Are Jon Boats welcome in this forum?
I have a 12' jon boat and I'm looking for a forum where I can exchange some ideas and maybe learn some new ones. My wading abilities have kind of gone to seed, and these old legs don't help the performance of a pontoon boat or float tube, so I sold them both. What say folks? Any flat bottom boat lovers in our midst?
Re: Are Jon Boats welcome in this forum?
Lotech;
Maybe a better name for the forum should have been "Water Craft"? I know owners of Jon boats and they would sure like to see what others have done with theirs.
Re: Are Jon Boats welcome in this forum?
Or maybe the forum could be called oaring. Then again that lets out the paddlers. I really enjoy fishing from my jon boat and look forward to learning fly fishing lake techniques. I hear Brian Chan is pretty good at it :wink:
My boat is equipped with two semi padded seats, a 24 pound thrust electric trolling motor (soon to be upgraded to 40 pounds), two deep cycle batteries and a round bottom anchor with 40 feet of rope. Oh yeah, I have a portable battery powered fish finder also. I'm still trying to figure out a rod holder so I can slooooow troll a wooly bugger with a fly rod with oars in hand.
Thanks for the welcome,
Re: Are Jon Boats welcome in this forum?
Lotech:
I have a Lowe 12' Jon boat that is 17 years old and going strong. I have the original 27lb thrust MinnKota motor and just replaced the original battery two years ago (wasn't taking a charge any longer). The only new thing I've added is a trailer! The boat was easy enough to slide onto the truck, it was just humping the motor, battery, anchor, seats, etc. from the basement that got old!!!
I did modify it so that I could sit up front and avoid casting over the bow at times. I ran #8 wire up the gunwhales and mounted studs on the side where I mount the motor (reverse the prop head) and left the battery in the stern. I mounted the seats on 7" pedastals so that when you sit it's the same position as sitting in a regular kitchen chair.
99% of my fly fishing is lakes, ponds, etc. in southern NJ and I get where I want with the L'il Jon and have a ball.
Tried several kayaks, they killed me after about an hour.
Regards, Jim
Re: Are Jon Boats welcome in this forum?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Sentell
Lotech:
I have a Lowe 12' Jon boat that is 17 years old and going strong. I have the original 27lb thrust MinnKota motor and just replaced the original battery two years ago (wasn't taking a charge any longer). The only new thing I've added is a trailer! The boat was easy enough to slide onto the truck, it was just humping the motor, battery, anchor, seats, etc. from the basement that got old!!!
I did modify it so that I could sit up front and avoid casting over the bow at times. I ran #8 wire up the gunwhales and mounted studs on the side where I mount the motor (reverse the prop head) and left the battery in the stern. I mounted the seats on 7" pedastals so that when you sit it's the same position as sitting in a regular kitchen chair.
99% of my fly fishing is lakes, ponds, etc. in southern NJ and I get where I want with the L'il Jon and have a ball.
Tried several kayaks, they killed me after about an hour.
Regards, Jim
Jim,
Your 12' Lowe Jon Boat is exactly the same as mine. I put it on a $300 utility trailer from Fred Meyer. The trailer has a flat bed on it and because the jon boat is also flat bottom, I can load it easily and I can walk out to the end of the trailer to launch the boat. I really like that feature. Also because it is a cheap utility trailer kit, it folds in half when nothing is on it, and rolls away into a corner of the garage or car port. I had a picture of the boat and trailer before the puter crashed, so I'll have to wait till I take new pics to post them. I'm thinking seriously about putting the old 24# motor up on the bow, and mounting the new 40#'r on the stern.
My biggest problem now is that I'll most likely have to wait till next spring to take it out again. BUMMER :(
Re: Are Jon Boats welcome in this forum?
Lotech Joe, Brian Chan really likes his prams for lake fishing. So I'd vote YES on including jonboats!
I've become completely addicted to lake fishing. Sometimes it's so easy compared to rivers, and sometimes lakes are REALLY difficult.
DANBOB
Re: Are Jon Boats welcome in this forum?
John Boats -two in our club have big Johns with large outboard jets for river smallmouth fishing.
Re: Are Jon Boats welcome in this forum?
Thanks for the welcome folks. :)
Re: Are Jon Boats welcome in this forum?
I have the use of a 10 foot jon boat every time I visit a favorite private pond...And alway's have a great time....great flyfishing platform's... If my local lake was not a nearly solid mass of weeds and milfoil I'd have bought a 12 footer...Rowing in that stuff is a daunting task at best...Love watching guys try though :lol:
See no reason they can't be spoken of here!!!!
Re: Are Jon Boats welcome in this forum?
Like others I have a 12 ft Lowe Jon boat. However I don't like to fish out of a boat - so I don't. That being said I use my boat to hunt ducks. I think it is the perfect size for a one man operation and if I ever decide to start fishing from a boat again the 12 foot boat would be my choice.
Tim