06-21-2008, 09:05 PM
Not knowing what Pickup uou have, I can say, MOST 8' pontoons like the one sold at Costco, will fit in the back of a Small Pick-up. One of my brothers has the 8' Scadden and a Nissan Frontier standard bed. The boat fits fine in the back with a shell..
I have not experienced a long set-up till recently. We got the Navigator II and we transport them in their backpack so, they take more time then I am use to.
I also have a flat bed trailer for my pontoon. I put the battery in a metal frame bolted to the middle of the trailer (to keep battery from sliding around) Then I put my boat on the trailer so the battery is underneath and can't fly out. I load my bags with gear (making sure to zip them closed when done, lost 3 fly boxes loaded with flies by not checking). The Sonar is already mounted on my pontoon. I put the motor in the back of my SUV along with rods/reels, hip boats, flippers and vest.
When I get to the lake, I back up to launch, pull boat off, pull battery off, put on boat, pull motor, and put it on, pull flippers and vest (and net) then if I need to park in a different location I do that, put boots on, greb rods/reels and head to boat to string up and go. Takes me at the most 10 minutes.
I drive a small SUV.
When I met the guys at Jordanell with my Navigator II, same thing, I backed up, unloaded deflated pontube, plus shelf for battery, motor, battery, sonar, flippers, vest, and net....bags already loaded and on deflated tube. LVM pump and hand pump to top off. Drove up hill and parked, put waders and boots on and grabbed rod/reels.
Headed down to pile. Took 3 minutes to inflate pontube, 2 minutes to put shelf on, another couple of minutes to put battery and mount motor. Sting rods, attach vest and net to boat at easy reach. Put flippers on and out on water in 18 to 20 minutes.
I will say, being a fly fisher and not having a vehicle long enough to carry loaded rods, that most of my prep time is stringing up. I use at least three rods. One with floating, one with Intermediate or Type II and the third with a fast sink. By loading I mean, stringing all three up and putting on flies I think will work.
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I have not experienced a long set-up till recently. We got the Navigator II and we transport them in their backpack so, they take more time then I am use to.
I also have a flat bed trailer for my pontoon. I put the battery in a metal frame bolted to the middle of the trailer (to keep battery from sliding around) Then I put my boat on the trailer so the battery is underneath and can't fly out. I load my bags with gear (making sure to zip them closed when done, lost 3 fly boxes loaded with flies by not checking). The Sonar is already mounted on my pontoon. I put the motor in the back of my SUV along with rods/reels, hip boats, flippers and vest.
When I get to the lake, I back up to launch, pull boat off, pull battery off, put on boat, pull motor, and put it on, pull flippers and vest (and net) then if I need to park in a different location I do that, put boots on, greb rods/reels and head to boat to string up and go. Takes me at the most 10 minutes.
I drive a small SUV.
When I met the guys at Jordanell with my Navigator II, same thing, I backed up, unloaded deflated pontube, plus shelf for battery, motor, battery, sonar, flippers, vest, and net....bags already loaded and on deflated tube. LVM pump and hand pump to top off. Drove up hill and parked, put waders and boots on and grabbed rod/reels.
Headed down to pile. Took 3 minutes to inflate pontube, 2 minutes to put shelf on, another couple of minutes to put battery and mount motor. Sting rods, attach vest and net to boat at easy reach. Put flippers on and out on water in 18 to 20 minutes.
I will say, being a fly fisher and not having a vehicle long enough to carry loaded rods, that most of my prep time is stringing up. I use at least three rods. One with floating, one with Intermediate or Type II and the third with a fast sink. By loading I mean, stringing all three up and putting on flies I think will work.
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