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Pontoon on the River


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How would I do w/ my pontoon on the river. My brother lives quite close, and I really want to give it a shot. Just wondering if the boat would do OK as I have no idea what the water is like on the MN river. I have used it before on the St Louis out of Duluth, but that may be a whole different ball of wax. My toon is 21 ft, w/ a 60 HP. Would I be OK launching/navigating out of someplace close to Savage? Shakopee?, 35?

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Thats a little big for these waters. If you knew the waters, and knew the shallow spots, I dont think there would be a problem, but the depth changes alot, and if you got that thing beached on a sand bar, I dont know how you would get it off. I do see them out on the river once in a while, but they are usually smaller, and would assume they are familure with the river.

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your better off on the Miss with something that size.

Good luck.

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I would think you would be fine if you launched at the 35w or cedar bridge and went no further upstream than cargill in savage. Anywhere down stream from there would work. If the barges can get around down there, you should be able to also. Watch for deadheads and good luck

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I agree with SneakAttack. They stop dredging upstream of Port Cargill. You would be clear up to the Bloomington Ferry walk bridge. Just keep to the channel and especially stay away from inside turns.

This stretch feels like a step back in time right in the middle of the metro area.

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"This stretch feels like a step back in time right in the middle of the metro area."

That is another reason I want to get out there.....after fishing Prior consistenly for 3 years, this would be a great change.....I'm doing it! I think, will my GPS help ?

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Like others have mentioned, stick to the river downstream of HWY 169 until you get comfortable with it. After that, you should be able to safely navigate to Shakopee. My reasoning is the river changes a little above 169, there is a lot more wood in the water and hiding under the water. Take your time until you learn the river, there are hazards that are ever changing, there are also barges and tugs running at all hours of the day.

Your GPS will help, I use mine for tracking back at night and for marking hazards. It may not direct me around hazards but I'll know when I need to start spotlighting for them.

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Thanks for all the help.....just ran into a free slip on prior for about 2 more weeks, after that we will give it a try

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Toon- So that wasn't you on the MN river last night? A pontoon launched right after we did at 7:30.

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Quote:

Toon- So that wasn't you on the MN river last night? A pontoon launched right after we did at 7:30.


Was is being towed by a black Dodge Truck? It was my neighbor...he bought a trailor for his new pontoon and put it on the river in shakopee last night. I wish I was with him so I could have watched him try and land that thing.

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The funny thing is, I find my pontoon a lot easier to land than other boats I see at the landing. If you have the skid trailer you just get the front of the toons on and the thing practically lands itself....it just skids and straitens to the front....even on really windy days i can just slide the toons on, while others struggle for 10 min to get boats aligned perfectly....upside of the "TOON LIFE"............downside it takes me 20 min longer to get back to landing going 22 mph vs 50 mph......so it evens out grin.gif

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Was is being towed by a black Dodge Truck? It was my neighbor...he bought a trailor for his new pontoon and put it on the river in shakopee last night. I wish I was with him so I could have watched him try and land that thing.


Yep, must have been your neighbor.

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I find my pontoon a lot easier to land than other boats I see at the landing....upside of the "TOON LIFE"............downside it takes me 20 min longer to get back to landing going 22 mph vs 50 mph......so it evens out
grin.gif


You're right...I went out with him on the 4th and that thing landed in 10 seconds...way easier than any boat I have been on. But like you said the downside is it took an hour to get from Valleyfair back to the shakopee landing.

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