Next question. Is it jet motor only or can you utilize a prop?
Boat Information/Advice for Beginners
- Thread starter DanielOcean
- Start date
https://www.loweboats.com/hunt-fish/jon/tiller/l1648-m-aura.html This looks cool.
Google outboard Jet boat.
Modified v hull Jet sled. Jet outboard.
Go for a ride with an experienced boat operator. You can learn how to handle a boat by handling a boat.
This is my 20' jet sled. Powered by an older 105 hp Evinrude jet outboard.
I can easily run on plane in 6" of water.
Mind you, get up on plane in deeper water before you get to 6" or less of water.
It has a modified V hull. It's a V hull from the bow (front of boat) to the helm (steering wheel).
From there it transitions to a flat bottom from driver's seat to stern (rear of boat).
It is a very versatile craft.
I do a lot of bass fishing so I have a foot control 67# thrust trolling motor mounted on the bow with which I can fish from the raised deck using both hands and navigate with my foot control motor while slowly stalking bass in the areas bass like to hang out.
I like to troll for kokanee and sockeye salmon in summertime. I have a 9.9 hp
4 stroke Johnson outboard mounted on the stern and a swivel seat for comfortable seating while trolling.
2 hand crank downriggers get me down to the 30 to 45 foot range where I find most of the kokanee and sockeye I catch. I remove the downriggers for river fishing, bass and crabbing.
A depthfinder with GPS is very helpful for locating your quarry and marking the spots where you have success for salmon and or crab fishing. Below the arch's indicate a school of sockeye salmon with the horizontal lines being my cannonballs showing as well on the display.
For crab fishing I fish in 35 to 70' of water and mark waypoints on my depthfinder/GPS so I can locate my pots after soaking them for a few hours or overnight.
For me versatility is the key, but that's just me. For the kinds of fishing I do the most this boat serves me well and doesn't cost an arm and leg to maintain.
I've been around boats and boating all my life so the questions you ask are second nature to me, but I understand where you're coming from.
Start by what you wish to be able to do with your boat.
In answer to question #1 in your post.
Don't go too small. If you plan to fish rivers with one other person I recommend absolute minimum 14 feet,
with 16 feet a better choice. More than 2 people 18 feet at least.
My boat is a 20' and I've had two 16 footers prior.
I fish alone frequently or with one other person. Rarely do I fish with 2 others plus myself.
I hope this has been helpful for you.
Feel free to PM me if you have other questions sometimes.
Fish on!
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Yes. This is why I was asking about where DO is trying to run. I’ve run some small boats with props around mostly calm but sometimes snaggy rivers, sorta like in the video Evan posted. It sure is fun, but it’s also hella nerve wracking. You know what’s a lot more relaxing? Rowing a raft or a drift boat or a pontoon or god forbid a canoe down a river.
That being said, I understand the urge to get all metal and rip up and downstream.
Hell yes. Jet skis and hardy clickers go hand and hand.
Question is, stand up or sit down jet ski!?
Hell yes.
RCF
Life of the Party
@DanielOcean -
I've fished out of five different boats that match your first post: outboard jump to oars (none of them mine). I've seen a Clack Power Drifter like the one @Evan B suggested and posted: 1) nimble compared to larger jet/row boats for solo fishing (no pics). I've fished out of a Stealthcraft Powerdrifter a few times: https://stealthcraftboats.com/stealthcraft/power-drifter-sled/ This is a guide's boat and he has it set up very nicely:
Watching the guide row this boat, it seemed heavy but there were three of us in it (18' model) plus all our gear. It's a great boat to fish out of, rowing? It hauls upstream quite quickly but will bang you around if you power through rapids.
Another boat I've fished from (yup, 'nother guide's ride):
Super cool boat, Canadian made -----^ I have no idea on availability nor taxes bringing something like this into the US.
