alaska rivers

[ryantowry_81]

as i understand it i am not the only one here that fishes and now that i just bought a boat i thought it would be a good idea to start a thread as to which rivers were deep enough to get up with a prop and which ones seriously require a jet. also if any one knows of any other restrictions on 2 stroke 4 stroke or size limits or even if you want to share the good fishing spots post them up.:seeya:

[TonyM]

I don't know... but I know a guy who does and when he sees this thread, I'm sure he'll chime in. :23:

[back-to-doo]

What type of boat did you get?

How much damage are you willing to let it suffer through before you admit the water is too skinny? (lol!)

I have a older 18' inboard jet w/ a 275HP SBC. Its a 'little big boat'. Fully loaded (with 60+ gal of fuel gear and people) I need a foot of water to drift, BUT I can't get moving in that without sucking up the bottom of the river and moving it about 50' behind my boat :cuss: While it's not the prettiest girl at the dance, she'll still hit over 50mph in deep still water! (lake)

Your best bet is learing to read the river as sometimes a prop isn't as forgiving when you hit something.

[ryantowry_81]

right now i have a 20' smokercraft flatbottom with a 115HP mercury outboard prop but i am looking for a jet for it. right now i dont plan on taking the prop up any rivers that are even questionable but if i get the jet i will want to start exploring more.

my boat is realitively light so i bet with a jet it would go pretty shallow especially with the 115 pushing it.

mine isn't pretty either but hopefully it will be worth the grand i paid for it.

[preed]

with a prop your gonna be fairly restricted. as a matter of fact with that large of a boat with that motor i would say its gonna be hard to run any rivers in the valley. dont get me wrong it can be done, on certain days, when the water levels are up, mostly the run from deshka landing to the mouth of the deshka, possibly run from knik river bridge to ekluta tailrace but other than that it can be pretty thin out there. i know some smaller boats run little su now and again with props but they are small boats generally with small engines that get up on step quick. if you do decide to try it, make sure you have an extra prop with ya. which arent cheap.
on step with a jet you should be able to run over wet rocks... almost...
trim tabs are also going to play a big factor. you say your boat is light which it may be but when you hit the throttle with that long of a boat with that big of a motor with a prop, the back is gonna drop. this is where your trim tabs will help.
youll do a lot less of this...
:banghead:
with a jet.

[preed]

the only place there are motor restrictions that i know of is the kenai

[TonyM]

the only place there are motor restrictions that i know of is the kenai

35 horse on the Kenai right?

[ryantowry_81]

i think it is 4 stroke only too, right?

[back-to-doo]

On the Kenai the outboard regs are: (these have been in effect a few years)

50hp 4 stroke hp limit

35hp 2 stroke hp limit

* It doesn't matter jet or prop horse power is horse power as for as these regs go...

[preed]

35hp 2 stroke hp limit

and the two stroke must be Direct Fuel Injected (DFI)

[ryantowry_81]

well any other rivers you guys like to fish, and for that fact any lakes here in the matsu you like to fish?

[preed]

well im not much of a lake fisherman except for in the winter. good places to try though (with your boat) would be big lake, nancy lake, finger lake
do you have any river running experience? once the water comes up a bit im pretty sure you can make it to deshka without much problem. id definately follow someone who knows the river though if i was you. they will be runnin the channel for the most part.

[ryantowry_81]

i only have deeper river experience but i have done some white water rafting so i do have an idea on how to spot shallow water.

hopefully the wife will let me buy a jet unit for my birthday but if not it would be nice to get the boat out on the lake to get her tuned up and running good. put her in mirror lake where we live( no motors allowed though) and she floated nice and really shallow (maybe 4" at the stern while not moving) so i can only imagine what she would do with a jet on her.

[preed]

ive got an old electric trolling motor you can have. ive had it for many years and never used it.

[ryantowry_81]

ive got an old electric trolling motor you can have. ive had it for many years and never used it.

i will take you up on that! i can come up after work tonight if you are around just give me a call 227-7118

[ryantowry_81]

looks like i got the wife to let me go look at the jet unit i want for my birthday. going to call the guy after work, we will see what condition it is in...