tunnel hull or modified v? Anyone own a riverpro?

[retiredbosn]

I have posted a few questions here, you may remember that I'm looking to switch boats. I have a glass boat now, an old hydra sports, 110 Johnson, anyway I am going back to a tin boat. I enjoy fishing the river more than lake fishing and need an aluminum boat. The river I fish has numerous ripple runs, and I need a shallow draft boat, and one that can take a couple of knocks.

Anyway I'm looking at boats and will be getting one as soon as I save the cash. In short in your opinion should I go with a tunnel hull, or regular modified v? Then which engine a jet or prop? Should I go with a tunnel and a prop, or a tunnel and a jet, or a regular hull and a jet? Thanks

[Catt]

Tunnel hull with a regular modified v  

[Way2slow]

Between the two, and was going to be fishing rivers where you have underwater mines and shallow water to worry about, I would go with a tunnel. What ever you do though, don't put a jet drive on a tunnel. You will have almost no slow speed manuverablity.

Now, to take full benifit of a tunnel, you MUST install a hydaulic jack plate. Some tunnels can run on plane in 3 - 4" of water with the motor jacked up.

About the only time a jet drive is better than a prop drive is when you're going to be hauling butt up a river with laydowns you are going to be have to slide over. If you work your trim right, the tunnel with a jack plate will do that just as well also. You also have to be care full doing this with a jet or you can hang it. The tunnel with a prop drive will acutually run in shallower water than a jet. If you get a jet in much less than a foot of water they start sucking sand and crap up off the bottom and through the screw. This causes significant wear to the screw and housing.

Now, if you're "ripple runs" are from rocks near the surface, a jet might win out over a tunnel/prop drive.   However, the jet drive has so many other negatives, I think I would just have to be careful about picking my path and still run a prop.

[TommyBass]

I have a G3 1860CCT tunnel hull with a 90hp 4 stroke prop and absolutely love it. It does have a mod V front on it. You do sacrifice some of the ride and speed you get with a fiberglass (I transfered to that from an 18 ft fiberglass Triton), but it was worth it to me to have a boat that runs skinny and I can "beat up" more without wincing. Hit trees or whatever and don't have to worry about knicks and scratches.. you can always repaint an aluminum easily. My friend has a regular modified v jon with a jet and he dosn't really care for it. Jets are inefficient and you waste alot more gas. He also has issues with it plugging this time of year with dead leaves etc. It is a good investment as Way2Slow stated if your going to go over a bunch of logs, but as an all around aspect jets just fall behind in most categories. I have a manual jackplate and have considered going to a hydraulic if I can find just cause.

[DEISWERTH]

I have a jet on a mod V and love it! No tunnel. My motor only sticks down about 1 1/2" below the bottom of my boat and it's at an angle. The "foot" closest to the boat is almost flush with the bottom. I fish rivers 95% of the time. I think I can go in shallower water than anyone with a prop even with a tunnel. I'm not into really going into that shallow of water, but I have, and I have hit many times and have not really done anything to my motor or boat other than some dents. You get into that shallow of water and hit with a prop your bending it and your stuck. I'll agree with about everything else--the turning isn't that great, but you just adjust for it. You don't really have a nuetral, you are always moving forward. They do use more gas, but with river fishing, I drift alot or do short runs from here to there. I do suck up some leaves this time of year, but not that much, it usually happens when I'm going slow and it's not that big of a deal to get them off the foot. Just my 2 cents...

[sodaksker]

Great information guys.  Thanks for posting the question and replies.

sodak

[retiredbosn]

I'm a little confused.  I'll be running a shallow river 90% of the time, with some small lakes thrown in.  The ripples I need to pass through will actually get low enough in a drought situation that I have to get out of the boat and walk it through.  I found the riverpro boats to be a realistic option but can't drop 25k on a boat that I know will get banged up.  The old tracker pro team jets seem to be another option.  Anyway I'm getting off track.  With a tunnel hull and a prop can you actually raise the engine enough that the skeg will not be the first thing to hit the rocks?  Seems that to raise the engine enough that the hull will hit first, the water intake for engine cooling will be out of the water.  Or does the tunnel divert enough water to the intake that this is possible?  Lowe is coming out with a tunnel hull on their roughneck series, you can get it either with a jet or a prop, hydraulic plates are an option.  Please keep this thread going and provide your opinion.

[TommyBass]

I have not had much experience with what depth my tunnel will run in yet... the tunnel does divert water to the center well... and I have the optional "toons" off of the back that add stability in turns and keep your stern up on take off.  I also have a 4 stroke, which adds a little weight, so think about that in your purhcase as well.   I would think with a hydraulic jackplate you could take off and stay on plane in some skinny water, but I don't have one.  I can still run alot skinnier than a normal fiberglass boat though with my manual adjustment.    

