running a prop on the current

[rootwad_mccann]

Hello everyone! I have a square stern canoe with a small 5hp outboard. I know everyone runs jets these days, but i'm curious: How far up the river do you think i could go with the prop? My original goal was to get from Two Rivers to Bee Bluff for camping, but after some practice runs on the Lower Meramec, i have significant doubts.

This rig is a lot of fun when there's enough water, I'm certainly hooked. But since the stern never really gets up on plane so much as plows through the water, i'm considering a predator 212 based longtail mud motor. My trip up the Meramec stopped when i got to a shallow part and couldn't pick the channel out any more, just inside Castlewood park and still several miles downstream from Eureka. It's awkward to have the boat draft DEEPER when it's WOT, which i think is the root of my concern for running a rig like this on the Current.

Appreciate your thoughts!

[jdmidwest]

We ran a little 5hp prop on my square stern when I was younger on 11pt.  But we never used it to motor back up thru riffles.  We would float down stream an go back up productive holes or to troll cranks.  If I remember right, it did not have much power going up stream against strong current.

Plan a trip there and go downstream.  Try running back up and see what it does.

[trouty mouth]

Add a jack plate to the back and see how far up you can get the motor to sit? Or maybe see if you can get the angle to change at the motor so it lifts the stern a bit?

Trade it for a 16 foot john boat with a jet?

Mud motors on the Current sounds like you could get into a sketchy situation pretty quick. But idk just guessing.

[rootwad_mccann]

@jdmidwest Good idea, going downstream to scout it out. I stumbled into an old thread on this forum where the venerable Al Agnew commented that the old timers used to run props up to Two Rivers, generally. That kind of helps me set some expectations.

@trouty mouth A lot of the scanoe / motor canoe folks recommend a hydrofoil on the prop, and i'm genuinely curious about the performance, BUT, i car-top my rig, no trailer. So putting a big wing on an already awkward-to-carry 57lb outboard sounds like a Bad Time™. So I have the jet jon on my christmas list, we'll see if santa's workshop comes through 😉 And I probably agree with you about the mud motor being sketchy, mostly because of poor turning ability.

[Terrierman]

I gave up on motors on canoes in the Ozarks a long long time ago.  My first canoe was a square stern fiberglass boat - actually for a 21 YO going to college it was pretty good.  Had access to one of those aircooled 3 hp motors.  It was a no go except in long pools.

[fishinwrench]

10 hours ago, Terrierman said:

I gave up on motors on canoes in the Ozarks a long long time ago

Yep, me too.  

[Al Agnew]

The old timers ran Current River with prop boats with a lift mechanism so that when they came to riffles they could, as I remember, step down on a lever and raise the prop until it was barely underwater enough to retain some power.  Mostly the motors were 10-15 HP, and they ran them on johnboats.  And they carried a lot of spare shear pins.  Also, in my remembrance and that of the guys older than me, the riffles were narrower and thus deeper back then than they are now.  You can thank the incessant wakes from jetboat traffic for that, to a large extent.  I think you'd have to wait until the river was a foot or two above normal, and then your motor probably wouldn't have enough power to get up some of the faster riffles.  

My dad was a lake fisherman and had a big, heavy 16 ft. johnboat with a 15 HP motor on it.  He took me and my mom down to Current River at Bay Nothing (well below Big Spring) one time, and ran the river a few miles upstream without a problem.  But although I was a kid, I remember the riffles being quite deep, like at least 3 feet deep in the deeper channels.  It's not like that anymore.

[Mitch f]

I’ve seen guys with small semi-v boats and props lean to one side so their prop would be on a slight angle when trying to get thru a low water situation or riffle. 

[rootwad_mccann]

Always good to see ya Al! And thanks to everyone for sharing so far, you're giving me lots to consider.

[fishinwrench]

I can run Barclay up to Bennett on the Niangua with a 20hp prop outboard on a 16' Jon boat, at all but the lowest flows.  There's 5 spots where I have to hop out and pull over some short extremely shallow spots.... mostly because of overhanging trees....but it's definitely not a deal breaker.  

Prosperine up to Ho-Humm, and Leadmine up to Blue Spring is easily doable also. 

15-18" is all you actually need.