Vacation at Gulf Shores Alabama!

After two weeks of everyone being sick, tons of snow and rain at home, and a sleepless 14 hour car trip during the middle of the night, WE FINALLY arrived down at our condo in Gulf Shores, Alabama at 6 am! As I was driving from 3 am to 6 am, all I could think about besides the crying children was getting to a bed for some much needed sleep.

Anyhow when we got in, I was so pumped up that intead of hitting the sack, I headed out to the beach to watch the sunrise and wet a line. Yep, I was headed out fishing within 20 minutes of arriving.

Turns out I should have just went to bed, because the fish were not in the mood for cheap frozen shrimp dinners! My day, my father-in law and myself fished for about an hour and managed to catch one nice sheepshead and 4 whiting (just enough for fish sandwiches at lunchtime!)


This is a picture of a Whiting. They average about 1 pound and taste EXCELLENT! There are times when I can catch 5 gallon buckets full of these tasty fish when I find a school congregated while fishing right off the beach in front of the Condo.


This is a sheepshead. We caught this big momma on the beach, but we typically dont catch very many of them in the surf. Usually we go to the rocks and jettis to find schools of these lite biting prehistoric looking fish. Their teeth actually look just like human teeth! They are crazy looking and super hard fiting. For you freshwater fisherman, imagine pulling in 2-4 lb bluegill!

So that little excursion got the juices flowing, provided a nice lunch, and set the tone for our big day of deep sea fishing in Orange Beach aboard the HIGH COTTON! on Sunday.

HB Pond Toon Boat Pricing: Complete Pontoon Boat Kits

The HB Pond Toon Boats are Tough, Durable, Easy to Assemble, Very Stable, and Very Easy to Operate! With just a few basic carpentry skills and some standard hand tools, just about anyone can put together their own HB Pond Toon Boat for a fraction of the cost of a comparable pontoon boat from a boat dealer.

HB Pond Toon Boats are sold 4 ways: completely assembled, in complete kit form, the complete bottom kit, and also just the pontoons. Here is the pricing and information for our Complete Pontoon Boat Kits:


6' and 7' Complete Pontoon Boat Kits come standard with 2 rows of pontoons. 8' wide Complete Pontoon Boat Kits come standard with 3 rows of pontoons for maximum rock-solid stability and speed!

6'x12' Complete Kit costs $2950
6'x14' Complete Kit costs $3350
6'x16' Complete Kit costs $3750
6'x18' Complete Kit costs $4150
6'x20' Complete Kit costs $4550

7'x12' Complete Kit costs $3400
7'x14' Complete Kit costs $3800
7'x16' Complete Kit costs $4200
7'x18' Complete Kit costs $4600
7'x20' Complete Kit costs $5000

8'x12' Complete Kit costs $4250
8'x14' Complete Kit costs $4650
8'x16' Complete Kit costs $5050
8'x18' Complete Kit costs $5450
8'x20' Complete Kit costs $5850

HB Complete Pond Toon Boat Kits consist of everything you need to build your own custom Pontoon Boat! Heavy Duty Plastic Pontoons, Pontoon Z-Bars, Aluminum Framing Z-Bars, Motor Mount, Aluminum Deck Trim, Custom Fit Railings, Navigational Lights, Boat Cleats, Pontoon Handles for Easy Lifting, All Necessary Hardware, and Nautolex Marine Vinyl Floor Covering.

Optional Accessories:
8' Shade Canopy costs $700
Steering Column costs $150
Pedestal Seat costs $160
Pedestal Premium Fish Cleaning Table cost $350
Seat Top Pontoon Storage Boxes $550-$800
4'x8' Sheet of Marine Grade Plywood cost $100
We completely assemble any of these kits for $500-$1000 depending on the size.

Complete pontoon boat kits can be picked up at Herman Brothers Pond Management in Peoria, Illinois or packaged up into boxes and shipped via UPS. ***Pre-Cut Marine Grade Flooring can be included in these kits for pick up only. That is the only item that cannot be shipped via ups***

Completely assembled HB Pond Toons can be picked up at our store or delivered nationwide for $2.00 per mile one way from Peoria.

HB Pond Toon Boat Pricing: Complete Bottom Kits

The HB Pond Toon Boats are Tough, Durable, Easy to Assemble, Very Stable, and Very Easy to Operate! With just a few basic carpentry skills and some standard hand tools, just about anyone can put together their own HB Pond Toon Boat for a fraction of the cost of a comparable pontoon boat from a boat dealer.

HB Pond Toon Boats are sold 4 ways: completely assembled, in complete kit form, the complete bottom kit, and also just the pontoons. Here is the pricing and information for our complete bottom kits:

6' and 7' Wide Complete Bottom Kits include 2 rows of pontoons, aluminum z-bar framing, motor mount, and all necessary hardware. Just simply add your own decking for big savings!