@Old406Kid should weigh in here............:
Good luck Daniel! RCF is completely wrong about the happiest day of your life is when you sell your boat, I'm still crying in my coffee for selling my vintage Hewes last year.
Patrick
I've fished out of five different boats that match your first post: outboard jump to oars (none of them mine). I've seen a Clack Power Drifter like the one @Evan B suggested and posted: 1) nimble compared to larger jet/row boats for solo fishing (no pics). I've fished out of a Stealthcraft Powerdrifter a few times: https://stealthcraftboats.com/stealthcraft/power-drifter-sled/ This is a guide's boat and he has it set up very nicely:
Watching the guide row this boat, it seemed heavy but there were three of us in it (18' model) plus all our gear. It's a great boat to fish out of, rowing? It hauls upstream quite quickly but will bang you around if you power through rapids.
Another boat I've fished from (yup, 'nother guide's ride):
Super cool boat, Canadian made -----^ I have no idea on availability nor taxes bringing something like this into the US.
@Old406Kid should weigh in here............:
Good luck Daniel! RCF is completely wrong about the happiest day of your life is when you sell your boat, I'm still crying in my coffee for selling my vintage Hewes last year.
Patrick
Then there's me who gave that same model of Hewescraft to my son.
Oh well, it now resides in Lewiston and I retained user rights.
Daniel
You can always do what i did.
I had to build my own or i would have needed to buy 3.
My requirements:
Float the smaller rivers.
Float big rivers and run a 15hp outboard to get me up and down those rivers and back to the boat launch.
Lake fishing.
Good luck!
You can always do what i did.
I had to build my own or i would have needed to buy 3.
My requirements:
Float the smaller rivers.
Float big rivers and run a 15hp outboard to get me up and down those rivers and back to the boat launch.
Lake fishing.
Good luck!
Asking what kind of power river boat to buy is akin to asking what kind of vehicle should you buy....where to begin
Shallower rivers with white water = jet sleds
deep rivers with zero white water= anything with sufficient beam
If running a pump, the older two stroke engines work great, spool up the RPM immediately, lotta torque for the pump
For a prop, four stroke and nothing else.
So start by defining the water you're going to run, what your budget is, and what are you going to tow your boat with...my sled needed a truck to pull it, my first gen Clackacraft Magnum could be pulled with a Subaru.
Hard to beat the sheer practicality of flat bottom hulls such as sleds or jon boats, preferably with semi-V entry bows. If I was starting from scratch, and wasn't planning on running white water, for deep rivers and lakes a 16' Lowe Roughneck style jon boat with a 30hp 4 four stroke with power tilt and prop guard would do everything I'd need.
And if wanting to get into whitewater as well, an older used Clackacraft is always a great addition to the fleet.
And if you boat alone, buy a self-inflating PFD, because one day it may save your life.
Shallower rivers with white water = jet sleds
deep rivers with zero white water= anything with sufficient beam
If running a pump, the older two stroke engines work great, spool up the RPM immediately, lotta torque for the pump
For a prop, four stroke and nothing else.
So start by defining the water you're going to run, what your budget is, and what are you going to tow your boat with...my sled needed a truck to pull it, my first gen Clackacraft Magnum could be pulled with a Subaru.
Hard to beat the sheer practicality of flat bottom hulls such as sleds or jon boats, preferably with semi-V entry bows. If I was starting from scratch, and wasn't planning on running white water, for deep rivers and lakes a 16' Lowe Roughneck style jon boat with a 30hp 4 four stroke with power tilt and prop guard would do everything I'd need.
And if wanting to get into whitewater as well, an older used Clackacraft is always a great addition to the fleet.
And if you boat alone, buy a self-inflating PFD, because one day it may save your life.
Should you scour the internet for information be advised not to do a Google search for motorboating.
Yeah it seems like a spider Web of different directions I kind of went into a wormhole of reading about the history of boating and general reading about ancient times right now and the designs of the boats and all that really cool stuff
