thinking of buying a pontoon

I am currently researching a pontoon purchase. I have always had nice tournament grade bass boats...have a 2016 ZX225 loaded with all the good stuff and love it. Unfortunately none of us are getting any younger...and my wife has developed health issues that can not allow her to be in direct sun light for extended periods of time. If we intend to continue to maintain our fishing interest, I will have to by a snail...(pontoon). We have two sets of friends that have them and do enjoy fishing and boating with them often regardless of my snail theory...there are a lot of ramps on our local lake that allow us to trailer closer to the spot of choice...so speed is not as much of an issue any longer aside from my past mentality and love for it! I am after suggestions on what to buy and what not to buy...My price range is moderate....and I would like to stay between $30k and $40k...and but new, not used....considering our main purpose (fishing)...I am leaning toward 4 point models...but could be convinced otherwise with legitimate reason...we do a considerable amount of trolling and free lining for striper and crappie, and artificial...for spots, large-mouth, and crappie. I think i'm in the 115hp to 150 hp range...there is no way I can accept 20mph...just cant do it!...and 20 ft. I think is large enough....maybe...not sure! Any help would be greatly appreciated. By the way we live in N.E. Georgia and do not travel to huge lakes....just Richard B. Russel, Hartwell, and Clark's Hill Lake ...so rough water is not an issue..thanks in advance to any of you who choose to give advise!

Look at the thread below , some have listed speeds, models etc...
My 18' tracker bass buggy with a 60 merc does 21 mph, pretty slow!
I do have a 36 volt Trolling motor and 4 bank charger on it

edw, pontoons are a great boat. Plenty of room, plenty of shade and you can equip them with a good GPS equipped trolling motor and fish banks or let it anker you on a point just like your bass boat. Don't go to small, you'll regret it. Get a 22 foot tri-toon with a 150. Speeds of up to 38-40mph with a tri-toon with a 150 four mercury are easily achieved even loaded with 6 people and pulling a skier. Bass Pro Shop have Suntracker pontoons like this are priced pretty reasonable. I bought a Ranger Reata 223f pontoon because of the coated pontoons and really like it. A Suntracker is almost the same boat without the coated pontoons and cost about 4k less, but the pontoons get tarnished pretty fast and they are very hard to clean and get the shine back.

Thanks texasfisher...I'll check it out! 200721i..I couldn't see the threads...but thanks fir your efforts thus far.

In the same boat (no pun intended). I have a bass boat and the girlfriend wants a pontoon for the 250 acre private lake we live on. Hoping for more pros and cons here.

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Originally Posted by rangervalenti

In the same boat (no pun intended). I have a bass boat and the girlfriend wants a pontoon for the 250 acre private lake we live on. Hoping for more pros and cons here.

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Have you looked at the pondtoons? Or one of the mini pontoon ?
Gillgetter, etc.

We have not yet

I am not very knowledgable about different pontoons but I have spent sometime fishing off of them. They make a great trolling rig as you can mount holders everywhere. Heck they make a great platform for fishing two guys up front for bass.

The problem is wind. Those things are a sail. Make sure you get a 36 volt Ulterra or XI5. Look for an open layout. All the furniture that comes on most rigs is in the way. I would want one with no furniture and I would install seata where I wanted them.

Also the speed thing is not really an issue. It is all i n your head.

For the wind catching, what if you did something like this:
Minus the skirt on the first pic, just the railing

Attachment 344628

Attachment 344629

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Originally Posted by Skunked again

For the wind catching, what if you did something like this:
Minus the skirt on the first pic, just the railing

http://www.bbcboards.net/attachment....d=344628&stc=1

http://www.bbcboards.net/attachment....d=344629&stc=1

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That would make a great base for a great fishing machine.

I've had pontoons since 1985, and currently have a 24' Bennington tritoon with a F150 Yamaha. It's good for 40 mph and performs very well. A boat like mine is about $40K--depending on the options. Go for a great brand as they all have a number of model boats at different price points.

If you have time to order a boat, I'd strongly suggest it. It all comes down to the amount you want to spend. The trick to getting the speed out of pontoons is having lifting strakes on the toons to get the nosecones out of the water. While a triple toon boat is preferred, with lifting strakes a 2 toon boat will be faster but not corner as well.

The 20' two toon model with lifting strakes and 115 hp would run just fine and probably do you a good job. The fishing models are not as popular as those with rear lounge seats, and they'll be harder to find on dealer lots. I know Bennington has a half front door that allows you to fold the trolling motor up and close the front door over it.

Transom- Exactly what I was thinking. Uh Oh, you might have just re-lit the fire that I had suppressed for getting a different project!
I'm liking the center console. Could put back to back seats in Front of it, with rod/gear storage underneath....
I had just convinced myself I was happy with what I have!!