Anyone that has owned/fished a Gheenoe, Santee, etc

[Pinwheeled]

This style of boat has really caught my eye as of late. I have seen a ton of them on the Caney and always thought of them as just a river boat. However after seeing how many of these style of boats are used for flats fishing, it made me think about them a little different.

I'm currently fishing out of a 1448 aluminum mod-V with a 25hp. I do alittle bit of everything with it but I'm mainly a bass and trout fisherman. I've had it in some pretty nasty conditions and run the Caney on high water and it has done fine. However, it's just not very comfortable for my wife and little boy. It isn't really ideal for any kind of fishing either. It's also going to need a good bit of work in the near future.

That's what made me think about this style of boat, particularly the Santee center console model. It looks like it could be more comfortable for my wife to ride in and have a larger deck for bass and fly fishing. I also love the fact that this style of boat would be cheap on the front end and cheap/easy to maintain. My biggest concern would be how it would handle rough water. I fish JPP, OH, and the Cumberland quite a bit. All of them can get a little rough from boat traffic at times. I just don't want to feel unsafe once the pleasure traffic hits the lake. My boat now isn't particularly stable but it is fairly deep so I don't really worry about large wakes.

If anyone that has owned or fished out of this style of boat could give me their thoughts, I would appreciate it. I'm going to try and go look at one sometime next month but I would love to hear what others think.


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[Doskil]

They are only a good river boat if the river is not low and rocky.

 

[scn]

I have a Riverhawk B60 duck boat in brown camo. It is their wide version with open floor space and two mounts for elevated seats. I powered it with a 15 hp 2-stroke Yamaha for the best weight to power ratio. It scoots with one person, and will plane out two. I use a rear, transom mounted trolling motor.

It is a great river boat and drafts probably in the 5-6" range. It is very stable, and there are no issues in fishing standing up. I think it would be a great boat for any saltwater bay fishing in skinny water. It would be very easy to pole.

I have had it out on a lake in fairly rough water and it did fine. However, I'm not confident that it would be a boat to take out onto the open waters of the Gulf. I took it with me last year for a family vacation at Cape San Blas. I knew it would be OK in the Bay, and likely would have taken it right around the point to stake out for tarpon if I had a totally calm day. Instead, I had a tropical depression and a tropical storm that week, and never put it on the water. It was easy to pull with my Pilot, so there is a chance I may take it again this summer if we can get a trip worked in.

 

[Pinwheeled]

Thanks, scn. Appreciate the input


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[CritterGitter]

I have a gheenoe and absolutely love it . I've never been in big water with it but take it trout fishing in northern Arkansas a bunch. It's ten times more stable than a canoe . And with decent seats you don't get a back ache either ! I stand up in it why no second thought. Only downside is hitting rocks. After a rough trip it usually needs a little repair

 

[TheLBLman]

After a rough trip it usually needs a little repair

How do you "repair" it?

 

[rsimms]

Like scn, I have fished out of a Riverhawk on the Caney (not sure what model it was). I was shocked & stunned at how well it performed. We ran upriver on no generation, skating across amazingly shallow water. If I remember it was being pushed by about an eight HP outboard... maybe a 15? Really don't remember except I know it scooted along very well with two people.

We wade fished mostly, just using Riverhawk to reach pools we wanted to fish. But once generation kicked in and we started fishing from the boat, it was also amazingly stable.

It's rare that I need that style boat, but that one experience convinced my that if I did, I'd buy a Riverhawk.

 

[CritterGitter]

Mine has some age on it , the guy I got it from showed me how to patch it . It gets tiny cracks in the fiberglass from hitting big rocks. You can buy fiberglass patch kits and home depot or lowes.

 

[Grnwing]

I owned a 16ft Gheenoe Classic with a poling platform, bow mount trolling motor and powered with a 15hp Yamaha. I fished the Everglades, Okeechobee, and all of the West coast of Florida with it. They really are a capable boat. I found it very easy to fish 2 guys and extremely stable, I would often duck hunt/wade fish and was in and out of the boat all the time and never felt like it would tip over. Running the 15hp, I would run in the mid 20's. In Tampa Bay, it would do ok as long as the chop was only 2-3 ft. They come with a lot of accessories and different set ups for the style of fishing you want. The only issue I ever had with mine was the hull eventually started to wear from the years of abuse of running in choppy waters. I would buy another in a heart beat!

 

[cmn]

Check out the Towee. I have used Riverhawk boats for years in my guiding. I also sold them for over 10 years. I have used Towee for 4 years. They can take rougher water yet run slightly more shallow than the others. they can put decks and platforms on them. Best part.... Made in McMinnville!