Finally Decided On A Boat!

[LittleRedFisherman]

Al, thanks for the info, that sounds like a good idea. Is your boat similar to a supreme? I live in the Delta near the ST. Francis river, which is another reason I wanted this boat. The river here gets so shallow in the summer, few can fish it very far, but I'm planning on getting thru the sand bars and finding my "holes" to catch those flathead in the summer. That river is up right now, so it will be a good place to get the feel of my boat before I hit the ozark streams with it, especially eleven point, which I know the least about. I'm hoping that even with 3 people, this boat will plane out properly with the 25 jet. I thought about a 40 jet, but was worried about the wieght, and started getting more than I wanted to spend. There's times when I go by myself, especially on the St. Francis, and that 25 will be better suited for me most of the time i'm hoping.. Thanks again, Bret.

[gotmuddy]

if you got the supreme setup for jets then IMO it should plane with 3 people. If you got a factory 25 it is actually a 40, the 40hp is actually a 60 so the weigh difference would have been another cylinder(30lb or more). You want to be on your A game to launch at the narrows and go up.

[Ham]

It is a WHOLE lot easier to control your boat when you are running upstream against a fast current than it is to run downstream with a fast current.

the downstream stuff is a white knuckle one shot deal.

[Al Agnew]

Nope, mine is an aluminum 16 ft. Blazer with 40 hp motor. Much different boat, obviously. I don't know much about the Supremes, but I know that if my boat would have been glass I'd have never made it back to the ramp after hitting the rock I hit on the Meramec a couple years ago. Be VERY careful with that boat in rocky rivers. It should do beautifully on the lower St. Francis, though, and do great on the lower gravelly and sandy sections of other streams in your area. I'd think it would be well suited for the lower Eleven Point in AR, as well as downstream sections of the Current and Black.

[Whiteriver]

Gotmuddy, yeah the eleven point can be tricky for sure. Where have you fished it before? I have never fished it north of the AR border, put in near Dalton last time I fished it, had to get out and pull the boat through a shoal. I've thought about trying it closer to Pochahantas, i beleive it's a little easier to navigate there, but correct me if I'm wrong. That river is one of the least used treasures in Arkansas, IMHO, as far as smallmouth bass goes. I recent servey was done, and according to the AGFC, it has one of, if not the most dense population of bass in Arkansas. With all that being said, I hope I can get to some of them with my new boat...lol

You're going to love the ride and room of the Supreme L48--awsome boats. Congrats and post pictures when you take delivery please--we want to see the new ride..

[LittleRedFisherman]

Will do there whiteriver. Thanks for all the tips, taking them all in! I've seen these boats in action, its amazing to me how shallow of water they can go in.

[Al Agnew]

It is a WHOLE lot easier to control your boat when you are running upstream against a fast current than it is to run downstream with a fast current.

the downstream stuff is a white knuckle one shot deal.

Ham, you're right on that! I almost always run upstream from wherever I put in, and then mostly fish my way back down. My boat drafts about 5 inches while drifting with one or two people, and I've gotten good at getting through riffles going downstream with the trolling motor. Funny how the riffles just look different going downstream. I've often missed the best line to run while motoring downstream, but it's almost always easy to read going upstream. Definitely a greater pucker factor running downstream, especially if you have to maneuver much.

[Greasy B]

I think that’s a great boat. Some observations; Vacuuming up gravel will wear your impeller out, leaves and weeds will rob you of power and burn up your power head, always be aware of what is under your jet’s intake especially when starting and when accelerating from idle to plow. When your boat plows it will draft much more than it does on plane, so it’s best to either idle or be on plane anytime the water is thin. I don’t think the fiberglass boats weight and its longer hull will side slip when turning quite as much as a typical aluminum hull, what has happen to me is when leaning the boat into a tight turn the jet will briefly suck air, no water in the pump means no control. How you run your boat through a shoal depends on how much water you have and what the bottom is composed of. Going over loose gravel you’ll need to be on plane to not suck gravel. Rock gardens and ledge rock shoals are a crap shoot, if you not certain about depth it’s probably best to idle through. This was the case last month on Eleven Point, I think it was just above Bliss Shoal, the water was fill with boulders the size of small appliances, never having run this in such low water I had to idle down, I was lucky just glancing a few rocks. As mentioned on a previous reply the trip up was much easier and I was able to do it on plane. The ledge rock shoals on white river are an animal of their own, this is where your river jon will shine. Even with the water pretty low it’s amazing how you can get up through the ledges of places like Wildcat Shoals and Buffalo by gently putting the front of the boat on a ledge then power up to slide over, then of course as Ham said “the downstream stuff is a white knuckle one shot deal”. That brings up the last point I wanted to make, I wouldn’t be too concerned with damaging your boat but I would be very afraid of getting thrown out, Al’s got it right “USE THE KILL SWITCH!”

[Ted Calcaterra]

In addition to using the kill switch wear a life jacket. I've hit a boulder twice in my 16t Blazer and it's not pleasant. But........ I wouldn't trade my jet for a prop for anything but would trade aluminum for fiberglass.

[gotmuddy]

riverton on down on eleven point is a great place for this boat. pretty much all gravel. Stay away from buffalo shoals on no units until you have brass balls, heh.