Gorge Fly Shop Blog: My OSG Stealth Pro Experience

Over ten years ago I sold my frame style pontoon boat and sold my fishing kayak, took the money and invested in a OSG Stealth Pro and never looked back. Today I could overwhelm anyone with the countless stories of the great, fun times I've had and shared with this frameless, inflatable boat. I have friends from west coast to east coast who have also shared in this venture and our topic of conversations always involve where have you floated recently and what are our future plans. So what has made this experience so great?

That Guy in the background with a frame boat now owns a Fish Cat Scout, a great economical option!

My first thought that comes to mind is freedom!

Find a piece of river or stream five to ten miles long and suddenly it becomes all yours for the day. Explore the water in ways that are next to impossible on foot, learn the currents and how fish use them, set the schedule that works for you and quit looking at the time. Soon you realize nature has its own time and it rarely syncs to your watch. I found no better way to leave behind daily frustrations. Just float away from them!

Freezing winters or hot summers, Stealth Pro doesn't mind the weather

Find your own Water

How many times have you arrived at your favorite run and find another angler already beat you to it. When you float streams this no longer becomes a concern. Yeah, you would have liked to fish that run but just float on. Soon you will find the run that no one wants to hike to. It'll pay off, trust me.

Body Anchoring

What is that you ask! Very little talk out there about the benefits of the open cockpit design. Let's say you come up on a shallow gravel bar with a great bucket in front of you. Just put your feet down and hold there. Maybe stand up if you see fit. You'll have the boat around your body and the foot bar will keep you within your boat. No anchor needed. Walk around and your Stealth Pro stays with you. Let's see you do that with a kayak!

It really is different

I see guys out there in the older style frame pontoons and they think it's mostly the same thing and their frame boats more secure and stable. I had one of those too. Stealth Pro is low to the water and the center of gravity is considerably better.

A word about Safety

No matter what style pontoon boat you choose rivers can be dangerous, period. These are not toys! They are watercraft. Rowing boats and reading water takes experience! Know your water and KNOW your experience level. Always assess your dangers and when in doubt portage. If you have no experience I recommend a starting point to be stillwater. And always wear a PFD.

Adventure

On a three day trip with a friend on the Devil's River, Texas we had to lower our Stealth Pro's by rope straight off a 25 foot cliff to avoid an impassible waterfall. We tied to the back d-ring and lowered our boats with gear still strapped in and I'm happy to say both boats entered the water below completely upright. I'm glad I had help in doing this but after said and done I learned I could have done it by myself if I was alone. A great feature of the Stealth Pro is how light they are and easy to portage.

The Stealth Pro in this picture is my first and original orange Stealth Pro that has since been updated to green. Other than color no other changes were made to the current green model. This Orange Stealth Pro is now over ten years old and still in use today without any problems.

Portaging

Here is another good reason to go Stealth Pro. Some river obstacles should just be portaged no matter what boat you have. Making a portage with a Stealth Pro is just plain easy. They are so lightweight. On each side of the seating area are grab handles carefully placed to balance the boat. Just remove your gear and pick up and carry where you need to go. Re-stow your gear and continue on. If you're with a buddy you can leave the gear in the boat and do your portage one boat at a time.

Ten Year Old Stealth Pro Still Going Strong

Can you really do a multi-day float with a Stealth Pro?

I've done more than I can count. With that said you really do need to be minimalistic. There is a generous load limit of 450 lbs but I would tell you stay away from that limit as much as possible. Not just because of safety but also because the more you load it the slower it rows. But if you have done any multi-day hiking trips all the same rules apply. I use a lightweight backpack style tent, jet boil for my meal needs, etc. Just don't bring your cook stove and kitchen sink and you'll be just fine.

Four day trip on the Buffalo River in the Arkansas Ozarks

Portability

I've always had a truck and never thought much about space for my Stealth Pro. Strap it down in the bed and go wherever. A couple of my float buddies have smaller crossover type vehicles and they always deflate and fold up there Stealth's for transport. Recently we performed our own shuttle with three Stealth Pros. We deflated and rolled up all three of them to fit into a crossover hatchback. Amazing, we still had plenty of room for all of our gear too.

Buy Here

With the Outcast Frameless Boat Bag you could travel with your stealth on airlines with just the cost of an extra bag. I haven't done this, YET! But there has been talk about it.

TIP:

K-Pump Mini

To inflate when launching I use an electric pump like the Outcast Hurricane 12 Volt Pump, but when doing multi-day trips you will want a hand pump option to top up on those cool mornings. The K-Pump Mini will just fit in the Stealth Pro Frameless Cargo Pocket.

Multi-Purpose

Personally I use my Stealth Pro for mostly river and stream floats. I have used it on stillwater a couple of times and it functions really well, much like a float tube. I have used kick fins and it gets around like that quite well too.

The Experience

While I live to fish, doing your own river floating brings your fishing experience to a whole new level. No matter what the quality of the fishing is I always get great joy in drifting a river, taking in the scenery and just letting go of time and leaving the busy world behind me.

Greg Darling