Camping, Fishing & Pontoons

As I have mentioned before, I grew up camping and fishing. Oh, I also flew airplanes (models and real), water skied and rode motorcycles. It was part of what we did all summer long. And I will admit, the rest of my free time I just wasted because, well, you can’t work all the time.

Anyway, through the years my camping interests have changed. My family sold and rented fold-down campers. So that’s how we grew up. Then I got into motorcycles, and tenting on motorcycle trips was the way to go. Then with kids and dogs, I changed to fifth-wheel trailers. And now hotels.

Sleeping in a boat on the water never seemed that exciting for me, probably because all we had was a 20-foot cabin cruiser that we used once to sleep on the local lake. Even during the 10 years I owned my Catalina Capri 22 sailboat and I never slept overnight on it. I guess my needs changed. Actually, I decided that living 10 minutes from the sailboat meant a nice comfortable room with lots of sleeping space was just a better choice. Plus for years we have had standard poodles and they were always bed “hogs” on the sailboat.

And fishing, I like the catch-and-release method of fishing. I know fresh fish on the grill tastes great, but I’m not too excited about the water in our lake. It’s a flood control lake and our neighborhoods have a lot of farms, and I’m guessing the water is often dark green for a reason…(can you say run off?).

Besides that, I just got tired of the mess of cleaning fish and the local fish monger can take all the work out of it for me. That said, I still like to fish.

I am not a diehard fisherman, but I have found that a nice pontoon boat (fish version or not) can be a great platform to fish from.

I have always kept a collapsible travel fishing pole on our boats. Fishing was possible from the sailboat. Trolling was fun because if you trimmed the boat up for a nice reach or haul (pending the right wind), you could get a nice trolling run. Casting presents a few obstacles, like the rigging, sails and lines, but other than that, it’s doable.

I also really like fly fishing. In fact, fly fishing is probably my favorite. I’m not fly fishing for trout, but panfish and bass. However, I used to take a trip to Colorado and stand in a lake or a stream and cast for trout. Never did have much success, but that’s why it’s called fishing. If you were to catch a fish every time, they would have call it catching.

For me, standing in the water and listening to nature is good. And if you are lucky and have the occasional wild animal (moose) walk by, that makes it even more worthwhile.

Anyway, I have done fly fishing from the sailboat, and yes, it is possible. But no, it was not the best. In fact, I consider myself to be a fairly proficient fly caster, but I could still snag a rigging wire now and then. That’s where the pontoon really helps.

Sure there are rails and a Bimini, but usually I can stand on the bow corner (outside on the front deck) and cast diagonally and I have been happy with the results.

This might sound crazy, but I really like ultra light rods to fish with (right now I have a 5-foot, 3 weight). My reasoning is with a lightweight rod, you can catch any size fish and it seems like a monster. It puts up a fight and you need to take care of bringing the fish in. Plus, since I’m not keeping it anyway, it’s the thrill of the catch.

Additionally, I don’t like using live bait because it’s messy and I prefer to use a barbless hook as I do my best to release the fish as soon as possible. I know there are people who think fishing is hard on the fish. I’m not going to get in a discussion on that, but I do like the relaxing atmosphere that standing on the pontoon and casting brings. Catch or not doesn’t really matter. It’s like meditation (or medication) and it’s more fun than a therapist. In fact, if more people would take up fishing and teach their kids, there might be a lot less stress in the world.