Riverpro Convention

[hank franklin]

There must have been a Riverpro convention on the Meramec above St. Clair yesterday. Beautiful boats. How much water depth can these things run in? I saw one take on a riffle that couldn't have been much more than three inches or so of flow.

Let me make real clear that I would LOVE to have one of these. Having said that, they are completely incompatible with canoes. (Duh.)

Riverpro: $35,000+. My canoe: Two hundred bucks

Riverpro top speed: 50 mph. My canoe top speed: 3 mph (maybe)

Riverpro minimum draft: 3 inches. My canoe minimum draft: Maybe 3 inches.

Wait, maybe they are compatible.

I am not trying to initiate a "I hate jets" thread. We ran the river later in the day on a jet and big fun. I want one of my own some day. I understand all about their need to run on plane, etc.

Just sayin the Riverpros aren't your grandpa's jet boat. My first Ozark stream boat was a 5 hp prop jon on the Bourbeuse. When I first got into a 40 hp jet on the Meramec it was high cotton. Now you can fly the river at 35 mph+ in dang near drought conditions. And from a Riverpro perspective hardly make a sound.

Wow.

Meanwhile our canoe party with kids floating on lifejackets at 1 mph hope to God the big boats don't run us over. And yesterday with one exception they all ran with general courtesy toward us. And we of course got the heck outta their way at every opportunity. However that one exception was a ridiculous incident in which we were buzzed within 15 feet on a section of river where this was completely unnecessary.

So while I don't hate jets in general I certainly hated THAT jet.

Life on the river goes on....

....but it's certainly not your grandpa's river!

[Hog Wally]

I was in that Riverpro convoy. There is a particular very dangerous jet boat on the river these days. He's a nice guy but no sense at all. Or courtesy.

[Mitch f]

That why I mostly fish in the winter, to keep away from all that dangerous stuff

[Hog Wally]

Water patrol was called to the congested area around shady beach yesterday. It turns out that it's against the law to block the river from boat traffic.

[Kcdangler]

So who had the right of way I'm confused

[Hog Wally]

It turns out it's against the law to impede traffic

[Mitch f]

When I pass a group of swimmers I always slow down to a crawl, except if there is no room and the water is very shallow. In deep water you never know if someone is under the water swimming and could pop back up in the middle of the river.

[Flysmallie]

When I pass a group of swimmers I always slow down to a crawl, except if there is no room and the water is very shallow. In deep water you never know if someone is under the water swimming and could pop back up in the middle of the river.

Very true Mitch. I was coming up on an access a couple of years ago and thought I was safe going way out around everybody. Then all of a sudden this little guy pops up right in front of me and I almost hit him. If I had been in a powered boat and not a canoe it would have been a very bad scene for many people to witness.

[hank franklin]

I guess I am getting long in the tooth, Hog Wally. I came of age in the 1970's on the Bourbeuse and if we'd seen a Riverpro back then we would have thought it was a spaceship or somethin. Makes you wonder what will be on the river when my own kids get older.

Nice day on the river. I don't mind the jets down there, it's jet country. We floated without incident except for the one incident. That one incident though rose the temperature a few degrees. One thing to buzz me the old dude. Another thing to buzz the children.

Yes, do tell please about Shady Beach. Courtesy goes both way of course.

[Greasy B]

What a difference a day makes. We fished Sand Ford, to Plum Ford Monday and didn’t encounter a single boat, jet or paddle. I guess it was a perfect storm of a morning storm and folks being worn out from a weekend on the water.

What a great stretch of water, even with the low levels there was Smallmouth habitat everywhere.