How Far Are You Willing To Push Your Boat 2025
jhoffman reply :
Just got to thinking about this a little as we see some of these guys run for "broke" lol with Biffle jumping waterfalls and ripping out lower units.
Have you ever went far enough up a tributary that you thought, wow Im surprised I made it or, how am I gonna get back? In doing so did you cash a check?
What kind of a pay day would it take for you to try a waterfall jump?
KevO reply :
I'll only go back in as far as I can run. I'd rather not break anything. I have been in situations on the TN river in winter when getting back to ramp and putting the boat on the trailer is very difficult after the TVA pulled the bottom out of lake. LOL. That's real fun.
Fishing Rhino reply :
There are two things which limit how far to push a boat. The boat's limits, and the drivers limits. In most cases problems occur when the driver exceeds his limits.
Jumping a waterfall. Why? What's the point? To be a daredevil?
Do something like that and you may find your boat insurance does not cover negligence or irresponsible acts. Would you beat your vehicle with a sledgehammer then try to collect on your comprehensive and collision?
Maybe it was my twenty-seven years as a commercial lobsterman that have taught me not to tempt fate on the water, be it the ocean or a pond.
If my boat was an inner tube, I might take a journey down a shallow rocky river in it. I can easily pay for its replacement. Rapids? No thanks.
jhoffman reply :
Biffle attempted to clear two waterfalls in his, "waterfall" being a subjective term I dont believe they were true waterfalls.
I personally cannot afford at this point in my life to chance ripping a lower unit out of my motor to catch a limit. But its been proven multiple times this year by guys that they will try almost anything for a limit. That was my reason for this conversation.
slonezp reply :
Maybe in a jetboat but not a chance in hell in my baby. I've run some mud before but that's it.
On a side note, which somewhat relates to this topic, A fellow Anglers Choice club member lost his life yesterday on KY Lake while competing in the Tournament of Champions. The boater was letting the non boater drive the rig for whatever reason. He didn't follow posted signs and ran into an underwater bridge piling. The boat stopped but the motor didn't. It flew into the boat and killed the boater.
BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!!!
BuckMaxx reply :
I watch alot of the pro's do some silly stuff with their boats. Obviously Biffle calls the motor manf. and he has a new motor the next day. I don't have $3,000 and a week for it to be down. I feel sick whenever I do anything to my boat.
ClackerBuzz reply :
i'm not gonna lie, i beat on rent'a'cars when driving them.
that's all a $60k boat is to a pro.
its a different story when its ur money.
mtaag3 reply :
One is only willing to go as far as their willing to pay. I doubt a penny came out of Biffle's pocket for his lower unit although the potential for damage obviously would affect his fishing and affect his check.
Fishing Rhino reply :
One thought comes to mind.
Take care of your equipment, and it will take care of you.
Berudd reply :
We should not compare what we as amatures do with our boats to what the pros do. If hey don't catch fish they can't earn a living. Obviously, safety should always be in everyone's mind but I would expect them to risk their equipment more than we do. Just like a racer car driver does things in his car we would not do in ours. The car, or boat, is nothing more than a work related tool.
(='_'=) reply :
when i read the note, i wondered... how does somebody attempts to jump a waterfall on a bassboat?? anyone have pics or a video of that??
scrutch reply :
I hope I never find out what my boat's (or my) limits are. These limits are not like speed limits. You never know what they are until you have exceeded them. That usually means a bad day.
BassinB reply :
Ive run some pretty hairy stuff... Took a 18ft skeeter off a spillway one time on pad (getting down was the easy part). Ive run rock bars where I've killed the outboard and trimmed it out just to cruise 30 yds, fire it back up and can it to keep it on plane. Once as a co-angler I rode with a guy who really puckered me up running cane beds and lilly pad flats on the mississippi. Its all in good fun till you break stuff. But like you said, cashing a check can really make a difference on what your willing to do. I've been lucky enough to do that on a few of those excursions, and haven't totaled anything yet. But I'm sure my time is coming...lol
Nitrofreak reply :
I don't push my boat at all......I bought a truck to tow it with, life is so much easier now in my older years !
Fishing Rhino reply :
On 5/14/2013 at 12:51 AM, Nitrofreak said:I don't push my boat at all......I bought a truck to tow it with, life is so much easier now in my older years !
That reminds me of the story about a guy who came to work every day, dragging a chain behind him. The security guard's curiosity got the best of him, so he asked the fellow why he dragged the chain to work every day. The man answered, "Because I can't push it."
Nitrofreak reply :
On 5/14/2013 at 12:55 AM, Fishing Rhino said:That reminds me of the story about a guy who came to work every day, dragging a chain behind him. The security guard's curiosity got the best of him, so he asked the fellow why he dragged the chain to work every day. The man answered, "Because I can't push it."
