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Posts: 31
Location: Hoges Store, VA | I've got a "hand me down" boat right now.....a little 1436 with a 15HP Mercury......the boat is fine, I would just like to have a jet motor and a little bit more boat, BUT, I don't really want a large(16 ft plus) boat because I like to unload in some tight places and I can manage a smaller boat easier......I'm looking at several options.......I like the Alumacraft 1546 Drop Deck Tunnel, and I like the looks of the Tracker 1448, both with 25 Merc jets.......I also like the Tracker 1548 with a Yamaha 40/30 jet.....would the weight of the 40/30 jet cause a problem with the 48" boat? Does anyone else fish for muskies in rivers out of a jon boat?? |
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Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | I've seen a bunch of guys running through the rocks with a jet motor on a jon boat....I dont know what kind of boat it was but it looked like it fished nice. Had two guys casting comfortably. |
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| Go with the yammy 40/30 |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | My understanding is you lose quite a bit of HP in the conversion to jet drive, so go with the highest horsepower your boat is rated for. m |
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Posts: 157
Location: Collegeville Pa | I run a 90/65 Yamaha Jet on a 17' all welded Xpress for the Susquehanna, Lehigh and Delaware rivers. Heavy boat. A couple of years ago, I considered dropping down in boat size and length due to the fact I was fishing alone more and the ramps I use are many times, simply accesses to the river and then only a beach. Getting the boat off the trailer was an adventure at times.
The problem is that if you go to the smaller jets, i.e. 40 hp and below, depending on the load in the boat, you will not get a shallow as possible. Since the whole goal of a jet is to run really skinny water, 10" and less, you want as much HP as possible. 2 guys, gear, gas, trolling motor batteries all add to the weight and you may not end up running as shallow as you like. It's no fun running a ground!!! I also recommend a 24V trolling motor since you will be running a river and dealing with current all day, especially in high water conditions.
I ended keeping my boat and modifying the trailer with slick slides and extra side bunks to ease loading and especially unloading.
Jet are awesome for shallow water but the setup is critical and I would recommend as much HP as possible.
Greg |
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Posts: 42
Location: Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin | My manager has a River Pro jet boat. IT IS AWESOME! You can run in 6" of water & get anywhere. The downside is the cost. IMO best river boat you can get if you can afford it. |
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Posts: 5874
| Merc's 40 HP Jet Drive is EFI. Yamaha's is carburated.
I would think they can upgrade to thew higher HP. I agree that with jets, the higher the HP, the better. |
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Posts: 15
| I can add something to this, go here and see what I am running and have been for the past year:
http://walleye.outdoorsfirst.com/board/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=9...
Jets are a great invention for shallow water. The blazer I am running is custom made to each customers needs and I wanted a 17', large casting deck and with a no-frills interior (less weight) and a 40hp tiller. My boat weighs 300#'s.
Edited by JonN 9/13/2007 12:49 PM
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Posts: 32934
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Cool rig, JonN. |
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Posts: 199
Location: Anchorage | My old man just moved back from Alaska and up there he ran a 1650 AWT Alumacraft with a 40hp jet. With three people he'd do 20-25mph and it'd get us up anything remotely wet. Big enough to fish comfortably, but small enough for a 50' river.
Can't wait to get it on the Flambeau and Chippewa. |
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Posts: 377
Location: On the River | I live on a shallow strech of the Wisconsin River. My boat is a Polar Craft 1448 with a tunnel hull and a 30hp Johnson 2 stroke jet. It will run in 6 inches of water and and will run at 23mph (gps) I have several sugestions for you.
If possible get a 4 stoke I go though six gallons of gas every time out running about 12 miles.
Buy a boat with a tunnel hull some of the guys here run with a regular jon and have done some major damage. to the intake of the jet (hitting big rocks and boulders.) you will get better lift with a tunnel.
Go as wide as possible I am going to up grade to a 1655
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