Jonboat questions

[drew03cmc]

3 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

There isn't much left to pick, I've pretty much spilled all that's worth anything about Jon boats.  

You've got me wanting to sell my bass boat and buy another Lowe Olympic now.     I already have a motor, controls, and TM for it, just need a hull and trailer.

What's different about that hull versus, say, a Tracker or Alumacraft? 

[fishinwrench]

3 hours ago, drew03cmc said:

What's different about that hull versus, say, a Tracker or Alumacraft? 

20" transom that is well braced and has a splash well, and I like standard guage hulls with properly placed rivets way better than I like a heavy guage hull with welded stringers.  Plus, the floor plan allows for lots of different modification options that work really good for my style of fishing.

[drew03cmc]

Honestly, I know diddly about hull construction for things like you just said. I have to research and learn a bit, but that all makes sense. 

[kjackson]

22 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

There isn't much left to pick, I've pretty much spilled all that's worth anything about Jon boats.  

You've got me wanting to sell my bass boat and buy another Lowe Olympic now.     I already have a motor, controls, and TM for it, just need a hull and trailer.

I've been dithering about buying a boat because I want either a walleye-style vee hull or a mod-vee jon.  Every time I figure that it's time to get off the fence, I change my mind.  I really want both, but, well, I'm married. It's much easier sneaking a new rod in the house than a second boat.  My problem is that I will do the standard casting-from-the-front deck thing but also need to troll. I also have a couple of requirements because the lake cabin is on a cob-rough road. 

[Terrierman]

46 minutes ago, kjackson said:

I've been dithering about buying a boat because I want either a walleye-style vee hull or a mod-vee jon.  Every time I figure that it's time to get off the fence, I change my mind.  I really want both, but, well, I'm married. It's much easier sneaking a new rod in the house than a second boat.  My problem is that I will do the standard casting-from-the-front deck thing but also need to troll. I also have a couple of requirements because the lake cabin is on a cob-rough road. 

I had an 18.5 x 54 modified vee jon.  Would have been better off with standard jon or a full vee hull.  Modified vee doesn't have enough vee to make a difference in any kind of even moderately roughish water.  But it does cut down on space in the boat.  Either get a jon boat or a vee bottom boat.  Depending on where/how you fish the most.

[Basfis]

The mod v makes a difference turning under power. Flat bottoms just feel weird turning while “running” to me. Just an opinion 

[fishinwrench]

1 hour ago, Basfis said:

The mod v makes a difference turning under power. Flat bottoms just feel weird turning while “running” to me. Just an opinion 

I notice that also. Plus the mod- V just looks better.  No difference at all when it comes to cutting through chop or waves, they all bang like a jackhammer. And the wider they are the harder they bang.   

[fishinwrench]

4 hours ago, kjackson said:

I've been dithering about buying a boat because I want either a walleye-style vee hull or a mod-vee jon.  Every time I figure that it's time to get off the fence, I change my mind.  I really want both, but, well, I'm married. It's much easier sneaking a new rod in the house than a second boat.  My problem is that I will do the standard casting-from-the-front deck thing but also need to troll. I also have a couple of requirements because the lake cabin is on a cob-rough road. 

In your case I think the deciding factor should be how far you like to run between fishing spots.   Running more than 3-5 miles in a Jon boat (even a big nice one) is not much fun at all.  

When I was a kid (12 y/o) we took two boats on a massive float trip on the Mississippi, from Louisiana, Mo to the state of Louisiana.  A 16' Quichita commercial Jon, and a 18' StarCraft deep V, and even at the ripe young age of 12 I was thrilled when I was allowed out of that freakin' Jon boat and into the StarCraft.  

[kjackson]

I'm leaning toward the deep-vee in an aluminum hull.  That style of boat is what I'm used to setting up for what I want to do. I really like the idea of a jon, especially for fly fishing, but I can adapt.