Intro | Oar Basics | Fin Basics | Fishing Techniques | Accessories
Whether you are sight-fishing for bonefish on a Belize flat (above) or casting to pods of trout on a Montana River, pontoon boats are the perfect tool for fishing the best water easily and affordably.
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Oar Basics
The best place to learn fin and oar techniques is on a lake or pond.
Rowing a pontoon boat is just like rowing a regular boat. Place your feet on the footrests, point the back of the boat in the direction you want to go, and start pulling on the oars. Most models come with oarlocks and footrests mounted on the frame. Even the frameless models have strap-on oarlocks.
Pull the right oar to turn the back of the boat to the left; pull on the left oar to turn the back of the boat to the right. If you want to move quickly to the left, leave your left oar stationary in the water and pull your right oar back toward you through the water. If you want to quickly spin in a circle, put both oars in the water and pull with your right oar while pushing with your left oar (or the reverse). This scissors stroke is handy when you need to turn quickly.
I most often use three basic oar techniques.
Reverse oaring. Extend both oar handles in front of your body. This forces the oars to pivot in the oar locks and situates the oar blades behind you. Pulling the oar handles back toward your body propels the boat backward.
Forward oaring. Pull back both oar handles directly in front of your body. This forces the oars to pivot in the oar locks and situates the blades in front of you. Pushing the oar handles away from your body propels the boat forward.
Offset oaring. This technique is more complex. Instead of working your oars in unison, work both oars independently of each other. To row in reverse, refer to the reverse rowing technique, but operate each oar separately. When your right oar completes a stroke, begin a stroke with your left oar. This creates a fluid, low-impact stroke that can be maintained for long distances. To row forward using the offset technique, do just the opposite.
Fin Basics
You should be comfortable with the oars before practicing with your fins, which operate like the oars. Kick lightly with your legs facing forward to propel your boat backwards, kick hard with your right fin to move to the left, and kick hard with your left fin to move right.
Scissors kick with your fins by pulling your right fin back underneath the boat while putting your left fin out in front of you. In one swift motion, pull your right fin forward and your left fin back; this will cause your boat to spin. You can spin in the opposite direction by moving your left fin back and your right fin forward, then bringing them swiftly together.
Once you spin the boat in the direction you want to go, begin kicking with both fins in a straight line toward your destination. With a little practice, you'll do this automatically to adjust the direction of the boat under various conditions.
You can also move the boat to one side by turning slightly sideways on your seat and kicking out to the other side of the boat. This becomes a valuable stroke on a river but should be practiced on a lake first. Kicking both fins out to the left moves you back to the right while kicking both to the right moves you to the left. This is one of the main moves you'll use on a river to position yourself to cast to the bank.
Finning a boat is excellent exercise but you should stretch beforehand to help prevent leg cramps. People prone to leg cramps should check with their physician.
I normally use two types of fin strokes when traveling in a straight line. For the deep stroke, pull your fins back under you as far as you can, point the tip of your foot down, then push one leg and fin forward in a full stroke out in front of you. As you bring that leg back, push out with the other leg, alternating with each fin. This will cause you to travel in a straight line.
For the shallow stroke, extend your fins in front of you just below the water's surface and kick back and forth in a two-foot sweep. This stroke is not powerful, but it moves you through the water efficiently and reduces leg fatigue over distances.
The forward stroke can be useful on a lake to inch your way closer to a target in front of you instead of spinning your boat around, kicking backward, and then spinning back to make the cast. Put a foot directly out in front of you and then pull it back underneath you.
The downward stroke of your fin pulling back moves you ahead, but you must lift your fin carefully for the next stroke so you don't lose forward momentum. You won't go very fast because you don't have much power with this stroke, but this maneuver allows you to pick up 10 feet while keeping your eye on the intended target.
The rotational stroke produces an effect similar to a scissors kick, but it is done with only one fin and is most effective when you want to spin your boat in a certain direction. I use the rotational stroke on rivers when I want to change the position of my boat quickly with little effort.
Pontoon boats are not just for local trout fishing. Because they are packable they are as good for exploring Alaska as they are for inshore salwater fishing for barracuda (above).
For this stroke, I generally use my strongest leg. Point your fin straight down below you and rotate your leg in a tight circle to the right or left to move the back of the boat. When floating rivers, I'll drop my fin down, rotate in one direction or the other, to change the boat angle to the right or the left, and then kick with both fins to move in that direction. When I get in tight, rocky sections of a river, this stroke is valuable for turning the boat quickly.
After you learn the basic kicking strokes, work on combining them. When floating a river, you need to use your fins to constantly adjust for current speed and to avoid hazards downstream. It's necessary to keep one eye on your fly and the other downstream to adjust your course as you float. As you learn how to use your fins to maneuver on a river, this will become second nature.
When floating a river, the rule that drift-boat guides adhere to also holds true for pontoon boats: To avoid an obstacle, point the nose of your boat directly at it and row away. On a pontoon boat, you need to do two things to set up for this maneuver. First, scissors kick with your primary leg. Point the fin directly below you and give it a left or a right rotation. Use this kick as you approach the obstacle to move the back of the boat away from the obstacle.
Using a side kick can accomplish the same thing. Stick both fins out to one side of the boat and kick to the left to move the back of your boat to the right and vice versa. Use this kick to change the direction of the back of your boat so you can fin away from the obstacle.
Dave Scadden is one of the pioneers in the pontoon boat industry and author of Fishing Untouched Waters, a book of pontoon boat techniques and tales.
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