Fish Cat Scout

Fish Cat Scout

I've bought another fishing platform. I know, I've already got the Lund, the Skimmer 116 and the Fish Cat float tube, so why do I need another boat. Well here's my rational.

The Lund is great on bigger waters and when I have company it shines there. The Skimmer, well, it just didn't work out as planned and is really a poor substitute for my previous fishing kayak. When the age/weight of kayak ratio started approaching unity with my old yak I looked for a lighter one. The Skimmer is light, you can throw it around, carry it a mile, easily load it on a car rooftop but try to paddle it for more than 10 minutes and you end up with a sore posterior and lower back. And the Fish Cat is great on a small pond but get out on a larger lake and the knees start acting up, especially when the wind kicks up. I even bought a used 10' framed pontoon boat a couple of years ago but never could figure out a way to transport it on my vehicle without dismantling it. I sold it last year without ever having fished from it.

Enter the Fish Cat Scout which at first glance could solve a lot of my fishing issues. The boat is frameless, so can be transported in your mother's VW and may even fit into my Santa Fe partially deflated...we'll see. The boat has oars, so can be rowed over some decent distances. The boat is 7' long so it can handle some minor white water and should prove suitable for fishing rivers and windier, larger lakes. A possible downside is the vinyl bladder, I wished they had used urethane. For those who consider this a deal breaker, look at the Outcast Stealth Pro. So this quasi-toon might replace two platforms; my yak and the float tube. For now I'm going to mount a Scotty rod holder, Scotty anchor lock and Humminbird fish finder on it and head out for a test on the first stocked trout lake with open water. More later.