Boat size for tailwater fishing

[Woodpecker]

I have a question for anyone familiar with the Bagnell tailrace.. I have a little  bass hunter boat with a 3.5 hp outboard.. do I stand a chance fishing the Osage around Tescumbia if they're running water? Or is it like they say in Jaws.. "you're gonna need a bigger boat?" Wanting to get into some cats! 

Thanks for the replies! 

[fishinwrench]

I wouldn't advise it.  There's some tricky currents from Bagnell to Saline creek.  Once below Saline it tames down considerably until you get down to the old Lock where it gets dicey again for a 1/2 mile or so.

[45acp]

What's your definition of "running water"?  Mean flows for this time of year are ~15kcfs.  Right now it's running close to 40kcfs.

I wouldn't want to be anywhere above the lock in a puddle jumper boat if it was running over 10kcfs.

Below the lock it gets pretty lazy, but if you go down there on a weekend day when the weather is nice the pleasure boats/jet skis will ruin your day.