one swift motion, pull your right fin forward and your left fin back; this will cause your boat to spin. You can spin in the opposite direction by moving your left fin back and your right fin forward, then bringing them swiftly together.
Once you spin the boat in the direction you want to go, begin kicking with both fins in a straight line toward your destination. With a little practice, you’ll do this automatically to adjust the direction of the boat under various conditions.
You can also move the boat to one side by turning slightly sideways on your seat and kicking out to the other side of the boat. This becomes a valuable stroke on a river but should be practiced on a lake first. Kicking both fins out to the left moves you back to the right while kicking both to the right moves you to the left. This is one of the main moves you’ll use on a river to position yourself to cast to the bank.
Finning a boat is excellent exercise but you should stretch beforehand to help prevent leg cramps. People prone to leg cramps should check with their physician.
Copyright © 2012 Intermedia Outdoors
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