First things first. On this inaugural voyage of the Fish Cat Scout I did catch fish, if only barely. This 19 1/2" male brown graciously accepted my offering and turned a poor day of fishing into a slow day. As is evident, my fish photos need tuning but more on that later.
So what do I think of the Scout? My experience started with trying to stuff a partially deflated frameless pontoon boat into a somewhat inflated (I lowered the back seats) Santa Fe SUV. After much wriggling, pushing and letting more air out, I was able to shoehorn the Scout into my vehicle for transport.
Would I do this again? The jury is still out on that one. If I had a truck or larger vehicle where the scout would fit into the bed/trunk area without any fiddling...definitely!
Given the effort involved it might just be just as easy to carry the boat deflated and then inflate onsite. I do have an electric pump that will go much of the way and then only require a slight firming up by hand. Then again, carried the way it was, only a few hand pumps had it full.
I added a number of accessories I thought would prove useful and I wasn't disappointed in most of my choices. First up was a fish finder, using a float tube adapter commercially available. I found it a bit clunky because of the enclosed battery pack and wished I had gone a different route, perhaps with a Scotty adapter and remote battery pack.
Another addition was the Scotty anchor lock. I had used one on my previous fishing kayak and loved it. Easy to operate with one hand and with a vinyl covered 5 lb weight, perfect for lake fishing. I suspect for river fishing a larger weight would be required to hold the Scout in current. The Scotty mount is attached with two straps through the small hole at the front of the tube, behind the seat.
The rod holder is self explanatory and proved useful for several methods of presentation and temporary rod storage.
The Scout comes with a storage bag that includes a simple system to secure a spare rod. I almost always carry a second rod if only to avoid changing spools; something best left to on-shore breaks or larger boats. Having said that, I did change out a spool by just standing up in the Scout near shore to re-line the rod. It can be done.
And then the camera mount. I had bought the Scotty mount, intending to use it on the rod holder when required but ended up not liking that option. The camera angle was wrong and of course, I lost the use of the rod holder. The kit came with a tubing adapter which I attached to the cross tube at the front of the Scout. Not sure I like this setup either and other options will be explored.
With only one day on the water, I can say I really like the Fish Cat Scout so far. Some of the things I liked were:
- Oars. Despite being fairly small, the oars bite enough water to make the boat very responsive, both in a straight line and when turning. The oars easily lock out of the way when not required and quickly engage when needed.With this boat I wouldn't be afraid to head out anywhere, knowing I could return even against a fairly stiff breeze. I don't have any experience in strong winds and can't comment on how it would handle those conditions.
- Kayak seat. This boat is even more comfortable than my last fishing kayak which had a high-end seat. The seat is fully adjustable and combined with sitting on an air mattress, is one of the most comfortable seats I've found. I have a bit of a wonky back and by moving my legs around, both on and under the front bar I was able to maintain a high level of comfort all day.
- Dry storage. The front of the scout, the area behind the seat, is dry and ample so storage of everything you bring along is easy and secure. The area is also easily accessed, unlike the smaller float tubes. I was easily able to rummage through my tackle bags and cooler to locate what I needed.
- Electric motor possibility. I think it would be relatively straightforward to build a portable motor mount that could handle one of the small Minn Kotas. There is certainly room and enough support for a battery. For now I found the oars adequate but should an electric motor become advantageous, I wouldn't hesitate to try adding one.
- Portability. This boat compresses to a package not much bigger than the
much smaller float tubes. And its frame-less. Those of you with framed
pontoon boats know what I mean.
As far as things I don't like, I can't really think of any right now. I hope the vinyl bladders hold up, and if not, will wish they had inserted urethane bladders instead. A bit more built-in storage would have been nice but was really not missed. Perhaps a nicer colour; I've never been that fond of our military colours. Oh yeah, I often took the stripping basket off...you couldn't rest your feet on the bar with it on. It was easy to throw it into the area behind the seat until required.
