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?
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.
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 
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,
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 
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
John Boats -two in our club have big Johns with large outboard jets for river smallmouth fishing.
Thanks for the welcome folks. 
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!!!
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
Here’s my little one man 8’ Western Jon ( Pram ) - built in 1989 rigged with a 32lb. Minnkota.
If there’s no vehicle access to the water, just drop the wheels and she doubles as a gear hauling wheel barrel.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y210/anglingdave/WesternSideFrontRigged.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y210/anglingdave/WesternSternRigged.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y210/anglingdave/WesternWheelsUpBow.jpg
Pullin’ a wheelie.( Make’s wash downs and car top loading a breeze. )
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y210/anglingdave/WesternStanding3D.jpg
Best, Dave
That is cool, who makes it, it is perfect for some of lakes around here.
Hi Ray,
The Jon ( a.k.a Jac Boat or Pram ) is a Western Boat ( Shasta Aluminum out of Redding, CA ) and is no longer in production, but there are others being made to the same basic specs.
Klamath Boats has one ( http://www.klamathboats.com/jac.html) and I wouldn’t be surprised if Lowe or any of the other aluminum boat builders didn’t have something very similar.
The transom wheels are aftermarket additions, they are Eide 1800-10" full pneumatic’s w/ aluminum hubs.See: http://www.eideboatloader.com/wheels.html
Best, Dave
Thanks man
Joe I sure know what you mean by not being able to wade well anymore.
I bought a Livingston double hulled boat. It is 5 feet wide 10 feet long and in the water is stable as a rock. It is akin to fishing from the dock. Its major drawback is that it weighs a ton. I can lift it into the back of my pickup but its not a fun thing. Two people can easily fling it around. I put wheels on top of the transom to enable me to wheel it around a bit and that helped a lot.
I also have a fishcat pontoon boat that I just love.
For flyrod holders the scottie fly rod holders work well. The best most versitile holder I have found is a down east rod holder, sold by Cabellas. it will clamp to a gunnel or even a round pipe such as You find on a pontoon boat.
I replaced the bolt down ends of the wire leads of my Min Kota 55lb thrust with alligator clips to make attaching and unattaching them mondo easy.
When they invent an aluminum based battery instead of heavy heavy lead acid batteries I will re-mortgage the house to buy one. :lol: :lol: :lol:
I find that 55lb thrust is a little too much but am too cheap to buy another smaller motor for now.
I had aluminum two piece oars but dropped one overboard and it promptly sank. I did manage to hook it out. I filled their hollow centers with construction foam so now they float high and dry.
I glued sound deadening material to the deck. A swivel seat base is a help also
If you go out alone in the boat a cheap motor kill is a lanyard attached to one of the battery leads the other end clipped to your belt will add to your safety.
I love to row and can happily go all day but sometime if I want to just fish I have one of the servants* do the rowing.
- Fishing buddy
Ps. I have Three of Brian Chan’s books ( one is even signed by Brian) He advocates using two ancors one on each end of the boat. It really is a help when the wind keeps trying to swing the boat around .
For some reason the quote function of the bulletin board didn’t work for me this time. So, I replied instead.
Gnu Bee,
I already have the down easter rod holder, but I have to add some foam to the grippers because they don’t close enough to grip m fly rods. I’m going to upgrade the trolling motor soon (4-5 weeks) to a 40 pounder. I’m curious about the sound deadening material you used. Was it spray on or glue on? Is it easy to clean? I’m also in need of a remote anchor system. Any thoughts?
Later my friend,
I love my little 10 footer! Loading and unloading is a breeze. The swivel seat makes a HUGE difference in comfort.
I have been thinking about adding some type of sound dampening foam to the floor because this thing is LOUD when waves hit it. Probably sounds like a gong under water. Maybe some of that low-impact anti-fatgue flooring material that comes in the interlocking squares???
I got a one year old maxxum 40 lb thrust trolling motor off craigslist for $180 and can’t wait to try it out. It should have plenty of zip, plus the maxxums are supposed to increase battery life up to 500%. We shall see…
(I have to wait for a rotator cuff tendon to heal )
Greenfish,
Is that a pulley I see on the bow, rigged for an anchor rope? I need to figure something like that for my boat. How well does your’s work?
Hey LoTech,
You’re asking us if jonboat posts should be allowed in FAOL’s Paddling category?
Are you kidding? Let me put it this way: If somebody was fly fishing off an aircraft carrier and wanted to talk about what that’s like, I would read his or her comments and relish the chance to reply. The type of watercraft a person uses means nothing to me. I have my own preferences, but that’s just me.
And if that aircraft carrier angler can cook pizza/lasagna that tastes as good as yours, I might even try to re-enlist in the Navy…at age 60.
A buddy of mine here in Kansas fishes from his jonboat all the time, in lakes and ponds. He and his wife do quite well. They’d both do even better, of course, if they would ever take my advice and switch to fly rodding exclusively. They’re just not ready for that jump yet.
Joe
“Better small than not at all.”