Pontoon Boats...whos the best?

Pleasure/Crappie fishing. Whats the best bang for the buck?

Look at the Hampton brand, they are very well built and from a company that has been around for over 40 years.

find an old beater with scummy seats and nasty carpet, that runs and has a good motor. you can re-furb an entire pontoon boat from the pontoons up for about 6-7k, I did the math several times but went a different route. Make sure the HP is maxed out or it will be a snooze fest, go wit a tri-toon if you can

Here is some stuff for you to chew on. I ended up with a Suntracker 18 bass buggy, not fancy but does what we want. Absolutely no complaints but it is "basic". Some say you can get a Benny for the same price if you just shop around and work a deal. HA! go ahead and try.. I researched for months, visited dealers and went to boat show, NOT HAPPENING. And all that glitters is not gold, Premiere just filed for bankruptcy.

We have not had any problems with the boat and are happy with it. My friend has a 22 fish and very happy. The way I see it, you want the best then ask for best bang for the buck, I kinda see that as two different things. We have also had good service from Tracker New Braunfels.. And of course you will have those that say they would rather drink bleach than use bass pro, tracker blah blah.. Good luck and have fun with your project, maybe see you around sometime.


http://www.boatingmag.com/best-pontoon-boats-2017
http://www.pontoonforums.com/index.php

yes, and like Boda says, a barn find can be completely rebuilt

https://www.pontoonstuff.com/collections/pontoon-boat-parts
http://www.everythingpontoon.com/pontoon-boat-accessories.html

There are so many good ones out there. My advice is to
1. Buy used
2. Most hp in a four-stroke that you can afford with lowest hours on motor
3. Make it fish-friendly but also "other fun stuff" friendly. (A 150 tritoon makes a great ski/tube boat)
4. Have decent sized decks fore and aft, bc it makes fishing (and tying on) much easier.
5. No need for dedicated "fishing versions", as there are tons of rodholders, etc... that you can add on.

Have fun!

I bought an all aluminum deck 87 model intec marine and redid it. I probably have about 7k, maybe a little more in it. It's pretty nice. The only thing that's still factory is the railing but I put new skins in it. The only regret I have is I wish the boat was a couple feet bigger. The problem with that would be it wouldn't fit in the storage building if it was. I got the layout I wanted since I did it myself which isn't anything special, just different from how it was. Really, except for the length I would do it again

My Mom and Dad bought a 1999 Landau 24' in 2001 with an Evinrude 115. It has been trouble free all these years, My wife and I bought it from Dad last summer and have added a bunch of stuff to fit our needs (better stereo, fish finder, L.E.D. lights, trolling motor, etc.) and we really love it. You would be amazed at how good all the seats and carpet look on an almost 20 year old boat. Landau makes a very nice boat.

if your main objective if fishing, go find a "party barge" sit on it and see what you think about trying to fish from it. In my opinion, most all fish versions have a nice lounge area. I feel a most fish versions can double as a part time party boat but party boats make a poor choice if you want to fish alot.

Before I just bought my used 22' Bennington w 115 four stroke, I did a lot of research and looking-I used www.IBoats.com to research older model boats as far as layout and features . You can find out what you like and don't like when you look-actually go to dealers/boat shows-(I'm not a big fan of salesmen either-sorry for boat sale folks). You can rent pontoons also if you've never been on one or haven't driven one and a friend doesn't have one to take you out on to show you how to take it off and put it on a trailer. Find out what you want and figure out how much you think you'll use the different features. Set your budget and see what you can find-don't forget to account for any add ons you might want to get after you get your rig and taxes. i did get my Bennington $5500 under NADA with transferrable warranties on both hull and motor. We plan on doing it all with our pontoon-Cruising/Fishing/Tubing-Skiing. Best of luck in your search!

They went out of business a couple of years ago , but were the best out there for fishing I think . They were the only ones that the pontoons were filled with Styrofoam . I have a 20 ft. fish model . Has a live well , and really a nice boat to fish out of . We paid $4000.00 for it , with a 50 horse Yamaha. It is a Voyager .

I have a 22ft G3, forget the model number. It's party in the back and fishing up front. Really well made boat and with a 90hp can pull tubes and knee boards with ease.
As far as crappie fishing, know that pontoons are like sail boats on the water and get blown around real easy. It is hard to stay in one spot when anchored.
And marschall is wrong, my G3 has styrofoam in the logs.

Used is the way to go. Find one with an aluminum deck. We bought a 1999 21' Voyager with a 50 hp Mercury, Trolling motor, It has live wells and basic fish finder. The top and furniture is in great condition, had been reupholstered a few years back. Has 4 front and 2 back fishing seats. Make sure it's a fishing version not a party boat. Paid $6500.00 with the aluminum deck it will last a lifetime. When and if the little motor goes i plan to max it out on the HP. When the carpet goes I want to put down a cool deck and get rid of the carpet.

I have seen several at the lake that have been re-built top to bottom and they look fantastic. When you look at the price of a new 20 to 22 foot with the right size motor and no trailer for $30,000.00. Buy used!!!

I added some lights for fishing. I've been told by others on the forum they can get me in trouble with the TPWD. I don't run with the lights on only for fishing. I will change the lights out to white if the TPWD gives my a reason to.

Let me add one thing to my list of suggestions....get a double or full-bimini. really a necessity with our sun.

Avalon makes nice boats and has fishing models.

I was going to do lights on mine like above but I called TP & W and they said I would have to be anchored to legelly use them so I put them on the bottom between the pontoons facing down.

A good trolling motor comes in handy.

I'm struggling with choosing which troll motor now. I know that all the fish packages come with a 12v 55lb but I keep reading that they just don't do "it"... A 24 v at 65-70 lb would be much better? I know the old rule, bigger better so on but lets keep it real.

I had a 22' Benny tri-toon fishing model for 5-6 years. The 80lb 24V I-pilot did just fine.

Thanks for sharing the info about the TPWD and the lights. I ran on the lake a few times with the lights on. Now I only use the green lights while tied off to a tree or anchored when fishing. The lights I got where cheap and easy to install. I got mine off ebay for $36.00. I've seen a kit sold for over a hundred. The only problem was the 3M sticky tape on the back. I cleaned and prepped with rubbing alcohol and heated the light strand and sticky tape with a hair dryer as I put them on. I's been a year and they are still on the boat.

Looking for one myself, if I had the money for a new one the Veranda 2075 F4 with a 90hp would be perfect
but have been looking for a few months still looking at used

I have fished out of pontoons for 30 years. First boat was a MonArk and it was a poor design that a lot of welds broke on and a poor trailer design that caused the pontoons to leak after a while. I did keep it for 17 years and traded in in on the PartyKraft in the photo. It's a 2005 model

The PartyKraft has a 50 Yamaha and is probably under powered in the case of a severe storm but with a load of 4 or 5 people has no trouble pulling a tube or knee board. Skillful skiers can drop a ski and slalom.

It's a very well designed boat compared to the monark. Lots of splash guards to keep water out of problem areas, very sturdy build and I think the parent company has been building boats 100 years. Good trailer. Fishes good with catfish our usual target.

On the day of the photo this group caught enough fish for a fry.