Ramblings about river jon boats

[deerman]

I think for me , I would like about an 18 x 36 wide. I don't think I want to go any narrower than a 36 because I have my wife and 2 kids go with me alot and the kids move around alot. Does anyone know of anybody that has made an 1836 in aluminum?

My 1636 I have now is pretty close to what I've always wanted, but by the time you add the wife, 2 kids, and all the tackle, ice chests, gas tank, battery and stuff, its almost too small. An 18 footer would give us all a little more room and I could handle it by myself I think should the motor die, like its been doing lol.

I'll try to post a pic of my boat Monday and see if anyone has any idea what it is? The Revenue office told the previous owner that it was a 1952 ouachita, when I registered it, they told me no, it was a 1956 or 1957 Ouachita, yet the vin # is a metal tag that was issued by Ark in 1990 so if you go by the vin, its a 1990 homemade boat. SO it may or may not be a Ouachita. When I sanded it down the original color looks like it might have been either Red or turquois. And it has bolts on the side where it looks like it might have had a steering wheel at one time. It looks similiar to either an Arkansas Traveler, a Ouachita, or a Monark.

[Gavin]

Wayne, sorry I missed it. I think the Lowe was a 32" bottom, 45" beam, and came in two versions a 15' and a 17'..Been thinking of building a 16' out of marine ply but havent gotten around to it yet. Think it would be the perfect rig to use with my 1964 Evinrude 3hp Lightwin folding motor. Rebuilt the carbs and put a new mag on it couple years ago for a trip to the UP, but havent run it since.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Gavin I think Larry Dablemont has some information in a book on building an Ozark Jon. I'm not sure where's he's at now, I think he was in Butler. A search using his name might turn up something.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Here is a link to his site. He is in Bolivar MO.

http://larrydablemont.com/

[Wayne SW/MO]

Thanks Chief, well I was close.

Larry a good author and interesting to read.

Here's the book I had in mind.

Rivers to Run, Swiftwater, Sycamores and Smallmouth Bass, includes about anything you would want to know about rivers, including plans for making a wooden johnboat. It is filled with the history of the early days of float-fishing, the old time river guides, tie-rafting, trotlining, gigging, trapping and all the things early Midwesterners did to make a living on the river. From this book you can learn how to fish the rivers, how to paddle, how to camp on a gravel bar, pack a boat or canoe, or go after a big smallmouth. It also contains several chapters on natural history, the trees, the birds, furbearers, fish and other unique creatures of the rivers, above and below the surface. This book delves into the history of the people along the river going back to the time of the bluff dweller Indians, and includes accounts from writers in the earlier decades of the last century, describing the rivers they floated and fished, and what they were like in that time. It has 384 pages, and dozens of old photos....and fish pictures as well.

[WebFreeman]

I checked Larry's book out of the library once. It is interesting. There's web site called http://www.gatorboats.com. Not as an authentic as Dablemont's, but pretty cool nonetheless.

[Gavin]

Thanks...I've got the book and its a good one, but I'm thinking of something a little different.

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/05/outing...unner2/free.cfm

Kind of like the one above, but with a removable center rowing seat, fly rod racks, etc.

[WebFreeman]

That's a good looking boat, Gavin. I liked the open space under the benches as well. I can't vouch for Gatorboats. I don't even remember how I came upon the site, but it sure would be neat to build a boat and fish from it.

[Al Agnew]

Dablemont wrote an earlier book, which I have somewhere but wasn't able to find it on short notice...something like "The Authentic American Johnboat", which went into great detail on how to build one.

I have another aluminum version of the Ozark johnboat, called a Buddy Boat. It's 14 feet long, not real wide, and has quite a bit of rocker so I think it would be a pretty good paddle craft. When my dad and his best fishing buddy fished Wappapello Lake every weekend back when I was a kid (around 1960) and just getting big enough to go with them, they had their own motors but rented 14 foot johnboats from Holiday Landing. The people who owned Chaonia Landing back then wanted to get their business because they caught more big bass than just about anybody else on the lake, and Chaonia wanted to be able to post their pictures of big stringers. So they asked Dad and Carl what they could do to get their business (kind of an early version of tournament pro endorsements, I guess). At the time, Chaonia only had big clunky V bottoms for rent, so Dad and Carl told them that if they bought really good 14 ft. johnboats they'd start using them. Chaonia said okay, and bought a couple of Buddy Boats, which at the time were reputed to be the best boats going. Dad and Carl used them for several years...they were their own exclusive boats. Then Mom and I started going with Dad, and he needed a bigger boat. He bought a 16 ft. Ouachita. When I got big enough to want my own boat...about the time I graduated from high school...Dad obtained a Buddy Boat for me, and I've owned it ever since. I used it regularly for a long time, with a 9.8 Merc and a hand control trolling motor mounted on the side even with the front seat, on lakes from the local community lakes to Wappapello and Clearwater, but it got to where I liked fishing the rivers from a canoe a lot better, and it sat without being used for a long time. Now Dad is using it for a small lake boat. It's never been on a river, but one of these days I'll take it and see how it handles with a paddle.

[jcoberley]

I really like this one.

http://www.simplicityboats.com/oldplans.html