New to Fishing near Meramec State Park

[BigTony]

17 ft too big for that section near the state park?

[Mitch f]

53 minutes ago, BigTony said:

17 ft too big for that section near the state park?

No

[Brian Jones]

Depending on your budget, I'd recommend a 1652 or 1752 .100 gauge flat bottom hull (Blazer or Alweld) with mesh flooring, a 60/40 engine of your choice and an 80 plus pound 24 volt trolling motor.  That will allow you to run all but  the upper sections of the meramec as well as most all of the other Missouri Ozark streams.  A lot of people run .080 gauge boats in the 1652 and 1752 models and never have any trouble.  But I've also been a little leery of running the lighter gauge.  Dents ARE going to happen and I've always felt the extra gauge was worth the weight.   

[BigTony]

How does something like this compare? https://columbiamo.craigslist.org/boa/5514410094.html

[Brian Jones]

5 minutes ago, BigTony said:

How does something like this compare? https://columbiamo.craigslist.org/boa/5514410094.html

Like comparing apples to oranges.  

[BigTony]

5 minutes ago, Brian Jones said:

Like comparing apples to oranges.  

While I appreciate the pretty distinct negative opinion on that boat, my supply of options is fairly limited to used boats. I am completely green about boats. Is the hull size about appropriate?  I can fix the size of motors at a later time, or is this hull completely not going to work?  I certainly have a limited budget. Thanks for the continued help everyone is supplying!

[Smalliebigs]

I would only do a straight  flat bottom...if you aren't  taking the family or others  and it's just a single person jet for  fishing 16/52 with a 60/40 stripped down will go shallow and do the job all uo and down the river....it just doesn't go all that fast but, at the lower speeds it's safe and stable enough thru the logs.

[BigTony]

Thanks for the reply smalliebigs, I guess I didn't realize that above had that curve. I am looking at a 14 ft Jon to get me around. I will usually be alone or with my 5 yr old, but I am sure the wife might want to go for a ride once in a great while, and when my dad or bro visit we may fish. Would a small jet (25 hp) be bad for 2 guys in a small Jon? My wife isn't letting me run away with our saving so the budget is a little tight. I might be able to get a boat with a bigger prop motor, just don't know what to expect when getting through the shallow areas. 

[Hog Wally]

I would t go with that tony.  Go 16' it'll draft less water and be more stable if u drift into a fast water log jam. Very important with a 5 year old onboard. 

[BigTony]

Thanks for the heads up. Might be SoL on the boat until the wife can give me a bigger budget. Bigger boat, bigger motor, etc. with the bigger boat I'm a little concerned with dragging it through the shallows, any guidelines I should follow to make sure it's light enough?