netboy

It's good to see folks getting together after a year of hibernation.

Well ya'll missed a great time at Natural State Fly Shop. Great weather, great gumbo and as advertised, lots of BS and nice folks. Next time you get to Cotter stop in and chat.

Forgot to mention that if any of you guys are around Cotter tomorrow, my friend Bruce and his shop manager (Bob the bobtail cat) at Natural State Fly Shop will be hosting a fly tying, BS story telling session and some other fun things. Also some great gumbo starting at 3:30 tomorrow, just bring your own beer. Always fun and lots of BS. If you want the lowdown on fly fishing around Cotter follow Bruce's Facebook page. As always there will be the "Usual Suspects" in attendance.. 14) Natural State Fly Shop - Posts | Facebook If you have driven thru Cotter, I think you have seen Bob. he thinks he owns the place.

SWPA showed the flows going to minimum at noon today so I headed to the dam C&R area. Got there at 12:30 expecting the water to be low, but nope... they dropped it to about 60mw or 1 1/2 units. I walked up to a shoal that is fishable at that level and caught some nice rainbows on an egg/midge combo under an indicator. Then at 2pm I noticed they shut 1 generator down and in about 15 minutes there was minimum flow. As soon as that happened the caddis started coming up. No swarms but enough to get the trout interested. Had fun the next couple hours with an elk hair caddis dry. Caught or missed about a dozen with a couple of decent ones in the mix. I had a few misses where I set the hook too quickly and pulled the fly out of their mouth. It's hard to remember to let them take it a second or 2 before setting. Always takes me a trip or two to get the timing back. Anyway it was a fun afternoon and perfect weather (except for the wind).

The Supreme L60 is 60" wide per their specs. Supreme Boats L60 | River Boats | Supreme & Shawnee Boats

Apparently many of our local redneck boat builders here on the White river are partial to tunnels these days. Seems most of the newer models have tunnels. I posted a couple of random pics earlier but here is a more concise list and better pics. As I said before, I haven't been in a tunnel jet but there must be a reason these guys are building them. 1. Supreme 207xp 2. Supreme L60 3. Xtream 4. Topwater 5. XX River Jon

Here are the results. He won by 10lbs. tournaments | Bassmaster

My daughter calls it the Squirt Boat.

Earlier you talked about "jet props".. Is it a jet or a prop?? Kind of an oxymoron like "jumbo shrimp"😀 Just kidding.... this thread is fun.

Perhaps the prop engine gives him the maneuverability needed to make those tight turns. I know my jet rig doesn't do tight turns very well. At any rate it was apparently "cute" enough for him to win the tournament and $50k.

Here's another good article on tunnel hulls... he also mentions "The plume"😁 Tunnel hull culture | Bassmaster

I use the Glacier gloves also.

Gotmuddy, here are the culprits that cause the seagrass problem in the winter. These are redhead ducks of which about 80% of the estimated 1.4 million North American population winters on the Laguna. They pull the grass up and eat the roots and the remaining stalks die and then float. Then in the summer low tide situations cause lots of the grass to die off. Some of the marinas down there get so clogged they have to hire guys to come and remove the grass so boats can launch.

Yeah I have seen his posts and pretty sure he is in the Port O'Conner/Seadrift area. I used to fish Port O'Conner and the grass issue is not nearly as bad as the Laguna.

Nobody runs jets down in the Laguna Madre due to the large mats of floating seagrass that would constantly clog the intake.

No deflection. Every example and video I have attached involved prop driven hulls. I have no experience running a jet with a tunnel, I'll let Jamie talk about that. I do however have 15 years of experience running a prop driven tunnel hull in shallow water and I can tell you that they do run shallower than a non tunnel hull.

Once again most of this discussion has been about prop driven rigs. Remember all of Wrench's measurements and calculations on prop sizes, skegs and water intakes?

The point is that you are going to very limited as to where you can fish in the Laguna Madre without a tunnel. Also this is an example of a tunnel hull running shallower than a non tunnel which was what this thread morphed in to.

I had a new neighbor move into the house across the street from us in Corpus. He and his wife went boat shopping and bought real pretty 20 foot non tunnel hull rig. He was not catching many fish so I took him out in my boat and we caught a bunch of reds. Next day he takes his wife to the area we fished and I get call that he is stranded in a foot of water shortly after he got out of the main canal. I went out and towed him back to the canal. Soon after he traded the pretty non tunnel hull boat for a tunnel hull. He took a pretty big $$$ hickie on the trade, so I guess you are correct that boat dealers make lots of money on these deals.

Wrench was talking about prop driven non tunnel hulls. That's the video proof I want to see.

Cool, you can join the "I don't know where I am going, but I want to be the first one there guys". Just kidding but a great rig...

Maybe, just maybe... does a tunnel run shallower than a non tunnel. Still anxiously waiting on Wrench put up a video, picture or some testimonial of a 20 foot non tunnel boat running over a 4 inch shoal so we can put this to rest??

Snagged...Do you have a Blazer? I saw that Calvin is now offering a tunnel hull option.

Here are a couple of articles about tunnel hull Jon boats. Make your own conclusions.... .What is a Tunnel-Hull Jon Boat: Full Guide (freshwaterfishingadvice.com) What is a Tunnel Hull Jon Boat? – Flat Bottom Boat World

Guys, this has turned out to be a great thread. Not just the tunnel discussion but all the great input. Lots of great experience on this one.