Jon Boat on the Upper Potomac River

I am wondering if there is any special motor gear I need to fish from Point of Rocks in Maryland. I was looking at getting the Mac's river runner addon for my 9.9hp. Also, should I be worried about a riveted boat up in that kind of water with rocks and all? I am considering just using a trolling motor, something i can control the depth of, either from the bow or transom. thanks!

I run the Potomac a little further up river than you in Washington County. The river up this way is shallow and rocky. Probably pretty similar to down your way. A riveted jon boat is no issue. If you bust a rivet it's as simple as just replacing it. An all welded jon would probably be a bit more resilent, but not enough for me to worry about it. I've used homemade prop guards on motors up to 9.9 hp and they work well on this part of the river. The Macs river runner is nice and should work well. The nice thing about a prop guard is you can let the motor "bounce" off the rocks in shallower areas without having to throttle all the way down.

Now with all that being said, I'm currently working on adding a 50/35 Johnson jet to my boat. Jets work MUCH better in this part of the potomac. But a prop can certainly get you to where you need to go, most of the time.

BigTerp thanks very much for the info. At this point, I do primarily the reservoir with the jon boat so I would probably not be in for a jet just yet but I am certainly on the lookout. It is very helpful to hear your experience with the motor guards. I really look forward to catching some smallies, too and expanding my fishing domain. I hope you catch a ton.

When yall refer to letting the lower "bounce" off the rocks... doesn't that do a lot of damage to the transom also? Do any of yall engines have a break on it where the engine will pop out of that water rather than pulling off your whole transom?

That's a good point Laudy. I will most definitely tie down the motor so it don't work it's way loose. I imagine going full bore is not advised... just slowly "walking" it over obstructions is what I'm thinking.

Yah Krypt it was more just a curiosity question. I run the rivers alot and I have always worried that I would hit a submerged log or something at full speed and that it would just rip the transom off the boat. I didn't know if others have a break away or something that would just cause the motor/prop to jump up rather than sticking firm and maybe ripping the transom right off the boat.

I'm not sure how larger outboards would work, but I ran a 5hp Johnson all this past fall and winter while duck/goose hunting. The 5hp I have has a trim tab that the motor rests against to keep it trimmed out to whatever setting it is on. But it doesn't keep the motor locked from trimming further out, if that makes sense. So basically if I get some weeds tangled in the prop I can just tilt the lower unit out of the water without having to "unlock" anything. That's why I can also go full throttle through riffles and just let the motor bounce up when it hits a rock. Now full throttle in a 1648 with a 5hp certainly wouldn't be the same as with a 15hp. With a larger motor you'd obviously want to throttle down.

Makes sense! Thanks. I run a 25hp merc and it stays locked down most of the time. Though it does have a feature to where you can unlock it and lift it up a little and it sits at an angle. It made for running in the shallower water like that. They just say not to throw it in reverse or the engine will come flying out of the water since its not locked down.

NLaudy said:

Makes sense! Thanks. I run a 25hp merc and it stays locked down most of the time. Though it does have a feature to where you can unlock it and lift it up a little and it sits at an angle. It made for running in the shallower water like that. They just say not to throw it in reverse or the engine will come flying out of the water since its not locked down.

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You got it. You could probably unlock it to allow yourself to run through shallower areas by letting the motor bounce off of the rocks. Now, my experience is coming from a 5hp on a 1648. A 25hp is heavier and allowing it to bounce off of rocks may damage it easier than my feather light 2-stroke 5hp.