Hello, I was just wondering about making an investment on an inflatable boat. Would this be a good investment. I wouldn't use it on large lakes or anything, just maybe a small ponds maybe a few acres. What are the pro's and con's?

http://www.fishingclub.com/communit...p;t=149714

This topic comes up every so often. This link is from a post I started a while back. I think you will find some good information in there.

Lifer since 05/08....Ky....Fred

Check for any local regs prohibiting inflateables on the waters you plan on using it. Our local conservation district won't allow them on any of it's waters. Tom
Fishin' fool in NE Illinois

Tom, I still haven't bought one yet. I'm trying to get a new house, and hopefully I'll have room for a small jon or something similar. I'll see if I can find some info about regulations here in Ky about inflatables.
Lifer since 05/08....Ky....Fred

Dang Tom, Illinois has too many rules.

 

 

But back too the topic. I wouldn't get one for the simple reason of It can blow a hole. I know that I fish around cover. What happens if you brush against an underwater stump, and blow a hole.  Well, you'll be sh** out of luck.

I have the large fish hunter and it is a decent boat.  I use a trolling motor to zoom it around the lake and it does just fine.  It is not thin plastic but it is a pretty strong PVC.   I had it out on a cove of Kentucky lake and it got me in some nice spots normal boats could not get to.  One thing to watch is the dimensions - the outer dimension is much larger then the inner since there are two chambers around it (also will keep you from having to worry about one chamber going flat and sinking).  They do take some work to get all blown up and in the water so be ready to spend about an hour from the time you stop until you are in the water moving (unless you build a trailer or carry it inflated on top of your vehicle). 

Has anyone had any experience or knowledge of a SEA EAGLE PONTOON?

What type of car or truck do you have? How far do you plan to travel? And what type of water will you be fishing? How much can you afford? These are the quistions which will help you decide and also will help us here in the club, to help you decide! Let us Know, we are here to help.

I have just purchased and started using the Sea Eagle 9, a 5-chamber inflatable. Paired it with a Minnkota 55-pound trolling motor.

My views so far:

Portability -- Excellent. Unless you drive a tiny little car with a tiny little trunk, this boat and all the parts will fit in your trunk. If you have a SUV or pickup you'll have no problems. Hull weighs 38 pounds, floorboards might weigh 45 pounds.

Setup - Good. One person can easily inflate the boat, install the floorboards, etc. Even using the foot pump, it's not hard and takes between 20-30 minutes. The very first time it takes longer just because you're learning, after that it's pretty easy.

Launching -- as long as you have 2 people, no problem. Two adults can easily lift the inflated boat and put it in the water. One adult and one 12 year old could also manage it. If you're by yourself it's harder, you either need a grassy area where you can drag the boat without tearing it or you need the optional dolly. I would not drag this boat on the typical jagged concrete ramp that you get at a lot of small parks, you will tear the bottom of the boat. On a nice smooth ramp at a large park you might be ok dragging it.

Boating - Good. 55 pound trolling motor pushed me around just fine, One person and gear maybe 275 pounds. The boat has room for 2 adults and gear comfortably. 3 would be too crowded to fish.

Comfort - Fair. I'm a big guy and the seating positions are very low, it puts some strain on your lower back. You can stand up and cast but it's like standing in a small jonboat, you have to balance carefully.

Overall a good option if you fish small lakes and / or don't want to buy and store a standard boat. Much more manageable if you have a friend with you to get it in the water.

Some more observations:

The motor mount is very sturdy despite its appearance.  It held the weight of the Minnkota with no problem.   37 pounds I believe.

Oars move the boat very easily.  I reckon I could have rowed almost as fast as the trolling motor was pushing me. 

Wind did not affect the boat as much as I thought it would, but still more than a jonboat.   An anchor is useful to stay in one place.

Deflating and packing up the boat is very easy.   As long as you can lift the 38 pound bag when you're done.

So far    I am still evaluating it   but I give it pretty good marks.   It's not as good on the water as a jonboat, but if you need  a boat you can take anywhere without a trailer,   if you only fish small ponds or lakes, etc    it seems like a prettty good option.

Jobu- I'm glad to see you got something done and it seems to be working out for you. If I may ask, how big of an inflateable and how much trolling motor? Tom

It's 9 feet long, internal area is more like 7.5 feet, about 4 feet wide. Plenty big enough for two people with fishing gear.

I bought a MinnKota 55 and it does the job. I need to buy a larger battery but that's my fault. A pretty short trip out on the lake depleted my battery almost 50%.

I also need to buy the electric pump. The foot pump works fine but it's slow, and on a typical swampy Washington DC summer morning, even at 5:30 AM, I was sweating like a pig when I got done inflating and assembling it.

The material feels remarkably thick and tough. On two occasions as I was reeling in, my lure accidently caught the side of the boat. I expected it to hang up, but the material is so tough that the hooks couldn't dig in.


All in all, still evaluating, but I like it. Especially as I fish almost exclusivey small bodies of water that don't allow gas outboards.

Looks very similar to my Fish Hunter and I also have a 55 thrust minn kota (although it has a reverse issue).  I have a battery from Walmart, I paid like $80.00 for it and it has run for several hours and never died - but I don't full throttle the motor too much.  Hope you enjoy the boat as much as my son and I have enjoyed ours.

Oh and here is a link to the inflater I purchased.

 http://www.amazon.com/Intex-110-120...560&sr=8-1

  It is noisy but it is quick.  I also bought a black and decker 400 watt power converter from Target to power off the car battery (or could use the trolling motor battery I guess).  The cigarette lighter plug blows the fuse when using with the pump but just clip directly to the battery and it does great.  We can blow up the boat in less then 10 minutes with this combo.

big ed, i have a 13 foot sea eagle inflatable yak and it took me awhile to get a system down to getting everything out and together and I can get it in the water in about 30 min. It seems like it takes me longet to break everything down to back in the bag than to get it out, but once i get it deflated, i put all the caps back in place so i'm not fishing for them on set up.
Someone said in an earlier post that if you hit cover you are S.O.L. but i have hit submrged cover, rocks, ect and so far no holes