Range?

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JaxJonBoat

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I am taking my 8yr old daughter out fishing for the first time Saturday, there are a lot of twisty and windy creeks and we may have to go a distance to get where I want to end up. Wondering how far 6 gals of fuel would take us with our setup. I have a johnson 9.9 in a good state of tune(runs 15.2mph WOT) and a fairly light 14' jon boat. I will be tracking out distance on a hand held GPS. thinking 4 or 5 miles per gal? is that unreasonable?
 
A buddy and I pushed the limit one day on Mille Lacs Lake in central Minnesota with his 14' Lund with a 9.9 Evinrude. We had to put on close to 40 miles that day. We maybe had a 1/4 gallon of gas left when we made it back to the dock. It was a dead flat day 90 degrees with high humidity and a higher sun. We ran across the whole lake (17 miles one way). Did some trolling too and stopped to fish some mid lake structure. Of course we were about 20 years old at the time. If I did it today I would bring a couple of gallons of spare gas.
 
I'm certainly no expert on this subject, but I can relate my own experiences. I have a 14 ft with a 25hp Evinrude and 6 gallon tank. I haven't really kept track of mileage or running time while on the water, but I can say that I am able to run that boat for an entire day of fishing, moving substantial distances throughout the day, and I have never come close to running out of fuel. It couldn't hurt to carry a little extra gas just in case, but you should got a pretty good feel for how much gas you're using after you've been out on the water for a few hours. I would think that, unless you are traveling tremendous distance, you should make it on 6 gals with fuel to spare.
 
thanks for the input, i am thinking 20-25 miles round trip MAX for what we will be doing. I will track distance and measure how much fuel is left afterward and post the results. Cant wait to see the look on my little girls face when she hooks that first big red fish or trout hehe.
 
There is a formula for figuring this out but basically a 9.9/10 hp motor will use 1 gallon of fuel per hour at WOT.
 
I would worry about the range of the 8 year old on her first fishing trip :) If it's her first trip she may tire before you run out of gas. My little guy is only 2. I can't wait to get him out there!

I hope you kill 'em and she's hooked on it!

Post a picture of the trip if it's successful!
 
Will do and i was thinking the same thing, been coaching her the last several days on what to expect. My little man just turned 3 last saturday, so i think i may have another yr or so before i can take him out alone, cant wait. but for now she is going to be my little fishing partner, and if she likes it, she will be from here on out.
 
I will not comment in the range. But if i may offer just bit of advice for taking a younger child out fishing. If you buy a small amount of live bait shrimp/minnows and let them play with it they will spend quite a bit of time just playing with the bait. which will increase the amount of time you can stay on the water. And everyone including you will have a much more enjoyable day on the water.

My boy is 6 and has been fishing with me for 2 year and so far has fished for as much a 6 hours in a single trip then did another 6 hours the very next day and not complained a bit. But he had something on the boat other than just fishing to occupy his time.
 
Thats a great idea, I was planning on getting some live shrimp too, i can tell her its her job to take care of them hehe. I was planning on breaking up the day by exploring some, we have some pretty islands and sand bars here in north east florida along the intercoastal. she is really into nature and wildlife right now which is cool so hopefully she will find some sand dollars and hermit crabs to take home along with plenty of fish haha.
 
lckstckn2smknbrls said:
There is a formula for figuring this out but basically a 9.9/10 hp motor will use 1 gallon of fuel per hour at WOT.


This was about right for one of my setups. It's always a good idea to bring a spare can if you even think you might need it.. If you do find fill up on the water it will be costly, and if you don't your arms will be killing you after that paddle.
 
I measure what was left in my tank from last weekends trip and I had 4.5 gals left, started with 5 and the gps only said i went a little over 6 miles, some of that was trolling but not very far so that seems about right. Thats good to know, didnt think it would get that good of mpg. guess i am used to the big boy motors that just devour gas, well the ones i used to have did anyways.
 
lckstckn2smknbrls said:
There is a formula for figuring this out but basically a 9.9/10 hp motor will use 1 gallon of fuel per hour at WOT.


I think a lot of it depends on the boat and how much gear is in it but this is a good estimate. I used to have a 14ft wide v-hull with a 9.9 Johnson. With just me and my gear, about 6 rods, a tackle box, 2 anchors, 1 battery, and a small cooler, I could go 1 hour WOT on a gallon of gas. It would decrease just a little if my 15 year old son was in the boat. Current will also play a big facter into it.
 
snakes14009 said:
I will not comment in the range. But if i may offer just bit of advice for taking a younger child out fishing. If you buy a small amount of live bait shrimp/minnows and let them play with it they will spend quite a bit of time just playing with the bait. which will increase the amount of time you can stay on the water. And everyone including you will have a much more enjoyable day on the water.
I had a 16 year old kid playing with the fish in the livewell a few weekends ago. He spent probably an hour messing around with the crappie - while we were in a tournament. Oh well, we still finished 2nd, and he didn't get bored.
 
Running full throttle I use about 1 gallon every hour and about 2/3 gallon running at 3/4 throttle. My best full mileage on my 76 9.9 w/15hp carb seems to be running between 1/2 to 3/4 throttle pushing my 16' jon. Best bet is for the first couple of runs keep a small extra portable gas can for safety. (you'd hate to run out of fuel with a child onboard). I always carry a small extra can of gas, helped more then one unlucky boater that ran out of gas. With my girls I would stop and let them take pictures, always helped keep the longer trips more interesting for the twins.
 
Well got everything packed and ready, will be at the ramp by 630. Daughter was so excited she went to bed at 7!!! lol went and bought a first aid kit which earned me brownie points with the wife and got my girl her first "real" fishing pole from academy on the way home from work. 7' medium action with spinner reel, and of coarse its pink, kinda want to put a lanyard on it so she does drop it if a large red or trout hit, not sure on that tho.
 
Everything went very well, boat ran perfect even got up to 16.5mph which is odd because the fastest i could get to last week with just me was 15.2mph, wonder if the non ethanol fuel makes that much difference? daughter was a super trouper, lasted 6hrs until the wind picked up and was time to go anyways. Not much luck out there, too may dolphin. I most definitely have a new fishing buddy :)

Millaonherfirstfishingtrip.jpg


Dolphinsequalnofish.jpg


nicecovetofish.jpg
 
the GPS says 19.3 miles, some of that is with the trolling motor tho. Looks like it used a little over a gallon. This will take some getting used to, but haha i think i can get used to it wow.
 

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