deerman

Enjoy that boat and don't let the age bother you. I've had better/newer boats and deeper and wider ones and all welded ones. The one I guess I've ended up settling with is a 1957 Ouachita. At least that's what its supposed to be. The serial number on it is one that has been issued by the state of arkansas for a boat with a missing serial number and or title. Its 16 foot long and 36 wide in the bottom. Usually you find alot of 14/36's but the longer ones are usually wider. I like the longer/but not too wide combo for the places I fish because it makes it a good river or creek boat. It is riveted and in 3 years since I've owned it, it has never leaked. If yours is riveted, keep a good coat of paint on it and it will help to keep the rivets sealed. I've had a Searark 14ft 48 wide all weld, but it was so heavy, you couldn't easily just slap trolling motor on it and head to just any creek. The old boats are alot of fun to tinker with and set up the way you want.

I know Ark. isn't supposed to have cougars, according to the AG&F, but check out this sight, and click on the map and then look at their confirmations standards. Ark. has several cases documented since 1990, where either a dead cougar was found and even has confirmations by game and fish officials. http://www.easterncougarnet.org/index.html

Here is a link concerning this matter in the Heber Springs paper. http://thesuntimes.com/articles/2007/06/07/news/news07.txt

This is my boat, not too good of a pic, it was taken with my cell phone. The previous owner had it registered as a 1952 Ouachita. When i registered it, it came back as a 1957 Ouachita. The Vin tag was issued in 1990 and if you go by that it is a 1990 homemade boat. A vin tag like this could be issued for a boat that had previously not been registered or for a boat that the vin/serial number had been lost. It had had many coats of paint on it so that is possible that the original # had been lost. We sanded it down and painted it with Parker Duck Boat Paint. It was supposed to be hunter green, but looks more olive drab. It doesn't have any leaks. We were worried when we sanded it down that some rivets might start to leak, but even after that, it doesn't leak at all. Looks like it had some type of steering and console on it in the past as well. It will go in real shallow water. The other day, people had their boats parked at the bottom of a real shallow shoal I had been up a million times. They were telling me it was too shallow to go up. I just putted up it real slow, the outboard skipped sand twice, probably because I had my trolling motor battery in the back, but made it right up where the jet boats were. I don't much like the carpeted deck in the front, but it adds weight to the front and lifts the back a little to help get up shallow shoals and it opens up and I can keep life jackets in there and my wife likes it so I guess it will stay. I'm going to rig up my bow mount trolling motor and battery in the front and put a pedestal seat on it. Just wondering if anyone has ever had a Ouachita boat, trying to find out what it is. Its deminsions are 16 x 36

Man, I hate to do this, turn someone else on to a boat that I would love to own that is in my own backyard ...... I've been watching it on Ebay for a couple of days and thinking about buying it, but right now, I need an outboard more than I need another boat and I'm paying $125 a week for daycare for the summer and getting ready to build a new house so I'll pass the info on to some other guys on here who would appreciate it. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/22-Foot-Mon...sspagenameZWDVW

I think for me , I would like about an 18 x 36 wide. I don't think I want to go any narrower than a 36 because I have my wife and 2 kids go with me alot and the kids move around alot. Does anyone know of anybody that has made an 1836 in aluminum? My 1636 I have now is pretty close to what I've always wanted, but by the time you add the wife, 2 kids, and all the tackle, ice chests, gas tank, battery and stuff, its almost too small. An 18 footer would give us all a little more room and I could handle it by myself I think should the motor die, like its been doing lol. I'll try to post a pic of my boat Monday and see if anyone has any idea what it is? The Revenue office told the previous owner that it was a 1952 ouachita, when I registered it, they told me no, it was a 1956 or 1957 Ouachita, yet the vin # is a metal tag that was issued by Ark in 1990 so if you go by the vin, its a 1990 homemade boat. SO it may or may not be a Ouachita. When I sanded it down the original color looks like it might have been either Red or turquois. And it has bolts on the side where it looks like it might have had a steering wheel at one time. It looks similiar to either an Arkansas Traveler, a Ouachita, or a Monark.

My little girl is 6 and is really getting into fishing. We went to a creek and I didn't have any bobbers. She ended up getting the feel for it and caught 25 bream without a bobber. She was casting out and really lightly working the rod tip so I think she is past the bobber stage and almost ready for big bass lures.lol We went trout fishing 2 times in the boat and I left my fly rod at home and we anchored and just tight lined with corn and marshmellows and powerbait. Usually, you can literally catch all you want this way. But both times, she only caught 1 fish each trip. Her rod and reel has 6lb test, so i might need to go down to 4lb test. But I don't want her to get burned out sitting for a long time in a boat in the same spot or getting hung up alot dragging moss. Anyone have some more exciting ways for a kid to catch trout from a boat? Maybe something that involves the boat moving. I was thinking of maybe slowly drifting with those clear bobbers and corn or night crawlers? I'd appreciate any ideas, I haven't done much drift fishing. Thanks

Thanks for the tips, I'm going to try to get it running better.

Good story. I'm running a 1968 9.5 hp Evinrude Sport Twin on my 16 ft. right now. It has some carb issues too I think. Starts on the first pull, but it cuts out from time to time. When it dies, it will start back on the first pull. I'm going to start with fresh plugs and go from there.

I like those paddle jons too. I've seen some photos of some old Arkansas Traveler River jons that look like they would be pretty nice, for what I want.

I was just wondering if anyone else is "into" jon boats like I am? Some people are into classic cars or bass boats or classic boats, luckily for me, jon boats are kind of a cheap hobby for the most part, I just don't know anyone else who is into older jon boats. My first one was a 1448 seaArk. It was a nice stable boat, but kind of heavy and was basically rigged up from the factory. My current boat, I like for the most part because we fixed it up and rigged it up ourselves. I have no idea what it is? Based on the revenue office, its a 1956 Ouachita, but the vin says 1990 homemade boat. It had about 20 coats of paint on it and I think somewhere along the way, the original numbers were lost and it was registered again in 1990 and given a new vin. Its a 16 foot 36 inch wide boat, I like the narrow width and light weight for running down shallow shoals, this boat will go in some pretty shallow water. It has some carpeted plywood decking on it that makes it heavier than I like, but my wife likes the decking and you can open it up for storage so I guess it has to stay. I like aluminum and riveted for myself even though I know most people prefer all welded in aluminum. I like the rivets mostly because they tend to be a little lighter and able to carry a little more load than all welded if you go by the factory specs. And with gas prices, its a matter of time before I have to go with a 4 cycle truck and I want a real light boat that can be pulled in the hills with a 4 cylinder. But I really like the looks of those fiberglass jons like such as a Supreme I'm kind of keeping my eyes open for just a cheap/plain jon of about 18 foot long and 36 inches wide close to the house that might need some TLC and be rigged into a good river boat.

I've heard it will be near Searcy, past the trout habitat. But from what I understand, they use ALOT of water when they use it. Somewhere in the millions of gallons.

Looking for a 14ft flat bottom metal jon boat, needs to be all welded and with a titled trailer good lights, and an outboard around 8-15 hp for around/under $800 prefer around North Central Ark (Heber area) Needs to be at least between 42-48 inches wide in the bottom floor and have a 4 person capacity. .. Might consider just the boat/trailer without a motor if priced cheap enough that I could come up with my own motor. Something me and my kids can rig up ourselves to go trout fishing would be okay . E-mail me. Thanks