Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Wanting to join your ranks of pontooning. Never had one before, so am asking you Lake of the Ozark boaters, is a 20' big enough for the lake - I want to fish mainly. Or should I go with a 22', to be safer? My boat slip will not accomodate a 24" boat.
Thanks in advance for your advice.

I am not on that lake, but I have a 22 & wish mine was 26.

Go with the 22' as it'll be more seaworthy. There's often very little cost difference between the 20' and 22' boats, either.

And go with as big a motor as you can afford--and as the boat will handle.

If you are talking about a twin tuber and are going to stay in a protected cove, yes. if you are going to on the lake, nope. You'll want a 24'plus tritoon for sure. Mine's 25' and we get beaten up pretty good on the busy weekends. Early morning cruises and off season, you may be ok. But all it takes is that first wave over the front to do some major damage to the boat and possibly your passengers. Can you extend your slip? At our place we can stick out of the end of our slips 3 foot.

Dream big. 22' is not big enough. Don't ask me how I know.

I have an 18 footer and think its plenty big for me.
I found the biggest I would go is 22 foot, especially if you plan on taking her out alone. I think any bigger than 22 you may find it hard to dock and handle solo.

20-22' is just fine for up to 6-7 people in some pretty nasty stuff, it all depends on your intended use. 22' tri-toon with a 150hp would be a sweet setup.

Ggalvin... as you have read, everyone has their own opinion....My son has a 22 footer and I have a 20 footer and yeah, his toon is a little bit more stable in rough water.. however having said that I have never been in such conditions that I was worried while out on my toon.. I think a lot of it has to do with your lake... big lake, rough water, then yes, I would certainly consider the 22 footer, and make no mistake a tri toon will give you a better ride...... so I guess it all depends on the lake you'll be using mostly, your budget, and your intended use of the boat... we have ours set up for fishing and 90% of the time it's just me and the wife so 20' is just fine.... there are always a few times each season when we'll take other's out with us and on our 20' we can take a total of 6 to 7 people comfortably...but that's it... Good luck boat shopping....

LOTO is one of the biggest roughest lake a pontoon would head out on, the fact that its so big, you would want the fastest you could get. The fact that its known to get pretty rough, means tri toon and as long as you can get. JT

katieclooney wrote:I have an 18 footer and think its plenty big for me.
I found the biggest I would go is 22 foot, especially if you plan on taking her out alone. I think any bigger than 22 you may find it hard to dock and handle solo.

BUT, we are talking about Lake of the Ozarks. It's most likely the busiest and roughest inland lake in the US. A 25' boat there is considered small.

But what good is the bigger boat if you cant handle it?
I don't know LOTO, I am sure you are correct.
I am just thinking of him biting off more boat than he can chew is all

[quote="kryptoniteBUT, we are talking about Lake of the Ozarks. It's most likely the busiest and roughest inland lake in the US. A 25' boat there is considered small.[/quote]

Exactly! I have been going there for over 25 years. It can tear you up. I have submarined a 27' Baja and hydro locked a $16,000 525HP in the same boat at a different time, by taking water through the exhaust when a large wave hit behind the boat and blew in my flappers. That wave was cause by an idiot in a 54' Fairlane cruising with the trim down throwing a 8' wake. I stopped and idled riding out his wave, along with about 15 other boat. Two of those boats had passengers tossed into the windscreens. The guy was caught, a 22 year old driving Daddies yacht. Not only was he stopped by State Patrol, ticketed for reckless driving and making a wake within 100 feet of boats at rest, but then he had to deal with dad, who was on a jet ski that the kid caused to flip! Because of the tickets, his father's insurance company paid for my motor and a few busted ribs. Your in Good hands, with Allstate!
Yep, its not the lake, its the idiots on it!

katieclooney wrote:But what good is the bigger boat if you cant handle it?
I don't know LOTO, I am sure you are correct.
I am just thinking of him biting off more boat than he can chew is all

He does say in his post that he is looking mostly for fishing. In that case a 22' would probably work if you avoided the busy main channel and stay away from peak times.

I'm normally out on my 24' tri tube all by myself. Handles like a charm. Docks easily (but I did have to practice).

Go big. From what I've heard of LOTO you'll need it.