Couple boat questions

[dpkdavis]

 I have a nice fiberglass bass boat (18' 90hp) but i would never take it down the caney fork. I'm wanting to part together a simple boat to fish the caney fork and cumberland rivers (cumberland below cumberland lake) for trout.  Most of my fishing i do by myself want something i can man handle myself (6 foot 225 pounds) if i run it up on a sand bar etc... I'm thinking a 1448/1548 jon boat with a about a 25hp on a trailer. Questions are how shallow is the water on the cumberland below the dam there and miles down stream ? With this setup is there a need for a tunnel hull ? Would 25hp on this type setup push me your stream with the given current on said rivers with water release ? Thanks for any help. My time on these rivers is limted to a few trips to happy hollow. Just one more thing how large is the cumberland river above Old Hickory lake to Hull lake.  Could i get a 18' bass boat in there for stripers.

[grumpy]

Barges run the Cumberland river, it's deep until you get into KY, personally, i would look at a 1548 & a 40/30  HP  Jet motor A tunnel is a bonus being you aren't doing any wild maneuvers like pulling a skier
Heck, you can run your big rig up the Caney with the flows they have now

Grumpy

[Steve H]

If you are fishing in no generation then you will want the most shallow  draft boat you can get and a tunnel hull with jet would be preferable over a prop motor not only for river preservation but being able to move and navigate in the river.

With one generator, you should have no issues with either a prop or jet moving in the river with 25hp.

This should account for all of the Caney, what I stated above, but you need to pay attention as there are some really shallow spots on the river and grounding is possible.

Now for the Cumby below Wolf Creek, the situation is similar. I have only had my boat there for a weekend with Mike last year and there are some super shallow sections but it is navigable if you plan.

Mike or someone else will have the the question about the Cumby to Hull.

[TimM]

I have spent many, many hours running around on the Cumberland between Cordell and OH  dams in my 22 foot  deep V bay boat....I'm sure your 19 footer would be fine there, even in the low flow conditions we're seeing during the summer now with the Wolf Creek problems.... don't know why you'd want to though 'cause there are absolutely no fish there!! 

[MikeA]

The bass boat is great for below CH dam. Just be careful up close to the dam when they aren't generating there's alot of old construction debris still just under the surface at low water. It's about time to be up there with a 350 grain line and some chartreuse clousers. Let the line and fly sink to the bottom and slow strip it back or troll it around in the pool side of the discharge. I've caught the heck out of Sauger doing this. Even beat the jig and minnow guys with that technique sometimes.

For Caney I got by for many years with a 16.5 ft aluminum semi V jon and a 25 hp. You’ll have a hard time beating that set up for a go anywhere do anything boat. The jets are nice but sucking up the leaves and the gravel and the mud have been real issues on the river. Unless you are buying a boat built specifically for a jet I wouldn’t recommend putting a jet on it.

[tnridgerunner]

David, unless you are in a hurry I would wait until the guys on this board have their spring camp-out on the Caney.

For a bottle of Jack Daniel, you can get all manner of (absolutely true) stories and advice on boats, women, astrophysics, rock music and bovine scatology. Or so I've heard. I don't think anyone will try to sell you a bathtub with an eggbeater on the back.

Seriously, most of these guys know what they're doing on the river and they have an amazing assortment of boats with the latest technology. I know from experience that buying a boat that turns out to be not quite what you needed is frustrating and expensive.

[kingfish]

I can only find one manufacturer that makes a 16ft tunnel for a jet motor.  http://www.seaarkboats.com/boat.php?measure=Standard&boat=1652MVJT , they make a 16'52" & 16'60".  I think the 1660MVJT with a 40/30 or 60/40 & a set of flotation pods on the back would be a sweet setup.
Have any of ya'll seen any other boats 16' with a jet tunnel?

[bd]

Do yourself a HUGE favor and look at a Gheenoe before you make your final decision.  Maybe I'm biased because I have one, but in my opinion it's about as ideal a boat as you are going to get for the Caney or Cumberland tailwaters.  It will be a little more money than a jon boat but in the end I think it's worth it for what you get.  Stable, very shallow draft, quiet, easy to paddle and maneuver on the river - just a great trout boat.

If you are fishing by yourself you could go lighter and cheaper with a 15'4" Highsider model, or you could go a little bigger and get a LowTide 15 or a Classic, which is what I've got.

Either one will take a 15 hp outboard, and a 15 hp jet on the back of a gheenoe will get you anywhere you want to go.

www.customgheenoe.com

bd

[dpkdavis]

 Thanks for all the in put, I have found all Jon boat makers (fisher, grizzly alumcraft etc...) offer a tunnel hull mostly for the duck hunter so you find them in their water foul section, have done alot of reseach and have come up with a 14' Jon boat Mod V tunnel hull that is set up for a 20" motor, and as fare as the motor goes I'm thinking 25 hp, thinking center console based on it moving me to the center as i drive it, me (235) with motor, gas etc... at the rear of the boat is just going to lower it in the water, this is me just thinking out loud, more to follow.

[MN Fishing Bum]

What boat did you decide on ?

[John M]

G3 makes a tunnel hull in a 16 footer.  I have  the 17 footer center console, tunnel hull with the flotation pods and it has been a great boat