New member-building a plywood boat

[YotaTruck91]

Hi everyone-I found this site looking for information on fishing the Delaware. I live in northwest Hunterdon County right between Spruce Run and Round Valley, plus the Big D is only about 20 minutes away. I'm getting started on a boat project this summer that will be ready to go for next spring. I've researching plans for a long time now to find a good design that would work equally well on Spruce Run and the Valley (especially given the HP restrictions) and the Delaware north of Trenton. After a while I settled on one of Jim Michalak's designs-a guy who designs no-nonsense form over function boats. They don't win beauty contests, but they are simple, durable, and functional:

http://www.duckworksbbs.com/plans/jim/af4casa/index.htm

The boat is 18' long with a 6' beam and a flat bottom. The stern aft of 10' is a constant width and depth so I may even lengthen it to 20'. An 18' should only draft about 6" fully loaded-a 20' about 4.5", so it would be great for the Delaware as long as I can keep the prop out of the rocks, which leads me to my question:

I've been out on Spruce Run and Round Valley plenty and know them pretty well, so I'm looking to get some tips on running the Delaware. The closest boat ramp to me is Kingwood, but I could be as far up as the Poxono ramp at the Water Gap in about an hour. How accessible is the Delaware for powerboats in those areas? Can anybody recommend a good set of maps that show depths and the locations of rapids? Looking forward to learning a lot from others who fish the Delaware regularly. I'll be posting pictures once my build starts as well.

[bigfishy]

Thats pretty fricken cool!!! Good luck with the build and welcome to the site

[Flukemeister1]

[QUOTE=YotaTruck91;359284] The closest boat ramp to me is Kingwood, but I could be as far up as the Poxono ramp at the Water Gap in about an hour.

By car maybe but you are not going from Kingwood to the Water Gap by boat in an hour. There are some real hairy rapids between Kingwood and the Water Gap. There are access ramps on both sides depending on where you are. There are ramps in Upper Black Eddie, Riegelsville NJ, Easton and Phillipsburg, Sandt's Eddie. Probably one of the nicest areas is the New Smithfield Ramp in PA north of Shawnee. I have been running the Delaware from Point Pleasant PA to Port Jervis since I was four, I am now 52. There are rocks pretty much everywhere and local knowledge is essential. Busting props is just the price of doing business on this river. Even experienced guys hit rocks especially when trying to get in certain spots to fish. Do yourself a favor and buy a spare and a spare set up (lock nuts, cotter pins etc.) If you don't like the idea of prop damage get a jet set up. Google Earth can help but the best way to learn the river is with someone who already knows it and will show you where to run. There is great fishing in the Delaware but it can also be a river that bites. It is the fastest rising and falling river in the country and is the fastest flowing east of the Mississippi. Have fun and be safe.

Doc

[Flukemeister1]

Yota,

you will want to put one by threes on the bottom to fend off the rocks. They will help to keep the rocks from contacting directly with your plywood bottom and this will help to spread out the forces applied by any rocks. They will also help to strengthen the bottom in general.

[YotaTruck91]

Originally Posted by bigfishy

Thats pretty fricken cool!!! Good luck with the build and welcome to the site

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Flukemeister1

By car maybe but you are not going from Kingwood to the Water Gap by boat in an hour. There are some real hairy rapids between Kingwood and the Water Gap.

That's what I meant-from my house in High Bridge (near where 31 intersects 78) I can get to Kingwood in 20 minutes or Poxono in just under an hour.

Originally Posted by Flukemeister1

There are access ramps on both sides depending on where you are. There are ramps in Upper Black Eddie, Riegelsville NJ, Easton and Phillipsburg, Sandt's Eddie. Probably one of the nicest areas is the New Smithfield Ramp in PA north of Shawnee. I have been running the Delaware from Point Pleasant PA to Port Jervis since I was four, I am now 52. There are rocks pretty much everywhere and local knowledge is essential. Busting props is just the price of doing business on this river. Even experienced guys hit rocks especially when trying to get in certain spots to fish. Do yourself a favor and buy a spare and a spare set up (lock nuts, cotter pins etc.) If you don't like the idea of prop damage get a jet set up. Google Earth can help but the best way to learn the river is with someone who already knows it and will show you where to run. There is great fishing in the Delaware but it can also be a river that bites. It is the fastest rising and falling river in the country and is the fastest flowing east of the Mississippi. Have fun and be safe.

Good advice-thanks. I took my wife on a river cruise out of New Hope last weekend for her birthday and had a good conversation with the captain about navigating the river. He had some good tips including contacting the DRBC-apparently they used to (not sure if they still do) publish some really good river maps.

Originally Posted by Flukemeister1

you will want to put one by threes on the bottom to fend off the rocks. They will help to keep the rocks from contacting directly with your plywood bottom and this will help to spread out the forces applied by any rocks. They will also help to strengthen the bottom in general.

I actually just picked up four rough sawn oak 2x4x8s for free that I'll be using for skegs. Should help with beaching as well.

[jimmythegreek]

All u need is an inexpensive all welded large jon boat, the tracker grizzly and alumacraft roughnecks are on Clist all the time for 2-3k, just set it up for the style of fishing you do and put a strong bowmount and a 9.9 on it and your done, they take a real beating. Plywood isnt gonna be great for going in skinny waters

[YotaTruck91]

Originally Posted by jimmythegreek

All u need is an inexpensive all welded large jon boat, the tracker grizzly and alumacraft roughnecks are on Clist all the time for 2-3k, just set it up for the style of fishing you do and put a strong bowmount and a 9.9 on it and your done, they take a real beating. Plywood isnt gonna be great for going in skinny waters

I've seen largish jons on Craigslist from time to time, but none big enough to take the whole family out on. Plus I can build the whole boat and put a used motor on it for less than $3K. The boat I'm looking at will draft 6" at 2000lbs total load (hull, motor, crew, gear, etc...). Given that, I should be drawing about 5". Plywood will take more of a beating than you think if it's built right. Good points on the dual 9.9s BTW, definitely some stuff to think about.