boat choice question

[toddro]

I've been drooling over the River Hawks, but until I have the $, I've been looking at some used Jon Boats.  I mainly fly-fish the Caney and other similar rivers - is a Jon Boat an ok choice?  Is it stable enough to stand and cast from?  I've fished alot from a canoe, but always sitting, and I'm looking to get something I can get under power to fish a little wider range of water.

Any tips from you boat owners on a good little fly-fishing boat would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks!

[dleo6446]

Hey Toddro..
  excellent question!  I was asking the same thing a couple of months ago, and through some good advice from Mike, Grumpy, and a few others, I ended up with a Jon.

  Like you, I highly admire the River Hawk, it is a good solid and stable fly fishing boat....but, being on the retired side of income now, I elected to go with a used Jon and searched until I found exactly what I was looking for.  A regular Jon, I don't think you would be happy with, they only have a 36" floor at best and are not stable enough to really fly fish from.  I know lots of people that do, but I prefer the stability that my Lowe Big Jon gives me.  the floor is a solid 48" wide and the widest point of the boat is a little over 6 feet.  I built a casting deck in the front of it and it really does serve well, I was pretty pleased with it.    I know that  Mike will ring in with some great advice since he has the Hawk and he also has a Big Jon/

[RonS]

Leo, do you know what your boat tips the scales at?

I was looking at a hull yesterday that came in at 500 pounds. Nice set up but I'm afraid that's too heavy to drag across the shallow spots.

[dleo6446]

Hey Ron,
  According to the Lowe paperwork,   mine is a 1448ML, 1992 ...
Length                    14' (4.27M)
Beam                          72" (1.82M)
Bottom Width             48" (1.2M)
Side Depth                21" (.53M)
Transom Height     15" (.38M)
Ribs                               7
Person Cap. Weight  500 (4) (227KG)
Hull Weight               260 (117KG)
Weight Capacity    825 (374KG)
Hull Gauge               .072 (.183CM)
Horsepower Cap.     25 (19KW)

of course, one would have to add about 20 lbs for built up crud, 300 pounds for motor, battery, trolling motor, 40 pounds for the deck and casting rail, and 10 pound for the ice and stuff in the live well that is now a cooler.  But then again, we have scraped a few pounds off the bottom of it lately with me  running aground laughing at some nut on the casting deck hollering 'KLINKHAMER"  every few minutes.

What is absolutely amazing is that as heavy as it is, it goes pretty well in some very very shallow water

[toddro]

Do you float the Caney in it?  I would imagine there are some shallow spots during no gen. periods between the dam and Happy Hollow.  Maybe a little deeper from Happy Hollow downstream, though ?.?.?.

Another question I would have is - do you have any trouble with a small outboard coming upstream on the Caney when the water is flowing high (1 or 2 gens)

thanks....

[B PRICE]

I just upgraded my jon boat to a heavy 16 foot G3, hull weight is just over 600 pounds and it has a 52 inch bottom the side depth is 21inches. the hull guage is .100 .It has a front casting  deck and a rear casting deck the motor I chose is a heavy yamaha 4 stroke but it seems to have no trouble against heavy water flow.the boat is very stable but it takes about 7 inches to float with me in it. my other boat was alot lighter but I like this one much more so far .i have been on the caney with it and not had any problems yet.If you are looking for a super shallow drafting boat hold out for the riverhawk,i fished out of Mikes and that boat is made for the caney.

[RonS]

Leo, that's kind of what I figured. The hull I was looking at was same size but had a floor and walls inside. Basically another hull's worth of material and carpet.

Bill-How long before the jet is broke in and you can open her up? 

[MikeA]

The Riverhawk is perfect for the Caney in many ways. It floats in a few inches of water. It’s stable enough for two grown men to walk around without being tippy. It has plenty of casting platform. It’s one of the best most functional, and SAFE, small boats I’ve ever seen. It really is an engineering marvel that a boat that small and lightweight can be that stable and handle the horsepower it does. The downside is expense and the fact that they are made of Glass and will scratch when dragged over rocks.

I ran a Lowe upgraded Jon with floors, walls and Carpet for several years and am having a problem parting ways with it. One thing I love about aluminum boats is that in 50 years they still look about like they did when you bought them. They can be dragged across gravel over and over without doing any damage whatsoever. The downside to mine was on occasion I would get stuck on a bar. It drafted a little deeper then the Riverhawk and aluminum doesn’t drag across gravel as easily as glass, it tends to stick.

With that said I wouldn’t hesitate to buy either of them for the Caney Fork. One thing I wouldn’t do is scrimp and but a lesser boat that will not be stable or a motor that might be questionable when you need to start it. If you plan to fish generation you want a motor that will start at a moments notice and a boat that can handle weight in fast current. There is no time for equipment failure when you’re headed towards a logjam or Bridge imbuement.

Mike

[toddro]

Mike, do you have the standard hull or the tunnel hull on your River Hawk?  Being glass, I wouldn't worry about scratching it up, but does it gouge in any way to cause the glass to break out into fibers, or are they just surface scratches?

Thanks!

[MikeA]

I have a B60 without the tunnel. The tunnel takes up a little floor space and detracts from the handling. I would like to run one sometimes just to see how it handles. I know Ben Franklin, the TWRA guy on the Caney loves his Tunnel hull RiverHawk. 

The scratches are mostly just surface scratches. However if you hit something hard enough (Full Speed) you could do some damage. That goes without saying on most any boat though.

One thing I would if I had it to do over would be to not have the dry box/Livewell in the middle of mine. I would rather have an open floor and buy a dry box that I could remove or place where I want it. Without that box three people could fish from the boat. I am seriously considering selling mine and ordering one without the box.

Talk with Chris Nischan about the boats.
Here is Chris’s website. Be sure and tell him I sent you please!
http://www.rodandgunguide.com/

[toddro]

Thanks Mike - I'll have to keep my eyes on the classifieds for your boat   

I appreciate the info though, very helpful.  Maybe if I see you out on the river I can flag you down for a closer look!

see ya,

[B PRICE]

Ron, the boat has been opened up as you have to for the jet to do what you buy them for .I am breaking it in the way I have broke all my boats in ,I change my speed up alot then I will let it idle for 5 minutes or so .The bad thing about a jet is for some the word jet means FAST but the sad truth is that they are slow .Jet outboards lose 30 % of their power .The boat gps speed  28mph with just me in it ,i guess thats not bad and it is all i need for the rivers .so far I am very happy with the boat.

[dleo6446]

Hey BP, saw you come up the river Sunday and pull in behind Joels house...had to be you !!  is that a 4 cycle?

Leo

[B PRICE]

Yea leo ,it is a big heavy 230 pound 4 stroke .I had my kids with me sun and  my little girl always wants to start there,its her little hunny hole.you should of came down there,i have been hoping to run into you .I want to cast that Z ROD OF YOURS

[Jeremy]

Wow. I just read this series of posts and smiled...wanting! I have a fiberglass rig, it's pretty (quite) nice and I do a lot of family vacation things with it as well as  lake fishing (no river stuff, unfortunately)  and it's well suited for that. I fly fish off of the main front deck too, very nicely.

  But , after beginning flyfishing the season following this purchase, I've come to find that yearn for one of these river boats. And guess what? No way will that opportunity happen as long as I have the boat I have now.

 Man, I've come to find out what I'm missing. This thread made that old feeling stir again. But I can't have everything I guess so....

You guys are doing it right. I'm jealous. These are great fishing rigs.

Jeremy.