Inflatable Boat Use?

[Mr Q]

   Does anyone use these boats for freshwter bass fishing? These "rafts" are made of a flexable plastic material and can be inflated by mouth or foot pump in a few minuets. I have used these boats for a couple of decades with great success and the best thing is that they can be stored in a car trunk! They are cheap to buy (under $50 for a "large" 6 foot boat} and last for several years or more with almost daily use. When I use mine, I tow a small one with all my "necissities" in it (tackle box, cooler, radio, etc.) when spending the day out on a prime bass pond. These boats are so safe that on a very hot day in the 90s, I fill mine up with pond water and relax in the water while fishing without the boat being in no danger of sinking - they are that rugged.

 

   In several decades of using one, I have never seen another one being used! Maybe the fear of a puncture? These rafts are not only very comfortable to fish from, they can be fixed (leaks which rarely occur) with underwater patch kits (swimming pool kits) without going to shore. I am often looked at weirdly by others in boats untill I pull up my stringer with a lunker or two on it - then their faces drop in embarassment! I have taken a couple of my friends fishing in them (I keep extra boats in my trunk} and they loved it. Though some can be powered by electric trolling motors. I never used one since rowing is so effortless.

 

   So am I the only fisherman using these type of boats

[Preytorien]

Definitely not the only one. There are quite a few of us on here that use inflatable boats/rafts/kayaks.

 

Myself I have a Sea Eagle SE-8 Fishermans Dream package. I use a 40lb MinnKota Endura Max motor. I carpeted the floorboards and seats, added some rod holders, and use a portable fish finder. Hopefully some of the other guys will post their boats' pictures, they have some sweet setups.

 

As you said they're great for ponds and small lakes. Although Sea Eagle really hammers them during testing, I still get nervous about putting it on the river around here since it's often very low.

 

I use an electric pump that hooks to the car battery to inflate mine and I can usually have it up and ready (all gear too), in about 10-15 minutes. 

 

Love it!

[Mr Q]

   The ones I used have 3 air chambers that make it fairly safe and still floats if one goes down when I tested my first one. I thought the same about running up on the shoreline or hitting submerged stumps but after hitting many over the years, those boats just slide over them with ease. Once I ran onto one at full rowing speed and the stump snagged along the floor section but never did any damage. It was a pain to get off that stumpn though.

 

   I found that the most valuable asset of these small boats was their quietness when approaching a nice bass holding structure silently without spooking them. Once I was out in the middle of a large lake on a sunny day and when I dipped a lure into the water to test its retreive motion, I saw two medium sized bass under the boat's shadow as they followed my drifting. In this case, not only was the boat stealthy but was attracting some fish! The first time in one took a few minuets to learn how to move/steer but once I got the hang of it, I never went back to a freind's aluminum  12 footer and now could go bassing whenever I wanted to.

[Preytorien]

I agree, they're very silent. Also, they're able to draft so little water that you can easily get in and out of very shallow water. That makes it helpful when you just want to throw the boat in the water anywhere to fish. Really the only drawback is that they're difficult to row in wind. I took mine out the first time and tried it with just oars, on the way home I told my wife that I'd do whatever I needed to, but I had to get a motor. Now I have one mounted to the boat.

[gunsndrums1]

What is a good cheap boat?

[Dogmatic]

What is a good cheap boat?

Cheap and good. Heard the SE 285 is a good boat too(little more expensive).

[dmhoggy]

  i used an inflatable boat back in the 80s.  my wife and i got one a couple years back, but it had a slow leak out of the box.  it didn't help that she thought it funny that i kept saying the boat was bowing up more and more.  she had a high old time laughing at me.  

[Mr Q]

   Ome of my not-so-fond memerories when I first bought one was the effort of blowing the boat up by mouth, which took too lomg for me. Looking at my car, I got the brainstorm of stuffing a vacum cleaner hose into the tailpipe and holding the other end over the fill valves with the motor idling. It worked so nice - inflated the raft in less than a couple of minuets BUT this tactic came with a price -. In a couple of weeks the acids in the exhaust ate at the vynal plastic and ruptured some seams   The raft was ruined and don't anyone ever try thios inflation! trick!

 

   I won't go into some others since they will show my intelligence being low  and not the fault of the raft

[RanndomUndead]

The way i throw lures and hooks around when retying...id end up in the water within 5 minutes

[carlm01]

I have a seaeagle 285 pro that's a ball to bass fish out of , I have added some extra mounts on it for a depth finder/camera and anchor system , It has a 40# TM and moves along nicely I do have a n electric pump ,But only fill it at the beginning of the season and to inflate it when I put it away,, they're not cheap but are definitely a great little boat ...

[Mr Q]

   Strange as it was, I smoked many cigars in my raft for many years and never dropped a hot ash or lit cigar on the floor. As for those spiny dorsal fins on many "crapie" ("calico"," specklrd bass") again I never punctured the raft. Either I was lucky or the plastic more durable than I thought! But the best thing I loved was the sitting in one with legs straight out to the front, which was a blessing with a chronic bad back. Most days I spent 8-12 hrs in it without any pain.

 

   For such a fragile looking "toy" raft, they were almost indestuctable. With a one gallon car antifreeze plastic jug filled with sand as an anchor, which held the raft in 30 mph winds and two foot waves without any drifting, the raft was excellent in all kinds of water/wind conditions.

 

   One day while fishing with a freind in his raft on a breezy day, he looked in disbeleif as my raft was moving against the wind near him while my arms were behind my head. After a short time I told him that a snapping turtle had took my jelly worm and was crawling along the bottom pulling my raft. I ended up cutting the line after my fun wore off.

[Ec031299]

Have any of you guys used this boat or something like it? I have this but haven't ever tried for bass. I have to carry everything in with me and take everything that I bring on the boat. I say this because an anchor would be greatly useful because the wind blew me around really easily when I was out there last