11-12-24 REELLIFE digital - Flipbook - Page 24
That left 16-feet as the
sweet spot.
When we arrived in
Spokane, we went to
check out The Elephant
Boys’ selection of boats.
They have an excellent
assortment of boats on the
premises to compare. The
18-foot Roughneck would
be the perfect boat for me
– ten years ago. Keeping
in mind that a 66-yearold with his seventies
loaming ever closer needed
something lighter, my eyes
fell on the Lowe lineup of
jon boats.
My list grew to around
forty potential boats. I then
paired my list with twenty
or so of the best boats
for my needs. A planned
trip to Spokane allowed
JoAnn and I to check out
a few boats along the
way, including test drives.
I quickly figured out that
14 feet would be too small,
and 18 feet, while a great
size for 3-4 anglers, would
be too much for me to
handle on my own as I get
older. I needed something
light enough that I could
easily move it around and
retrieve it on solo trips.
For those of you not
familiar with a jon boat,
these fishing and hunting
machines are designed
for shallow and backwater
travel. Anglers and duck
hunters have used jon
boats since the late 19th
century, first originating
in the Ozarks, where they
were ideal for navigating
the shallow waters of the
Missouri Valley. With a flat
bottom, a jon boat isn’t
something you’d want to
take on big water, but for
smaller lakes and rivers
they are ideal. Perfect for
fishing on the Missouri
River around Great Falls.
Jon boats can run from
bare-bone set-ups with
tiller steering to side or
center counsels. They can
have floors, or not.
Storage – or not. In fact,
a quick YouTube search
revealed dozens of boaters
had DIY videos on how
to customize a basic jon
boat into a tricked-out
fishing machine. Finally,
because jon boats have
fewer “amenities” and
lighter gauged hulls, they
are easier to trail and move
around. Heck, even a future
seventy-year-old can launch
and retrieve one!
“Finding what you’re
looking for?” A friendly
voice greeted me as I stared
intently at a 16-foot jon boat
with side counsel. “I’m Ed,
can I answer any questions
for you?” It turned out that
I was being helped by the
owner of Elephant Boys, Ed
Conley. “Well, yes, you can”,
I replied. I explained just
what I was looking for and
how I planned to use it. I
noted that as nice as those
Roughnecks were, they
were just a bit more boat
than I felt I could manage
in the years to come. “My
friends Mr. Ibuprofen and
Mr. Tylenol are telling me to
go lighter”, I joked.