6'x12' Complete Bottom Kit costs $1950
6'x14' Complete Bottom Kit costs $2250
6'x16' Complete Bottom Kit costs $2550
6'x18' Complete Bottom Kit costs $2850
6'x20' Complete Bottom Kit costs $3150

7'x12' Complete Bottom Kit costs $2150
7'x14' Complete Bottom Kit costs $2450
7'x16' Complete Bottom Kit costs $2750
7'x18' Complete Bottom Kit costs $3050
7'x20' Complete Bottom Kit costs $3350

8' Wide Complete Bottom Kits come with 3 rows of pontoons, aluminum z-bar framing, motor mount, and all necessary hardware. Just simply add your own decking for big savings!


8'x12' Complete Bottom Kit costs $2850
8'x14' Complete Bottom Kit costs $3150
8'x16' Complete Bottom Kit costs $345o
8'x18' Complete Bottom Kit costs $3750
8'x20' Complete Bottom Kit costs $4050

Our Complete Pontoon Bottom Kits consist of the Pontoons, Pontoon Z-Bars, the Aluminum Framing Z-Bars, Side Handles, and the Motor Mount. Everything you need to build a pontoon boat except the decking, trim, steering column, and railings. These kits can be picked up at our office in Peoria, or packaged up in boxes and shipped via UPS!

HB Pond Toon Boat Pricing: Just the Pontoons

The HB Pond Toon Boats are Tough, Durable, Easy to Assemble, Very Stable, and Very Easy to Operate! With just a few basic carpentry skills and some standard hand tools, just about anyone can put together their own HB Pond Toon Boat for a fraction of the cost of a comparable pontoon boat from a boat dealer.

HB Pond Toon Boats are sold 4 ways: completely assembled, in complete kit form, the complete bottom kit, and also just the pontoons. Here is the pricing and information for Just the Plastic Pontoons:


For 6-7 foot deck widths and your own custom framing:

Set of 2- 12’ pontoons cost $1300
Set of 2- 14’ pontoons cost $1500
Set of 2- 16’ pontoons cost $1700
Set of 2- 18' pontoons cost $1900
Set of 2- 20' pontoons cost $2100

For 8-12 foot deck widths and your own custom framing:

Set of 3- 12’ pontoons cost $1950
Set of 3- 14’ pontoons cost $2250
Set of 3- 16’ pontoons cost $2550
Set of 3- 18' pontoons cost $2850
Set of 3- 20' pontoons cost $3150

Our Plastic Pontoons come in 2' and 4' sections and are molded of thick, tough polyethylene plastic to prevent damage by rocks, stumps, etc. They are shock absorbing and will not break, crack or deteriorate. Our Pontoons are commonly used for construction of HB Pond Toon Boats, Floating Docks, Walkways, Ramps, Swimming Rafts, House Boats, Work Platforms and other Flotation devices.

-Pontoons come in 4' interlocking sections and are 22" wide and 15" tall.

-Each 4' section has approximately 525 pounds of gross flotation.

-Each 4' section has eight - 3/8" threaded stainless steel, totally enclosed, inserts molded into the top of each pontoon. These inserts are used to fasten the aluminum Z-bar frame or other framework materials to the pontoons.

-We have 7 different colors to choose from- Black, Light Brown, Green, Blue, Yellow, Red and Granite.

-They can be ordered with 16 degree specially designed "Nose Sections" for the fronts of the pontoon boats.

-Anodized Aluminum Z-Bars 2” x 3” x 2” - 1/8” thick, are included with the pontoons and are used to connect the pontoon sections together and to attach the pontoons to a boat deck, dock, or other floating platform.

Damp, Cold, and Sick!

Friday, March 20th my 3 year old daughter woke up in the middle of the night with (lets call it a great surprise) in her pullup! That was the very beginning of perhaps the absolute worst 2 weeks ever in the Herman house.

Mae spent the next few days with a severe case of (just feels weird even typing the word, but oh well....) diarrhea. I dont even know how to spell it correctly, for some reason it is just a gross, almost forbidden word? Anyhow the same day that Mae picked up this flu from one of her friends, Noah comes down with a super high fever from Saturday until Wednesday. 

So Mae has the flu and Noah has a fever and on Wednesday they decided to switch illnessess. When Noah is sick, he just wants to be held 24/7, but he doesnt cry or wine. When Mae is sick, all of our neighbors and basically everyone in the whole word knows it! Brook and I spent basically that entire week with little to no peaceful sleep and then at the end of the week, the kids both start feeling better, but Brook and I each get high fevers and  severe sore throats! (so bad that my neck is swollen and I can barely move it!) 

Here I sit at home on Wednesday after yet another sleepless night. Its cold, damp, and wet outside, Mae and Noah are going stir crazy being couped up inside for the last 2 weeks, and Brook and I literally dont know how much more we can take? Brook is finally going to the doctor this morning and hopefully will be prescribed some medicine that will put me completely out for the next 2 days!

The only thing getting us through these last couple weeks is that we are leaving on Friday for our first family vacation since Noah was born! We are headed to Gulf Shores, Alabama for a week of fishing, swimming, and just getting out of this horrible weather! Just hoping and praying that we can all be healed up and ready to travel by friday afternoon. 

I had big plans for these 2 weeks leading up to vacation and was only able to get a small fraction of those projects done. Leaving for vacation right now at the beginning of our busy season is pretty much the dumbest business decision of the year, but this vacation means too much to my family to pass up.