I have a 16' jon that I really like. It handles the stiff I get on the
Colorado River near Yuma just fine. When I have to cut over big boat wakes
at speed I get wet fromt he spray coming over the bow, but it does ok. I
know its not int he same class since I am running a console steering 50 HP
on it, but I think its fair to compare some features. At sub plaining
sppeds it is more stable than most V-hulls, but it does not cut through the
waves. I slams into them. I suggest watching well out in front of you and
quartering any waves or wakes at slowere speeds then speed back up as you
hit smoother water. I do not suggest going fishing your first time out. In
fact when I got my jon ready to go the first time I didn't take a single
fishing rod. I loaded up all the gear I moght take fishing except rods (so
I wouldn't be tempted) and I went out to Mittry Lake and ran it as hard as I
could. I tried moving my tackel bag around and moving my icechest around to
see how it rode at different speeds. I tried the trolling motor, and it
broke. I tried running WOT. (wide open throttle) I tried cutting boat
wakes at different angles and at different speeds. I tried setting the trim
stop pin at different angles.

I quickly discovered I needed a Whale Tail on the outboard as it porpoised
pretty bad at speed. Gary over at Davidson Marine (gratuitous plug for one
of my sponsors here) answered the phone when I called in that saturday and
he agreed to wait for me to get there a little after hours and let me pick
one up. I bolted it on and was back out on the water to try the boat some
more. Still no fishing rods in the boat.

It performed very well. I found that I would get a very slightly bouncy rod
and 30MPH witht he engine set ont he first trim stop pine hole. With it at
the physical limit I got a rock solid ride, but it would only do 25 mph.

The next time I took it out I went fishing.

I did discover on more quirk with it on another outing. I was six or seven
miles up river coming back down from scouting some of the back water lakes.
I was running flat out hugging the Arizona shore to dodge the sandbars in
the middle and it was windy. I caught a sudden quartering gust from the
right and the bow just picked up a couple feet in the air and slung over
towards the bank. I just saw trees in front of me. Fortunately I knew how
to turna boat quickly. I cut the throttle, Swung the wheel hard and just
before the boat dropped all the way off plane I nailed the throttle to the
stop. It did not respond as quickly as a V hull, and certainly not as
quickly as my Baker Tunnel Hull would (that tunnel drives like its on
rails), but instead of hitting the bank at speed I got a few whip marks from
over hanging tulies as I brought it around. That told me I needed to
experiment with it a little more.

I caught a section of river with no sandbars and wide banks to play. I
spent a half an hour doing speed runs into the wind at different speeds. I
found that it did not consistantly lift up and swing over from all
quartering gusts, but oftne enough to be dangerous if running hard along a
bank. I also discovered that I could cut throttle a moment sooner as the
bow started to picke up and counter steer slightly to prevent the swing
from happening at all. I didn't even have to cut the throttle as far if I
did it right. I ran it that way all day saturday in the wind for the ABA
Aluminum Boat tournament. I never had a problem, and we had gusty winds all
day.

Obviously your jon will respond much differently to conditions than mine
does due to differences in size, power, and load, but you can figure out how
to get the most out of your boat if you analize what is happening and take
some time to practice your skills before you need them.

You know, after this post I think I'll add a Jon Boats Only board to my
forums. I think jons are an under rated craft by most fishermen.

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"Chris" wrote in message
...
I'm planning on buying a new Lowe L1448M jon boat. Will this boat be
stable enough in rivers and small lakes? Are there any differences
between the flat noses and the v noses of the boat? I'm planning on
getting an 8HP motor, do you think that will be enough power for 2
people. I'm not looking for speed, just enough to get around.


Thanks in advance,
Chris