[DawsonH]

I am interested in this topic also, I will be looking at buying a new boat in the next six months and I fish mostly rivers. As the one before me stated, when the river is low I have to get out and push, and every once and a while I have to jump logs that are just under the surface. I was originally considering a jet drive, but was suspicious of running it around pea gravel and sand. Looks like I got the part about running it around sand and gravel answered, but I want to see more peoples opinions and information on this topic.

I also want something that I can load up with camping gear for 2-3 people/ 5 days or more. Would a 18'6 or a 20 be big enough to hold this much stuff plus fishing gear and still be able to run shallow water? I was thinking something along the lines of an 18'6 or a 20' center console with a tunnel, hydraulic jack plate, and around a 60 hp prop. Would this work? I don't need to go break neck fast, these rivers around here twist and turn a lot.  

[mikesjet]

I have a mod v without a tunnel and can run 6in of water.  Haven't done it much but I know I can.  One thing that most true riverboats take into acount is how they float at drift.  You want the boat to sit almost level so the motor isn't the lowest point.  This is why most custom river boats have their fuel tanks and batteries under the front deck to compensate for the motor.  If you do get a mod v with a tunnel do some research with Outboard Jet, they make the jet part of the outboards, and you will see that there are very specific dimensions and charateristics that will make or break jet operation.  

[Catt]

Pictured below is an Alweld 1652 V-Nose Modified V bottom with a tunnel

Here are the specs:

Length: 16'

Bottom: 52

Beam: 72

Sides: 22

Thickness: .100

Weight: 400 lbs

Motor: Tohatsu 40 hp 2-stroke, 3 cylinders, 3 carburetors, 11 x 15 stainless steel prop

6 Jack up/Set Back Plate held the cavitations plate 1.25 above the bottom of the boat

This boat is capable of running in 10-12 of water if I was already on plane but it took around 14 to get it on plane.

I also fished Toledo in this boat

[Way2slow]

NO, you CAN NOT raise the motor enough that the skeg is level with or above the bottom of the boat and still keep running.   If you have a hydraulic jack plate you can raise the motor up until there is only a few inches of the skegg below the hull while on plane.  However, if you come off plane, you are still going to need 8 - 10" to get going again.  Different hulls have different spec's so pick your hull carefully.  If you are going to be shooting mild rapids with rocks and laydowns, you are going to want a heavy bottom boat and you will probably want to go to a jet drive then.   Running a prop drive over the occassional rock or laydown you just time it right so you tilt the motor up some just as you start over it and bring it back down when clear.  If there are lots of them close together, that's tough to do because the current kills you speed too fast.   Also, if you're running a new boat/motor, and have never done this, you're nerves may not let you so you're back to looking at a jet drive.  

I just absolutely hate jets when trying to manuver in a small area, and that hatered compounds ten fold when trying to work it in a river current.    I've had one and as long as you were hauling a** up the river it was great, but don't come off plane and try to work it around into the mouth of a creek with good water flow.  Finally sold the jet drive unit and put the powerheads on a prop drive LU.  

[Catt]

Almost ever boat around here is setup with the plate that runs horizontally above the prop at or above the bottom of the hull with absolutely no effect on performance.

[retiredbosn]

The more research I do, the more I'm drawn to an inboard jet drive.  From the videos I've seen, it seems that the drawbacks of lack of handling is pretty much solved.  Also riverpro uses .190 pre-stressed aluminum for their hulls, with an option of an additional 1/4" plate in the center.  

As far as boat handling, I have the experience to run a boat through class four rapids, against the current.  My body just can't take the pounding anymore.  I will be using the boat's engine more to get back to the launch, I will float down, and can pick my path back, I'll get a good look at the ripples as I float through the first time.  But the ability to run in 3-4 inches is a must.  

Does anyone have experience with an inboard jet drive?

[DawsonH]

Hey Catt, a little off topic, but a question about the sabine river: What does it look like below tbend as far as depth, riffles, and such?

[retiredbosn]

Catt,

Do you run a lot of rivers?  Check out this site for me and let me know what you think of this boat for a river runner. http://riverpro-boats.com/content/view/12/26/

[Way2slow]

If that's the kind of rivers you run, rocks and rapids, kind of a no brainer, I would buy the jet boat in a heart beat.  Hell, I would buy one just to go and raise hell on the river, to heck with fishing, but you gotta have the fishing to have an excuse to go run the river.   Just make sure you put about an 85 lb thrust TM on it, something that will still give you some pulling power while working currents.   You talk about drifting down.  In the swift water that I want to fish, I turn the boat and let it drift backwards, using the TM to help hold it against the current.  That way it gives you time to fish before you are 100 ft from where your lure hit the water.

 In my neck of the woods, when you talking rivers, you're normally talking trees across the river, tree tops sticking all out of the water, limbs, sandbars, trash and all that kind of stuff.

[retiredbosn]

That is the type of river I run, shallow and rocky.  Areas are fast some are not, I love smallie fishing in that river, where I grew up, in fact I didn't use my glass boat more than 10 times all last year.