Kayak Or Pontoon For Fly Fishing - Advice Please!

[Greg]

I have decided to purchase either a kayak or one of those one man inflatable pontoons. I'm looking for advise and comments from any fly fisherman (or spin fisherman) that either have one or are knowledgeable on the subject. I do realize they are each better at certain things and either is likely to be a compromise. But I'm only going to purchase one at this point.

I live really close to Lake Springfield (in Spfld MO of course) and I'd like to use it there. When I was younger I had a Jon Boat and had a lot of fun bass bugging out of it. Caught some decent bass too.

But I'd also like to use it on some rivers like the North Fork of the White and possibly the Norfork and and White (arkansas) and Taneycomo during low water to access some areas that are difficult to wade to.

Advice? Thoughts? Any help would be appreciated.

Greg

[Ozark Sweetwater]

Greg,

I have both and I prefer the pontoon overall.The kayak is great to get from point a to point b then get out and wade fish but I do not really like fishing from the kayak.I have no problems fishing from the pontoon. The only thing that does hinder the pontoon is wind. Even with the anchor the wind can blow you around. I would try and borrow one and give it a try before you make the purchase. I hope this helps you some.

Jeff

[trout fanatic]

Greg. I have a sit-on-top kayak and love it. I fish from it (even fly fish) with no problems. I have only had it for a little over a week though so I can't speak from experience. There are others on here with much more experience so I will bow to their expertise. No motor/oil/gas or air. Great way to go.

Dale

[Gavin]

Pontoons work great on the NFoW and the tailwaters....to wide for the Upper Current, too slow and they catch to much wind for slower gradient streams like the Meramec, or Niangua, or bigger SMB waters...and you cant cover much ground in a lake with it....... A good sit on top would work anywhere..Tarpon 120, Redfish 12, etc. Get both if you can..Cheers.

[retroaction man]

Pontoons work great on the NFoW and the tailwaters....to wide for the Upper Current, too slow and they catch to much wind for slower gradient streams like the Meramec, or Niangua, or bigger SMB waters...and you cant cover much ground in a lake with it....... A good sit on top would work anywhere..Tarpon 120, Redfish 12, etc. Get both if you can..Cheers.

[Don]

I floated the NFOW Monday. I was in my pontoon and my friend was in his yak that he rented. I moved alot slower, enabling me to flyfish from my rig if needed. I did not have to concentrate on balancing like my friend had to in the yak. He was able to move alot faster and was much easier to paddle upstream if needing to refish a good hole. It was also much easier for him to maneuver sharp turns and curves in the river. Most flyfishing on this float was to float to wadeable water, bail out, then fish while wading. Either would serve that purpose. It is much easier to get in and out of the pontoon than the yak, especially in deeper water.

Don May

[Greg]

Thanks for all the info. It definitely helps. I'm still kind of undecided but I'm leaning towards a SOT kayak.

Greg