PISCES PREDATOR PONTOON BOATS A REVIEW Pem Reyneke, a retired painting contractor from the KZN South Coast, called me up out of the blue to discuss kickboats. Unsolicited phone calls rarely get my attention but when they’re fishing related I’m known to put my feet up on my desk and chat away. He’s an engaging guy and a week or so later I stopped by to meet him and to check out his operation.
standards. He told me how he sourced the PVC used and had the manufacturer use a smaller weave, more emulsifiers and higher UV protection additives than the standard product. This all helps to make the material more supple to withstand being repeatedly inflated and deflated and to protect it from the sun. He tells me that he had to bond his house to afford the minimum order run of his first purchase of PVC, but asks that we don’t mention this to his wife.
First impressions count, and he left a good one. Pem is fixated on quality and reputation. “Oom Pem”, as he’s a f f e c t i o n a t e l y k n o w n i n b a s s c i rc l e s somehow still manages to remain excited about pontoon boats even after doing it for so many years. We walked through his workshop where he and one assistant make all of the components of the boats, from start to finish, and I couldn’t help but smile. “We’re like friends who work together”, Pem explained, and I could see that this is something that is deeply important to him.
To give you an idea of the durability of the material being used in the pontoons, Pem has his own boat strapped to the roof of his car and we had a good look at it. It looks as good as the pontoons being prepared for shipping - except that it had been on the roof for a year already. That’s pretty good going. The woven nylon stuff with the internal bladder has nothing close to this sort of durability.
In Pisces Predator Pem has mastered that difficult trick where you produce an object that is a little better than it needs to be, where it needs to be better. It is short on frills and long on value and quality. “Find a reasonable negative review anywhere”, he told me, “and I’ll discount your purchase”.
The pontoons carry a one year unconditional replacement guarantee on seam welding and material and a further five year free repair guarantee on seam welding. The boat is supplied with a patch kit, valve connector and four-rod holder.
These are extremely popular boats among bass anglers, and the fact that the sequentially numbered pontoons in the workshop carried tags somewhere in the low thousands, you’d think you’d find at least one bad review. Save yourself the time, there isn’t one. Pem makes the pontoons himself to ensure that they meet with his exacting www.saflyfishingmag.co.za
Road Tripping
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