pmmpete:
Rogerdodger, what do you think are the differences, advantages, and disadvantages of the GigBob over a conventional fishing pontoon with a frame?
For some kinds of fishing, and for some people, a fishing pontoon or the GigBob are definitely an alternative to a kayak. I wouldn't want to cover a lot of distance on a lake in a pontoon, and they aren't suitable for trolling, but they do great for jigging, casting, and river fishing. This summer while lake whitefish fishing on Flathead Lake I met a guy who was outfishing me from a pontoon.
rogerdodger:
--- Quote from: pmmpete on February 07, 2018, 07:42:21 AM ---Rogerdodger, what do you think are the differences, advantages, and disadvantages of the GigBob over a conventional fishing pontoon with a frame?
For some kinds of fishing, and for some people, a fishing pontoon or the GigBob are definitely an alternative to a kayak. I wouldn't want to cover a lot of distance on a lake in a pontoon, and they aren't suitable for trolling, but they do great for jigging, casting, and river fishing. This summer while lake whitefish fishing on Flathead Lake I met a guy who was outfishing me from a pontoon.
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great question that I am going to approach sort of in reverse because I never even considered a conventional pontoon.
one of my boat goals has been to configure some sort of solo drift boat that I could fit in my small SUV, carry to launch locations and set-up quick, to initially use on our central coast rivers (Siuslaw, Alsea, Siletz) for winters and perhaps the McKenzie in the summer..and I didn't want just a small normal drift boat. I came really close to buying a Blackfoot HB XL that I was going to try and reconfigure to use oars instead of a paddle but then I came across this blog post about the GigBob:
https://community.nrs.com/duct-tape/?s=gigbob
and the positives for what I hoped to do just started adding up: I love drop stitch technology, my i11s is just amazing. I also look for boats that I can take my 85# dog on sometimes, and I really liked the foot rests up on the front of the pontoons and the ability to just stand up in shallow water or bail out easily in a crisis. Next is that I don't like to fight large fish from a sitting position, (I think on most pontoons you are sort if stuck in the 'chair'). On both my kayaks, I almost always move forward to a kneeling position where I am really in control; the hard flat deck of the GigBob is perfect to climb on when anchored and floating bobbers or casting hardware, sort of like having a small piece of bank that you move down the river. When I decided I didn't need the seat, using the deck got even easier. I also liked that the pontoons are drop stitch so they are flat on top and bottom...and being able to remove them and just use the top as a thin boat or part of another boat....so in deciding on the GigBob, I really didn't even notice that it was similar to a regular pontoon because I got to from a totally different direction.
I can't say yet if the GigBob is going to be better than a Pontoon for running serious whitewater (I have never been on a regular pontoon) but I sure plan to find out what this thing can do in real whitewater (during the summer...), my first float in the GigBob had me really wishing there had been a few more challenging sets of rapids, that is a really good sign after the maiden outing in a new boat.
cheers, roger
pmmpete:
On the Gigbob the oarlocks are mounted on rectangles of something which are attached to the top deck of the boat. How much do the oarlocks twist and bend as you pull on the oars?
rogerdodger:
--- Quote from: pmmpete on February 08, 2018, 05:59:09 AM ---On the Gigbob the oarlocks are mounted on rectangles of something which are attached to the top deck of the boat. How much do the oarlocks twist and bend as you pull on the oars?
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I noticed almost no flex in them when rowing. I laid into the oars hard a few times trying to (briefly) go upstream against rather swift water, like you would in a drift boat.
comes with excellent spring loaded locks mounted on a composite-plastic tower. The 3 aluminum base plates (oars and anchor) are locked in place by 2 plastic 'ribs' coming up from the deck, you slide into place over them at low pressure, at full pressure they are solidly locked in, you cannot move them. I mounted my wood coffee/rod holder board using an extra set of the sort of "C" shaped mounts that slide over the 'ribs' on the deck.