Thread: Article: Crappie Fishing on a Pontoon by Brad Wiegmann

Crappiegirl1 we wanna see pic of that boat lit up

I switched to a pontoon this year since my wife now has Parkinson and has problems getting into a deep v fishing craft.

I bought a Bass Buggy DLX 18, as I wanted the smaller size to get into the tight places crappie seem to prefer.

I didn't buy a large engine since I don't feel pontoons are safe when run at speeds about 20 miles or so. I rode a friend's at 50 mph on a windy lake and never again.

We can't fish on windy days as the wave action on the pontoon hurts my wife too much. We did not have this problem with the deep V I sold before buying this pontoon as the deep V handled the waves better than the pontoon.

It's fine for open water fishing if the wind is not too strong but hard to use when fishing submerged trees.

It is a box on water so the wind pushes it all over the place, making it hard to hold on position with a trolling motor. It is harder to fish under bridges and boat docks than a deep V.

I expect that I will become accustom to fishing from a pontoon but it is much more difficult than a good deep v fishing boat when fishing for crappie. Since I no longer have a choice I must learn to adapt to the differences fishing a pontoon instead of a boat designed for fishing.

If you have physical problems then a pontoon is great as it allows you to continue fishing. But I would not recommend a pontoon to anybody if fishing is their primary use if they have a choice about the boat to buy.