Jet advice

[bobberboy]

I have a question for jet boaters. I'm a lake fisherman and love to get into the weeds but with the way the milfoil is spreading it's becoming a barrier getting to those places. I have a 1448 with 25 Merc 4-stroke. I also have a MK 50# bow mounted tm. I don't use the tm much because it's such a pain to deploy (a problem for a different thread) and the weedless prop isn't. Although I primarily cast I also troll sometimes using the outboard.

I'm wondering whether a jet would work through thick milfoil a few inches below the water. Do weeds tend to plug up the intake or will the motor take them in and spit them out again? I get the advantages of a jet motor for running rivers. Are there advantages/disadvantages I should understand about using one on lakes?

Thanks in advance.

 

[71Fish]

Think of the jet foot as a large vacuum cleaner, sooner or later it will clog. Second, jets do not offer the slow speed control of a prop.

 

[overboard]

The only advantage of a jet is being able to run shallow water. Other than that, I would not want one!

 

[PSG-1]

In debris laden water, jets tend to clog and foul quickly, leading to overheating the cooling system of the engine...especially so with inboard jets. At a minimum, the impeller is going to be constantly fouled. With an outboard, unfouling the prop is as simple as shifting to reverse and giving it some throttle for a second or two. Since the jet's impeller only spins one way, it's harder to unfoul one if it really gets clogged with heavy weeds.

 

[Ranchero50]

It really depends on the jet and conditions. When my local spot grows weeds tall enough to look like a pasture instead of a river I'll use the toller to get to a open spot. If I can get on plane my hull goes fast enough that it doesn't suck up the weeds. O/B jet guys won't make it 20 feet and prop guys might get 100 feet before the weeds wrap around the foot so solid the prop cavitates.

Reference the troller, file some teeth in the leading edge of the prop and for deploying it, spray some pam or cooking oil on the slide and latch to make the darned thing move easier.

 

[LarryMc]

overboard » 21 Sep 2014, 14:59[/url]"]The only advantage of a jet is being able to run shallow water. Other than that, I would not want one!

I agree. If there is any advantage to running an outboard jet in a lake I don't know of one. You sure don't want one in a weed filled lake.

 

[RiverBottomOutdoors]

Vegetation and jets don't play well together.