Best Fiberglass Jon Boat

[grizwilson]

I fish the white a bunch, prefer low water. In the warm and dry years my jet is the mainstay. This year it is hung in the shed, my 9.9 prop is set on back. The jet is wonderful in low water, but high, it catches so much trash it clogs up so much not worth the hassle, and do not need the shallow option. I know Gary Flippin at Rim Shoals loves the jets, but in high water he has to store them as the clog and customers burn them up with no water to the motor. So for my .02 get one of each, Jet wonderful in low water, 9.9 prop puts you on crooked creek or Buffalo..... g

[cotterboy2007]

I fish the white a bunch, prefer low water. In the warm and dry years my jet is the mainstay. This year it is hung in the shed, my 9.9 prop is set on back. The jet is wonderful in low water, but high, it catches so much trash it clogs up so much not worth the hassle, and do not need the shallow option. I know Gary Flippin at Rim Shoals loves the jets, but in high water he has to store them as the clog and customers burn them up with no water to the motor. So for my .02 get one of each, Jet wonderful in low water, 9.9 prop puts you on crooked creek or Buffalo..... g

I guess you run two different boats.

[grizwilson]

I guess you run two different boats.

Yes and no, I do run two different boats but my Champion is set with the jet and I have a 9.9 long shaft , so I can interchange my other boat just has a 9.9 prop.

[cotterboy2007]

I used to have an old champion. good boat, but I had to fix the motor block on mine a couple of times. It was lightning fast with a 25 though. I am looking for a minimum 48 inch boat, and wider if possible. The Raven i saw looked wider. does anyone have the info on them. I would like to take a closer look

[Whiteriver]

I used to have an old champion. good boat, but I had to fix the motor block on mine a couple of times. It was lightning fast with a 25 though. I am looking for a minimum 48 inch boat, and wider if possible. The Raven i saw looked wider. does anyone have the info on them. I would like to take a closer look

Take a look at the way they sit in the water. Also, from a short distance observe one while its on plane--something doesn't seem right with either. It may just be me, but the nose appears to rise too high making the rear and prop sink deeper thus eliminating the shallow water capability. They could have corrected this though, so you will need to give one a better look.

[cotterboy2007]

I will check that out. Anyone have one or know anyone that does, or maybe who makes them? But after hearing that whitewater, my interest went way down and it seems like I may have noticed that before but could not remember which boat did that.

The New Shawnees may be the way to go for light and strong being all hand laid and using a newer woven material that reduces weight and layers. I wiould really like to run one with the flat balsa floor and see how they do with a 25. Teh old boat I used to run would fly and was very stable witht he runnersin the floor. Sounds like about a 2 month wait or so for them.

The #1 guide series are essentially the same as supreme L42 & L48. They look super nice and the guys I talked to, Roy & Harley Carlsen seemed to really want to build a quality boat and had a nice set up to do so. they are laid up with a chopper gun(assume) and may weigh a little more, but have excellent finish levels But they are new and I would like to get more background on them and maybe run one as well.

I have looked at numerous other guys building a few here and there (J&S , D&D) but those are just a little too minimal for what i am wanting and to be fair seem to be priced right for what they are. I am trying to upgrade from a supreme 2000(L42) not go the other direction

[Ham]

Sorry I was slow to notice CB. I have a Merc 20 on a Supreme 2000 which is a 42 inch bottom (I think).

[cotterboy2007]

I went and checked out the #1 guide series boats and they are really pretty nice. they have a little different hull than the supremes, but the finish level appears to be pretty close. they are all hand laid which I like. it really cuts down on weight. the wait time is around a month or less. A fully loaded one is much less than supreme was, so I think they are on the right track. I am going to run one next week, so I'll report back then

[pdoshier]

I've got a Shawnee, 48" wide that was built to my specs by Gay before he retired. From my house I can see his farm and shop and have known his family for 40 years, and I waited a little over a year to get mine. I didn't know if he would sell out or just close the doors, so I made sure to get one while I could. Of course as said by others, he has retired and sold out. I traded up you might say from an old regular Shawnee? / Ranger or who knows what it was. It was at least 15-20 years old when I bought it in the early 90's. I know that Gay had worked on it once before for the previous owner so I'll bet it was an old Shawnee. (Lots of people may not know that Ranger use to build river boats.) That old boat is still on the river.

Anyway I was down at Gaston's the other day and they have a new Shawnee down there for a raffle. One difference I saw is they are using metal (stainless?) deck lids now. But they are painted so you don't know it until you lift the lid. The boat looked well made to me, just as good as mine. I expect that the new guy will finish it out the way you want, like Gay did.

The only think I'm not wild about mine is that it has the ridges in the floor. I'd rather have a flat floor. But I don't think Gay offered that. I have the walk through live well with storage on one side and larger front storage, rear storage and floatation. It's wired for a trolling motor and lights and has a rod tray down the left side.

Someone asked why the boats aren't seen outside of the Ozarks. Well there are some hear and there. Gay told me he built several and sent them to Alaska. I've talked to people from several states that have bought them. Of course most of those people fish the White River. But they use them other places as well.

Another recommendation for them is that White River State Park rents them and there are plenty of people who have never been on the river renting them. You know they take their share of abuse.

[Whiteriver]

I've got a Shawnee, 48" wide that was built to my specs by Gay before he retired. From my house I can see his farm and shop and have known his family for 40 years, and I waited a little over a year to get mine. I didn't know if he would sell out or just close the doors, so I made sure to get one while I could. Of course as said by others, he has retired and sold out. I traded up you might say from an old regular Shawnee? / Ranger or who knows what it was. It was at least 15-20 years old when I bought it in the early 90's. I know that Gay had worked on it once before for the previous owner so I'll bet it was an old Shawnee. (Lots of people may not know that Ranger use to build river boats.) That old boat is still on the river.

Anyway I was down at Gaston's the other day and they have a new Shawnee down there for a raffle. One difference I saw is they are using metal (stainless?) deck lids now. But they are painted so you don't know it until you lift the lid. The boat looked well made to me, just as good as mine. I expect that the new guy will finish it out the way you want, like Gay did.

The only think I'm not wild about mine is that it has the ridges in the floor. I'd rather have a flat floor. But I don't think Gay offered that. I have the walk through live well with storage on one side and larger front storage, rear storage and floatation. It's wired for a trolling motor and lights and has a rod tray down the left side.

Someone asked why the boats aren't seen outside of the Ozarks. Well there are some hear and there. Gay told me he built several and sent them to Alaska. I've talked to people from several states that have bought them. Of course most of those people fish the White River. But they use them other places as well.

Another recommendation for them is that White River State Park rents them and there are plenty of people who have never been on the river renting them. You know they take their share of abuse.

You can get a flat floor in all models now with the walk thru. Also, Gay is still on the "advisory" board at Shawnee. You know he just couldn't walk away that easily. He's a legend around here in the riverboat building business.