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Float/day trip idea for family in jon boat?

C

Crosshairy

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Aug 22, 2006
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Location
Bartlett, TN
I'm looking to get the wife and kids out of the house for a little adventure this fall as the weather cools off.

I'm in the Memphis area, looking for ideas for a little float trip fun within a ~3-4-hour drive. I have a 14' jon boat with a 15 hp motor on the back, and I have a tiller-steer trolling motor with a clamp to allow me to mount it to the front. My 2 kids are small enough that we could all pretty easily fit in the boat. My youngest is 5, my oldest is almost 9.

Looking for something scenic where we could do some fishing for half a day, and then sight-see, picnic, camp, etc.

I was thinking about driving to the Caney, but I've never been and don't know which ramps/river sections are safe for my boat. Do I need to check generation schedules? Where would be a family-friendly place to stay for a couple of nights, either tent or cabin?

I've been to the Little Red River in Arkansas once, but we stayed at a resort that didn't have a boat ramp. If someone has recommendations on a place there, I'm all ears.
 
MickThompson":oqx5szap said:
Duck or Buffalo would probably suit you, as would the Caney Fork. All depends on what you want to fish for.
Click to expand...

I'm not too picky on target species, as long as it is something the whole family could participate in at least somewhat.

I've never been on the Duck, and haven't been on the Buffalo in many, many years. They both look pretty from the road :)

Do you have any suggestions on launching points?
 
Under the current generation schedule, the Caney would be OK for your boat. There might be a couple of places with skinny enough water that you would have to get out and drag a little, but for the most part, you will be good. All of the land above the high water mark is private, with the exception of the TWRA ramps which don't allow camping. But, there is a nice campground up by the dam. It has a nice boat ramp to put in at as well.

If you only have one vehicle, there are some folks up there that will do a shuttle where your vehicle and trailer will be at a take out spot down the river. The shuttles are pretty reasonable in price.

Before you embark on such a trip, please take a minute and check out the Coast Guard weight limit for your boat. It should be on a plate in the transom area and will give you the total pounds that the boat is rated to SAFELY carry. This poundage includes EVERYTHING that is in or attached to the boat, and isn't just the weight of the passengers. So, motor, gas tank, trolling motor, battery, cooler, etc, etc. all count against that number. If yours is a wide 14', it may have enough capacity to get you safely down the river. If it isn't one of the wide ones, you may not have enough freeboard to bounce through some of the riffles without taking on water and further complicating the issue.

If you decide to head up this way, shoot me a pm and I can give you some contact numbers for the shuttle services.
 
scn":2cj0zn8e said:
Under the current generation schedule, the Caney would be OK for your boat. There might be a couple of places with skinny enough water that you would have to get out and drag a little, but for the most part, you will be good. All of the land above the high water mark is private, with the exception of the TWRA ramps which don't allow camping. But, there is a nice campground up by the dam. It has a nice boat ramp to put in at as well.

If you only have one vehicle, there are some folks up there that will do a shuttle where your vehicle and trailer will be at a take out spot down the river. The shuttles are pretty reasonable in price.

Before you embark on such a trip, please take a minute and check out the Coast Guard weight limit for your boat. It should be on a plate in the transom area and will give you the total pounds that the boat is rated to SAFELY carry. This poundage includes EVERYTHING that is in or attached to the boat, and isn't just the weight of the passengers. So, motor, gas tank, trolling motor, battery, cooler, etc, etc. all count against that number. If yours is a wide 14', it may have enough capacity to get you safely down the river. If it isn't one of the wide ones, you may not have enough freeboard to bounce through some of the riffles without taking on water and further complicating the issue.

If you decide to head up this way, shoot me a pm and I can give you some contact numbers for the shuttle services.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the guidance!! You are making me consider a different option, where the motor isn't important and I could remove it and drop 100 lbs off the boat. I hadn't thought about a one-way float trip, but it's a cool idea.
 
Don't drive all the way to the caney. I was there today and it was just as packed as it was right after Memorial Day. It's a freaking tourist attraction x10. Good trout fishing if you go at the right time. Too many people during the day


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The duck and buffalo are tricky for a jon boat. at least they are for the areas I have been on them. lots of shallow areas. 15 horse would be in the way/impossible on buffalo and tricky on duck depending on the area.
 
scn":3l5za1rq said:
Under the current generation schedule, the Caney would be OK for your boat. There might be a couple of places with skinny enough water that you would have to get out and drag a little, but for the most part, you will be good. All of the land above the high water mark is private, with the exception of the TWRA ramps which don't allow camping. But, there is a nice campground up by the dam. It has a nice boat ramp to put in at as well.

If you only have one vehicle, there are some folks up there that will do a shuttle where your vehicle and trailer will be at a take out spot down the river. The shuttles are pretty reasonable in price.

Before you embark on such a trip, please take a minute and check out the Coast Guard weight limit for your boat. It should be on a plate in the transom area and will give you the total pounds that the boat is rated to SAFELY carry. This poundage includes EVERYTHING that is in or attached to the boat, and isn't just the weight of the passengers. So, motor, gas tank, trolling motor, battery, cooler, etc, etc. all count against that number. If yours is a wide 14', it may have enough capacity to get you safely down the river. If it isn't one of the wide ones, you may not have enough freeboard to bounce through some of the riffles without taking on water and further complicating the issue.

If you decide to head up this way, shoot me a pm and I can give you some contact numbers for the shuttle services.
Click to expand...

I was pleasantly surprised to see that my Jon boat is rated for 755 lbs. My motor, tank, batteries, and trolling motor add up to about 200, so we have more capacity than I expected. I guess that's the benefit of the open floor plan in the middle.
 
You should seriously look at Lake Quachita in Arkansas. It's got campgrounds, or you can boat out to an island and tent camp on it. It's towards the maximum distance that you said you wanted to travel, but worth it. There's hiking trails, too. And Hot Springs is close.
Another closer option would be Reelfoot Lake. There's a nice campground there and a museum. Discovery Park is not a far drive from there also if you need to break from the lake for a day.
 
The duck or buffalo are relatively safe if you know what you are doing and float ramp-to-ramp. The key is to keep the boat pointing straight downstream on the shoals. Getting sideways is a great way to swamp out on a logjam. It will probably be impossible to motor back up as soon as you float over the first shoal unless you decide to pile out and drag the boat back over by hand.

Another option similar to the one above is Dale Hollow. It is basically undeveloped and offers a bunch of shoreline and island primitive camp sites. There's not much else to do but the lake there though.
 

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