LMAO !!!!!
That would not be a story about you now would it? LOL !!!
Fishing Rhino reply :
On 5/14/2013 at 1:12 AM, Nitrofreak said:LMAO !!!!!
That would not be a story about you now would it? LOL !!!
I wish it were, but alas, it's something I heard, probably before you were born.
Traveler2586 reply :
I was always taught to respect my tools as the source of my livelihood, and that goes for my vehicles too.
But anyone looking at my lower unit can tell I'm a river rat that likes to fish shallow, in-fact I always have a push-pole with me.
Often I'll let the wind drift me into a pad field where other boaters wont go, it's a good way to fish some fresh water and it's lots of fun when the bite is on.
The down side is I'll have to pole myself back out to the channel, and in a glass boat that can be some hard work at times. In these cases the perfect storm is being deep in a pad field and having to pole back out into a head wind at near low tide; knowing that if I don't make it to the channel in time I may be there for hours while the tide turns.
Usually, the worst I end up with is some mud on the deck.
Fishing Rhino reply :
On 5/14/2013 at 3:07 AM, Traveler2586 said:I was always taught to respect my tools as the source of my livelihood, and that goes for my vehicles too.
But anyone looking at my lower unit can tell I'm a river rat that likes to fish shallow, in-fact I always have a push-pole with me.
Often I'll let the wind drift me into a pad field where other boaters wont go, it's a good way to fish some fresh water and it's lots of fun when the bite is on.
The down side is I'll have to pole myself back out to the channel, and in a glass boat that can be some hard work at times. In these cases the perfect storm is being deep in a pad field and having to pole back out into a head wind at near low tide; knowing that if I don't make it to the channel in time I may be there for hours while the tide turns.
Usually, the worst I end up with is some mud on the deck.
Is this you?
Traveler2586 reply :
On 5/14/2013 at 4:14 AM, Fishing Rhino said:Is this you?
Actually that looks deep..... Well, let me put it this way....... I may not have a torpedo in the bow of my boat, but I have had to clear pea-gravel from my aerator pumps and intake tubes........
slonezp reply :
This is a pretty wild video of a jet boat
http://youtu.be/ybxy8N1Ohag
Traveler2586 reply :
On 5/14/2013 at 8:18 AM, slonezp said:This is a pretty wild video of a jet boat
http://youtu.be/ybxy8N1Ohag
Now that's the right tool for that area..... I want one 
slonezp reply :
They are major coin. http://www.firefish.ca/boats.php There is a 19 footer listed in the forums for 64k
Fishing Rhino reply :
Shelby Stanga could use one of those.
retiredbosn reply :
On 5/14/2013 at 9:38 AM, Traveler2586 said:Now that's the right tool for that area..... I want one
Here ya go Traveler a jetboat built for fishermen, I want one of these http://www.riverpro-boats.com/
Siebert Outdoors reply :
Our local shops charge 100 an hr plus parts. I'm not very willing to push a boat.
Traveler2586 reply :
On 5/15/2013 at 8:38 PM, retiredbosn said:Here ya go Traveler a jetboat built for fishermen, I want one of these http://www.riverpro-boats.com/
I think that could work very nicely on the Potomac River and it's trib's. Years ago someone had a jetboat on the river that, if memory servers, looked like a Tracker; did they make a jetboat at one time??
retiredbosn reply :
Tracker did make a jet boat, but the hull wasn't tough enough. I would like to have one of the River-pros for the New and Greenbrier rivers. They make hulls that are up to the abuse that those rivers would dish out.
Traveler2586 reply :
I could do the upper as well as the middle Potomac; but If I can't afford one, I'd at least like to take the ride that Slonezp posted
Fishing Rhino reply :
Stealthy it ain't.
RyneB reply :
iv taken my tracker into some nasty stuff. Tore up the lower unit, stuck on a sand bar and had to get out and push it about 75 yds, 4 trashed props, run in with a trailer, etc. But my Ranger doesn't get pushed to the limit, other than rough water. My buddy wanted to work a rock bluff wall a few weeks ago. He kept telling me "get within a foot of the rock wall" as 1 footers were smashing into the wall. I would have done it in my Tracker, but no way that was happening in the Ranger. Its a different ball game when fixing the Ranger compared to the Tracker.
basshole8190 reply :
I routinely take my boat into slews in the river that are only a foot deep in most places by trimming my motor up so high that the prop is just under the surface to get to some of my favorite honey holes its all fun till you have 28 gallons of gas an the back of the boat sits about 3-5 inches lower in the water and I have to strip to my boxers to pull it free but its worth it when that pool at the other end holds 6+ lb bass consistently
I also in tournaments have let time slip away from me an had to run to weigh in doing 60 in 30 MPH wind and 2-3 ft white caps gets the adrenalin going that's for sure lol
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