Newbie

[97Aero]

After 3 yrs of putting up and down the Potomac in a 17' canoe for smallies, I've decided to pull the plug on a used G3 1860 CCJ w 65HP Yamaha. Can't wait to pick it up next week and get it out on the river. My first real boat and am super stoked. Sure I have a lot to learn. Seems like a great site!

 

[thudpucker]

you got all the other stuff?
PFD for sure, Flash light, horn, paddles/oars, and fishing stuff.

 

[rolling hillbilly]

got my first riverboat last year, you are going to love it! sure beats paddling

 

[97Aero]

thudpucker » 10 Nov 2013, 22:37[/url]"]you got all the other stuff?
PFD for sure, Flash light, horn, paddles/oars, and fishing stuff.

Yeah I am good to go on all the other stuff. Cannot wait!

 

[fender66]

Once you go jet (on the river)....you'll never go back!

Welcome to the river club. You're going to love it, and the learning curve isn't as big as you might think!

 

[thudpucker]

Fender I had three boats in AK. MY 19' Jet with a Four Cyl English Car engine was a great boat. So USABLE!
I had a Tool kit that went with us for Digging stuff out of the Grid.

Out in the Inlet, we couldn't go real fast because the Jet would lose it's Water when we jumped a wave.
It would go 19 Mph on flat water. But when he lost his grip, he'd drop back to 11 Mph. The Kids loved those kind of rides. Tight turns in those Waves would do the same thing.

Once, in a River way up in the Interior, a Black bear stood up in the Tall Grass to watch me digging and Cussing....
I thought every body in the Boat was yelling at me about my Vocabulary :LOL2:

Moose have walked across the River while we were busy digging Grass out of the Grid.
He almost stepped into the boat.

You NEED a jet for those small/Shallow/Grassy rivers.
Get it, Use it, enjoy the experience and take a kid along.

 

[97Aero]

Whoop!! Picked up my G3 today down in Ky. Boat was in much better shape than I anticipated. **** near brand new, garage kept and low hours. Seller offered a compression check on all cylinders and let me take it out for a spin in the local lake. Gotta say I am impressed. Little tricky getting used to the Jet drive since my only boating experience has been with a canoe. Cant wait to get it on the Potomac this weekend.

 

[S&MFISH]

Great looking rig Aero. In really good shape.

 

[97Aero]

Took it on her maiden voyage today above Dam 4. So much nicer fishing from this than a canoe! Already love this boat.

 

[semojetman]

Thats a good lookin rig.

Once you go jet, youll never go back.

 

[Ranchero50]

Dam 4 is a good spot for a test drive. I usually fish above Williamsport, decent water and not much traffic.

 

[97Aero]

Ranchero50 » 17 Nov 2013, 21:30[/url]"]Dam 4 is a good spot for a test drive. I usually fish above Williamsport, decent water and not much traffic.

Ranchero- I fished above Williamsport with my canoe a lot. Was a little worried about the river levels lately for its first outing. You seem to know that stretch of the River well, how far up would you venture with the water levels right now? All the way to Dam 5?

 

[BigTerp]

Cool, your in my neck of the woods. That boat looks awesome!! I have a '94 50/35 Johnson on my Tracker 1648MV. Runs this part of the river really well. I was out on Saturday waterfowl hunting above Williamsport, but didn't run too terribly far up river. Theres a pretty hairy spot or two about 3/4 of a mile up past the second island, but we made it through there fine. I live in Falling Waters and have river access in my sub-division between the railroad tressels and dam 5. The river was at 1.7 Saturday and I'd say you'd run into trouble trying to get past the tressels with the river that low. I haven't had this motor on my boat for long at all, so haven't tried running that part when the river is that low. I am able to get through the tresseles and all the way to the dam with ease when the river is at 2.4. That's the lowest I've had the chance to try and run that part. Can go from above dam 5 to Hancock with the river at 2.4 as well. You should give that a try sometime if you want to get the hair on your neck standing up!!

 

[97Aero]

BigTerp » 18 Nov 2013, 15:32[/url]"]Cool, your in my neck of the woods. That boat looks awesome!! I have a '94 50/35 Johnson on my Tracker 1648MV. Runs this part of the river really well. I was out on Saturday waterfowl hunting above Williamsport, but didn't run too terribly far up river. Theres a pretty hairy spot or two about 3/4 of a mile up past the second island, but we made it through there fine. I live in Falling Waters and have river access in my sub-division between the railroad tressels and dam 5. The river was at 1.7 Saturday and I'd say you'd run into trouble trying to get past the tressels with the river that low. I haven't had this motor on my boat for long at all, so haven't tried running that part when the river is that low. I am able to get through the tresseles and all the way to the dam with ease when the river is at 2.4. That's the lowest I've had the chance to try and run that part. Can go from above dam 5 to Hancock with the river at 2.4 as well. You should give that a try sometime if you want to get the hair on your neck standing up!!

