[HOOK]

alot of the rivers im talking about are "wade and fish" or however they say the phrase LOL :happy: always do a walk before you just toss in a 'toon well at least for me being inexperienced i need to see what the river looks like and where possible launching/take out points are.

 

[anthony]

What River do you wanna take your pontoon in ? what water class is your pontoon rated for ? all depends on where you wanna go...

And If its your first time, I suggest you go with a coupe of people, and with someone that knows what there doing .... dont wanna drownd yourself out there trying something new...

Just a thought !!! Talk to ortho I beleieve he has pontooned the Thompson, maybe someone else but ask anyway, Talk to JetBoatJim I seen a pic of him pontooning a river towing another pontoon

 

[fishortho]

`Hey Hook...........PM me anytime if you need info on the "must have" gear and where you can get some moving water experience. You need to know every river and its hazards, and also how the hazards change with varying height of the water...Your equipment is important..Oars, PFD, and safety equipment, river knowledge and whitewater smarts will play a big role in having a good time or courting disaster..........Ortho 8)

 

[JetBoat Jim]

never done rivers before. ;D its not as easy as it looks, and you can get into trouble really fast.

 

[professori]

Start with a drift down a river like the Allouette (lower). The drift from Neaves road to Harris road would take an hour or two depending on the tide and whether you stop to fish. There isn't a single hazard I can think of on that stretch. Not much more challenging than a lake, but will give you a taste of flowing water. Always take care, even on that type of water. I have had to rescue someone on the Moyie River, a river so placid, if the wind blows slightly upstream, you have to row to go down stream. Even so they were able to get hung up in a sweeper that came 3/4 of the way across the river.

 

[Merc]

never done rivers before. ;D its not as easy as it looks, and you can get into trouble really fast.

Hmmm...A case of deja vu... :happy:

 

[Krypto-Limitkiller-Sanderson]

The Vedder from the crossing down is super easy water to learn on. Theres a few logs in the main flow down by Lickman and again up from the Train bridge but all said, it is a no brainer and a nice way to cover a lot of prime water. Best part is you can walk the entire stretch on the **** and know all the runs and possable hazards before you put in your boat. Plus theres some excellent fishing down that way as well. I took a short walk down by the train bridge today and saw a fly guy briefly hook into a very acrobatic steely.

 

[flyguy]

Another easy drift would be the stave as long as the dam is not open as well as the tides.

 

[patagonia]

I would suggest reading "The Complete Whitewater Rafter" by Jeff Bennet... I come from a pretty solid whitewater kayaking and rafting background and would highly recommend the book. Its geared to rafters and expedition rafters by would be totally helpful for pontooning in any type of moving water... tons of hints on how to run rivers from class 1 through 5..

 

[xgolfman]

I'll throw this in as well...Last year I did the Yakima in late april, early may...We did a section that is considered one of the safer sections for a day float...My watermaster is rated for white water and I thought I was pretty competent on it....The river was up and when I first launched I thought since it didn't seem to be moving that fast that I would kick with my fins and back up and go over to the island in the middle with the drift boat guys....I instead went immediately downstream and my rod got caught in a tree at the launch...It pulled me into every sweeper on the side and i was in full puker mode .... Finally the leader broke and I saved my rod and line after reeling in for 5 minutes...when I was safely over in the middle my buddies on the drift boat roared with laughter..but they weren't while it was happening...A lady from our fly club had drowned three years prior on this river when her pontoon went into a deadhead and knocked her out and under it....
I was useless for the first hour of the float after that...but as I got used to the flow and found out I couldn't fight it...I had an excellent day...I would recommend some really slow waters for your first times out and move up from there....

 

[STLHDR]

Id say put in around the trainbridge area and take out at KWB in the summer so you can wear shorts and a t-shirt. That way if you fall in it'll be a refreshing dip and you'll be able to swim if you have too. Then when you're comfy with that stretch move up higher like crossing to TB. As your experience grows keep challenging yourself, don't forget a PFD!

 

[HOOK]

thanks for the advise guys. Ortho, when do you wanna do a day trip then :beerchug: you pick the river and i will bring your favourite Scotch :thumbup: (will have to tell me what it is though) LOL O0 would love to be able to fish also though ;D ;D ;D cant go to water without a rod i think i have a problem. is there a fishermans anonymous?? maybe we should start one :happy: :happy:

 

[Yamadirt426]

I put the zodiac in the stave on sunday. Launched on the westside and crossed a few times to the middle island. First time in moving water without a motor. I always wondered if it would move about like a toon and I was surprised how well it went upstream. I offered to take a few fisherman i didn't know out to the middle island with me and they were pumped. I've never been out there like this so at least I wasn't going down by myself. :drunk: The one guy said he would row if I took them out and he said it rowwed very well in comparison to his toon which made me happy. We also went two at a time just in case. When we got out there I started fishing while he went for his buddy. Had three white fish landed before they got back. Good thing they were trust worthy or I was swimming. If you guys want to hit the stave for a float next week I'll be there. Mike

 

[HOOK]

sounds great :thumbup: we might be doing this on the upcoming weekend instead of the fishout. my dad might have to do something in the morning making it too late to go to Chilliwack but lots of time for 'tooning the Stave :thumbup:

 

[Yamadirt426]

So Hook are you coming out to the stave tomorrow? I'm gonna be there with my wife around 8am. Parking by the cement blocks. Mike

 

[HOOK]

i will PM you my number and give me a shout in the morning around 8am. if we head out there we probably wont leave till around 8. might just be wading and casting for fish instead of pontooning it (not quite comfortable enough yet LOL)