Newbie here, and needing advice on which is the best route to go with. My main interest in an airboat would be for fishing. We've got this river near me in the land of ice and snow, that through extensive conservation has made it back from being nearly dead.
Mother nature helped this local river a few years back by having some flooding. The shear volume of water that was forced down it, pushed all the gunk and pollution out. Now there's been a great effort to keep it clean and well stocked with game fish.
The only problem is that when at a normal non flood or non drought state, some parts of this river can be as shallow as 1 foot deep. Yet there's some honey holes back in areas that are 8-12' deep. Perfect area's for our pike, sauger, walleyes and even muskies to hang out in. In this highly urban enviroment, the only way to these sweet spots would be by boat. And a boat with a very shallow draft at that. Some locals have tried getting in there with jon boats, but have succeeded only to destroy thier trolling motors.
Before finding this site, I had googled airboat plans, and came across some nice ones for what you all call a "mini". That'd be perfect for my area and my tow vehicle. ('88 chevy s10 p/u with 2.8l engine). Not too big, not too small. I just have some concerns about wieght issues. I'm a big guy, 6'6" tall, 250lbs. Add gear, motor, gas, fish finder, tackle boxes, rods, and we can't forget the BEER! I wouldn't want the airboat to become an airsub as I launched it! So I could use some guidence as to which type of boat I should be looking at. I'd really like to stay away from using a car engine if at all possible, but if it's not, well it's not.
Thanks
Jax
Mother nature helped this local river a few years back by having some flooding. The shear volume of water that was forced down it, pushed all the gunk and pollution out. Now there's been a great effort to keep it clean and well stocked with game fish.
The only problem is that when at a normal non flood or non drought state, some parts of this river can be as shallow as 1 foot deep. Yet there's some honey holes back in areas that are 8-12' deep. Perfect area's for our pike, sauger, walleyes and even muskies to hang out in. In this highly urban enviroment, the only way to these sweet spots would be by boat. And a boat with a very shallow draft at that. Some locals have tried getting in there with jon boats, but have succeeded only to destroy thier trolling motors.
Before finding this site, I had googled airboat plans, and came across some nice ones for what you all call a "mini". That'd be perfect for my area and my tow vehicle. ('88 chevy s10 p/u with 2.8l engine). Not too big, not too small. I just have some concerns about wieght issues. I'm a big guy, 6'6" tall, 250lbs. Add gear, motor, gas, fish finder, tackle boxes, rods, and we can't forget the BEER! I wouldn't want the airboat to become an airsub as I launched it! So I could use some guidence as to which type of boat I should be looking at. I'd really like to stay away from using a car engine if at all possible, but if it's not, well it's not.
Thanks
Jax