Big Terp,
Thanks for the compliments and info. Are you referring to the stream gauge at Williamsport or Hancock? Would defiantly like to try to run up to Hancock. I put my canoe in at McCoys ferry this summer but started bumping rocks with my outboard about half mile upstream and gave up. Downstream was fine. Seen some HUGE Muskys in the stretch right above the put in.

 

[Ranchero50]

I don't know, I saw the fish traps above the interstate where out when I went to work today, might be interesting up by the quarry. If you go, run normal up past the water plant, then veer to the WV side. There's a couple chunks of granite that stick out on the MD side below the turn and a bunch of other aluminum painted rocks in that area. Aim for the center of the swirls and you'll feel the hull lifting when you run over the ridges. Pucker factor is pretty high the first couple times.

With that hull I'd recommend just cruising at displacement speed up through there and keep you eyes open for how the chutes work. No drama. At the quarry cut you'll want to stay on the MD side 50' off the bank. You can always idle through the cut if you start at the under canal drainage tunnel and go 45` away from the bank until the nose of your boat passes the rocks on the MD side, then scoot the arse end around so you are 45` towards the bank. The cut is about 5' deep and 8' wide but there's rock above and below it so you should zig zag through it. Then it's another couple easy miles to the bottom of the islands where it can get pretty dramatic.

There's a ton of different bottom types to fish through there. The place has character.

 

[BigTerp]

97Aero » Today, 6:59 pm[/url]"]

BigTerp » 18 Nov 2013, 15:32[/url]"]Cool, your in my neck of the woods. That boat looks awesome!! I have a '94 50/35 Johnson on my Tracker 1648MV. Runs this part of the river really well. I was out on Saturday waterfowl hunting above Williamsport, but didn't run too terribly far up river. Theres a pretty hairy spot or two about 3/4 of a mile up past the second island, but we made it through there fine. I live in Falling Waters and have river access in my sub-division between the railroad tressels and dam 5. The river was at 1.7 Saturday and I'd say you'd run into trouble trying to get past the tressels with the river that low. I haven't had this motor on my boat for long at all, so haven't tried running that part when the river is that low. I am able to get through the tresseles and all the way to the dam with ease when the river is at 2.4. That's the lowest I've had the chance to try and run that part. Can go from above dam 5 to Hancock with the river at 2.4 as well. You should give that a try sometime if you want to get the hair on your neck standing up!!

Big Terp,
Thanks for the compliments and info. Are you referring to the stream gauge at Williamsport or Hancock? Would defiantly like to try to run up to Hancock. I put my canoe in at McCoys ferry this summer but started bumping rocks with my outboard about half mile upstream and gave up. Downstream was fine. Seen some HUGE Muskys in the stretch right above the put in.

Those levels are at Williamsport. I'm typically up around the dam fishing and hunting so I usually go by the Williamsport gauge. The day we ran from Dam 5 to Hancock it was 2.4 at Williamsport and 3.45 at Hancock. Ranchero knows what he's talking about. He's run the part of the river from Williamsport up MUCH more then me.

And yeah, above dam 5 it doesn't get hairy until you get past mccoys ferry. And then it gets hairy pretty quickly.

 

[BigTerp]

Ranchero50 » November 18th, 2013, 10:15 pm[/url]"]I don't know, I saw the fish traps above the interstate where out when I went to work today, might be interesting up by the quarry. If you go, run normal up past the water plant, then veer to the WV side. There's a couple chunks of granite that stick out on the MD side below the turn and a bunch of other aluminum painted rocks in that area. Aim for the center of the swirls and you'll feel the hull lifting when you run over the ridges. Pucker factor is pretty high the first couple times.

With that hull I'd recommend just cruising at displacement speed up through there and keep you eyes open for how the chutes work. No drama. At the quarry cut you'll want to stay on the MD side 50' off the bank. You can always idle through the cut if you start at the under canal drainage tunnel and go 45` away from the bank until the nose of your boat passes the rocks on the MD side, then scoot the arse end around so you are 45` towards the bank. The cut is about 5' deep and 8' wide but there's rock above and below it so you should zig zag through it. Then it's another couple easy miles to the bottom of the islands where it can get pretty dramatic.

There's a ton of different bottom types to fish through there. The place has character.

Took a ride up that way on Saturday after we hunted. The wind created ALOT of chop on the water making it difficult to read my lines through the rocks. Glanced one on the way up past the turn. No big deal though. Came back down through fine. Was cruising back down river on the MD side up past the water plant and out of no where smacked something at WOT. Motor is no worse for wear, but it sure scared the crap out of me. Still not sure what I hit, but didn't see anything before or after I hit. Must have been one of those pices of granite you were talking about? Felt more like a sunken log though. Need to remember to stay to the WV side once I get up past the water plant.

What are you referring to when you say the quarry cut?