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Old 04-18-2018, 09:31 PM
Jack fish hunter Jack fish hunter is offline
 
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Location: Thorsby
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Default Jon boat on a river

So I was doing some thinking would love to own a river boat but I don't want to pay for one. I can pick up a Jon boat relatatively cheap. Anybody else use one on rivers? Biggest being the north sask. also jet leg or mid motor? Concerned a 20 ho jet won't have enough thrust. Any insight would be great.
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Old 04-18-2018, 09:35 PM
guru fisher guru fisher is offline
 
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20 horse outboard is gutless. Put some weight in it and it won’t get on step. If your not on step mine as well not be running skinny.
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Old 04-19-2018, 09:09 AM
Bushleague Bushleague is online now
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack fish hunter View Post
So I was doing some thinking would love to own a river boat but I don't want to pay for one. I can pick up a Jon boat relatatively cheap. Anybody else use one on rivers? Biggest being the north sask. also jet leg or mid motor? Concerned a 20 ho jet won't have enough thrust. Any insight would be great.
A fellow I work with runs a john boat on the Pembina and Athabasca, he trailers it into various holes with his quad and does quite well. He runs both a 5hp and a 10 hp short shaft on it, mostly he seems to use the 5 horse since its more easy to pack up and down the bank on the rough launches he uses.

I use a 18' freighter canoe with a 5 horse kicker in shallow rivers. Its not the speediest of craft but its easy on gas, it can haul a pretty good payload, and will go anywhere you've got enough determination to take it.

On the rivers I fish having a relatively light craft that can be launched anywhere will get you into fish as good or better as having a powerful river boat. I can launch right into holes that would take all day and a whole bunch of fuel to get to in a larger boat.

Food for thought.
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Old 04-19-2018, 09:14 AM
denied access denied access is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack fish hunter View Post
So I was doing some thinking would love to own a river boat but I don't want to pay for one. I can pick up a Jon boat relatatively cheap. Anybody else use one on rivers? Biggest being the north sask. also jet leg or mid motor? Concerned a 20 ho jet won't have enough thrust. Any insight would be great.
Take a look at a surface drive vs a jet. We are starting to see a tonne of them up here, mostly go devils. The trouble with an outboard jet is you are giving up a tonne of power so you need to run a much bigger engine. Guys are loving them and running super skinny water. I have not ran one but they are pretty sick looking.
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Old 04-19-2018, 08:00 PM
mclean mclean is offline
 
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I run a 14 ft. jon oat with a 25 hp Mercury with a jet leg, i can get around 25 mph on the river, a great unit.
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Old 04-19-2018, 08:55 PM
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RavYak RavYak is offline
 
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Buddy used to have a jon with 20 horse jet. It would move fairly decently with only him and minimal gear. With a 2nd person or lots of gear don't plan on getting anywhere quick but still much better then not having a boat.

If that is all you can afford then start with it for now. It will give you an idea if you want to upgrade in the future or just give up on fishing the river(which is what I would probably do lol).
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Old 04-20-2018, 02:56 PM
Strikemaster Strikemaster is offline
 
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Google some of the Youtube videos of Jons with the 25HP merc jet. Looks like a pretty sweet setup for a reasonable price. Theres a merc jet for sale on Kijiji right now. Also Bass Pro have some good deals.
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  #8  
Old 04-21-2018, 10:23 AM
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StringTheory StringTheory is offline
 
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Location: Edmonton, AB
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Default Jon-Jet Boat

I was recently thinking about the exact same thing. I want to get out on the rivers more but don’t have $50k just lying around for a welded river boat. Then I came across this article:

http://afgmag.com/jon-jet-review/

A great write up and really has me thinking!
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  #9  
Old 04-21-2018, 02:21 PM
mclean mclean is offline
 
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I also have a 18 ft boat with a 125 hp on the back end,and since i have purchased my 14 ft with the 25 hp Merc. with a jet leg , In the 2 years since i purchased this river boat i use the bigger boat very little, this river boat is so much fun on the water and i get about 25 mph on the river which is ok plus i can launch this boat anyplace where i can get the trailer wheels in the water. Lots of fun.
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Old 04-21-2018, 04:05 PM
guru fisher guru fisher is offline
 
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40-25 or 25-20 ?
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Old 04-22-2018, 02:37 PM
Jack fish hunter Jack fish hunter is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mclean View Post
I also have a 18 ft boat with a 125 hp on the back end,and since i have purchased my 14 ft with the 25 hp Merc. with a jet leg , In the 2 years since i purchased this river boat i use the bigger boat very little, this river boat is so much fun on the water and i get about 25 mph on the river which is ok plus i can launch this boat anyplace where i can get the trailer wheels in the water. Lots of fun.
That's kind of what I was thinking. I'm looking to mostly use it for hunting.
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Old 04-22-2018, 05:00 PM
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CMichaud CMichaud is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mclean View Post
I also have a 18 ft boat with a 125 hp on the back end,and since i have purchased my 14 ft with the 25 hp Merc. with a jet leg , In the 2 years since i purchased this river boat i use the bigger boat very little, this river boat is so much fun on the water and i get about 25 mph on the river which is ok plus i can launch this boat anyplace where i can get the trailer wheels in the water. Lots of fun.
Which 14' boat are you running?
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Old 04-22-2018, 05:24 PM
mclean mclean is offline
 
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Running a 14ft Lund flat bottom boat,
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