Supreme Boats In The Wind

[Longs for Cutts]

Checking in with my old stomping grounds from out here in wintery Montana.

I'm in the process of getting my captain's license and will start operating power boat trips, primarily on the Missouri River below Hauser Dam (look on Youtube for "land of giants missouri" to see why). To reach this piece of water, you launch on Upper Holter Lake and motor up to the dam in a jet boat, then drift down under oar power. Not too unlike fishing Taney. I will also use the boat a couple of other places, probably the lower Yellowstone and Bighorn Rivers and also Lewis and Hebgen Lakes in/near Yellowstone.

I am looking hard at the Supremes, but I'm wondering how well they can handle wind. We routinely have days with 20-30mph wind and whitecaps. The lakes are entirely secondary to the rivers, but I need a boat that can at least get across the lakes no matter the wind without making things miserable/dangerous for my clients. Anyone care to weigh in on whether the Supremes (L48 or L60) will work for this? For comparison, most guys out here are running 16-17 foot semi-vee jon boats set up with oars and a jet for the purposes I've described.

[Ham]

I love my Supreme, but I would hate to operate it under the conditions you describe as routine. Your clients are likely going to take a pounding when there are whitecaps. The 20-30 mph with push you around a lot. The lengtof a Supreme would help bridge the waves from crest to crest.

I'm not sure if it would be safe, but I'm fairly sure it would not be comfortable.

[hoglaw]

I'm with Ham, not the boat for those conditions. I used to have a shawnee that was a narrow boat and it was awful in the wind because of the rocker. My current AFF handles the wind much better because the bottom is flatter with little rocker. But I still don't like driving mine across white-capping waives. I've done it, but it sucks. It's bumpy, you can see the floor moving, and the jet cavitates. I'd definitely want the widest boat you could get though.

[LittleRedFisherman]

As an owner of an L48, there's no need for me to repeat what these guys have said, totally agree. If your wanting a boat around that size, i'd look at some of the aluminum's. I'm a huge fan of a War Eagle boat, that's my big water/duck hunting boat, it will cut through waves and built like a tank, plus corners extremely well on a winding river. Winds like you speak of will blow any boat around, but the Supremes float so shallow, they will be affected more.

[fishinwrench]

I don't have any experience with glass jons but I do have considerable experience with aluminum jons in windy/rough water.

Unless your shoals absolutely demand a jet to navigate them I'd go prop, and get really good with your tilt/trim and water reading skills.

Having that lower unit acting as a keel on your drifts back downstream will help alot in a stiff wind.

You'll eat up a prop or two in the beginning but you can learn to run a hell of a lot shallower with a prop outboard than you might think without tearing anything up. Plus, your clients will be alot more at ease watching you finesse the rig through a skinny spot than they will while white-knuckling a shallow rock garden or sliding around a narrow bend Tokyo Drift style..

Everyone seems to think that if they can see the bottom then they need a jet pump, and that's just not true at all. Give me 14" of water over a shoal and I'm good

My hangups with a jet pump are.....

1. Lousy control at slow speeds.

2. They can't hold the water in waves.

3. Jet rigged boats are flakey about load distribution.

4. Lousy control at slow speeds! (Yeah I said that twice)

If navigating your stretch of river calls for crossing numerous ankle deep shoals and you have a major problem hopping out in water shallower than your knees and doing a little hike-a-boat then ya gotta have a jet, but I run."jet boat water" in prop rigged jons quite a bit and I haven't busted a gearcase or completely destroyed a prop in years.

[gotmuddy]

River Jons arent built for rough water and really suck in the wind. If it were me I would look into some of the alaskan style inboard jets if a jet is required.

[gotmuddy]

http://www.duckworthboats.com/

[Longs for Cutts]

Thanks for the replies. I was hoping the Supreme could maybe be a do-all boat. I was thinking slap a trolling motor on the front and use it in lakes as well as rivers. Looks like the answer is no...

For the curious, the first boat in the slideshow is my current front-runner for river fishing: http://www.stealthcraftboats.com/. I am probably going to eventually need to get some sort of traditional mod-V or deep-V for lakes. On top of my drift boat, raft, river boat, GAH! Fun is expensive even when it's your job.

[rowill]

The L60 hull is much flatter than the 48 hull and acts very different due to the less rocker

[Greasy B]

I think a river Jon is an excellent platform for a guided fly fishing, much like a drift boat. And just like a drift boat the rocker helps in the constant pivoting that is necessary to keep two fishermen is good position. Waves are the major issues. Fact is you would get slapped silly. If I could find a someone who was smart enough to know how to handle the oars but stupid enough to do it I would set my boat up for center rowing.