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"Friend or Foe"

4K views 52 replies 32 participants last post by  TomB 
#1 ·
I saw an advertisement for these in Northwest Fly Fishing...first reaction was COOL! Following I wonder how much? Ending with "oh GREAT...wave runners for fly fisherman....

Has anyone seen these things in action...?

Are they the next nuisance on the water?:dunno
 
#27 ·
Friend or Foe

I am not really crazy about jet boats clogging up all our waterways, carving out mudflats, and buzzing around.

Maybe that little motor can't handle the riffles that the big jets can, I am glad that some rivers are now free of jet boats, and I hope more are.

I am also really happy that personal watercraft are not allowed in National Parks, and on some lakes. I can only see that boats like this could be as obnoxious.
 
#28 ·
Friend or Foe

"I am not really crazy about jet boats clogging up all our waterways, carving out mudflats, and buzzing around.

Maybe that little motor can't handle the riffles that the big jets can, I am glad that some rivers are now free of jet boats, and I hope more are.

I am also really happy that personal watercraft are not allowed in National Parks, and on some lakes. I can only see that boats like this could be as obnoxious."

Word. :thumb :beer2
 
#29 ·
Will you older types quit talking about being over the hill. I have one foot on a banana peel and the other in the grave but I'm not ready to go yet. I can take you to places that you walk thru the woods a little way and set foot on the rivers where nobody else goes. I have a few dozen of those places tucked away in my brain.

But as for using one of those things on a river out here one would have to be out of his mind. The current out here would sweep one of those little motored things away. I think that they were maybe designed for those slow moving rivers in NY.

Jim
 
#31 ·
Friend or Foe

Fish till ya drop.Then suck it up and fish the evening hatch.

No one imagined how obnoxious the Wave Runners could get in the hands of a hormone charged teen ager out for "kicks" either.
I can just imagine a whole pack of Petas charging around my pristine lake "saving the fish from torture" on one of these.

Maybe I've just got an overactive imagination! But I smell trouble in paradise.
There are motorheads everywhere and they have no respect for anything.
 
#33 ·
Friend or Foe

Technology and innovation sure don't stand still. Wave runners P*%& me off to no end but it's the small handfull of idiots that have me feeling that way. I had to toss an ashtray at one that was making straightline runs at my boat at about 30 mph, then turning at the last second to "shower" us, what a freak. Actually what a sore freak after my ashtray ricochetted of the side of it and hit him on the kneecap. So where does it end? Are Seguays a good idea just cause they can be made? How about those little wheel scooters with gas powered motors? Now Mokai's. Must be no problem starting a "transportation" business with some adaptation you've dreamed up safe or otherwise. Must not be any oversight or surely the local 12 -14 year olds in my neighborhood wouldn't be all over the sidewalks & streets running a motorized vehicle with out helmets. I bet the first Seguay "pedestrian" collision will be a precedent setter. Oh for the days when life was a little slower, a little more sensible, when technology wasn't creating social problems and new burdens. But how does all this stuff get out there in the first place? I forgot for a moment, this is America and for a litigious society, do we ever have rights!!
 
#34 ·
I have seen articles where they have been used on the flats in Florida and since they can actualy be pretty quiet when at an idle, mind you some people have theirs tuned out to be loud but given a little throttle you can drift a long nicely it seems.
As for someone going fly fishing with one in remote areas. Most lakes don't allow them and if they are any type of fisherperson they won't be doing donuts where they would be fishing. Just using it to get from place to place like a normal person.

That is all the change I have
darrin
 
#35 ·
Friend or Foe

I may be a bit cynical, but I suspect that it is the lawyers and doctors that are investing in this type of technology...kind of like raising geese that lay golden eggs.

My reasoning:
These inventions only need to be built and marketed and they seem to sell like hotcakes.
The operators of these devices push the envelope until they lose conrol and wipe out, causing themselves or someone else to need medical attention.
Someone sues "the other guy."

du, du, du-u-u, du, du-u, du, du-u-u...livin' in the USA!

Jimbo
 
#36 ·
I'm preety much as novice as you can get but it does seem to me to be a little out of the category of flyfishing. How I mean is that flyfishing to me is just as much about enjoying nature and being a member of its beautiful sense of fluidity if not more so. This machine and any other powered craft on our natures supreme waters seems to me to be the exact opposite of this view. Then again not all of us seem to see things the same way nor should we. I guess I'm just saying, see your self as the river or that fact as mother nature and ask yourself would you want this craft distorting your natural beauty?
Determining fish weight?, "Take fish home, cook him, cook side dishes, eat meal, drink good beer and weigh self next morning.", Scientific theory.:dunno
 
#37 ·
"Friend or Foe"

I have 3 and use them to take wheelchair bound fishermen and women out young and old. It is not the gun that kills but the shooter. That person who is in it may not be able to get there any other way so... throw rocks and feel like what? A good fisherman if you don't have perfect health you don't have a rifgt to enjoy as well? All of the people that I know that own one go out of their way not to disturb others. As to Fish and Game a wonderful tool it is very quiet they will be on you almost before you hear it, they will catch those breaking the law. I use mine in Alaska and have had them in 8 foot seas and on rivers that have an eight mile an hour current they do great not a rocket just a small boat. Beer and boating don't mix a drown drunk is always dead, I have pulled two out that way wear a PFD.
Cheers
 
#39 ·
"Friend or Foe"

I remember these same arguments when mobil phones first came on the market. Having a phone and going fishing was such a "Yuppie" thing to do. Everybody claimed that they would never be caught with a phone on the river and that they would take pot shots at anybody whose phone dare disturbed their solitude. But then I also remember when it was a "Yuppie" thing to talk about fly fishing on the internet. : )

Mike
 
#40 ·
"Friend or Foe"

Whats the deal here? We don't have enough to argue about currently so we dig up old ones?

Don't drive that puny little jet powered canoe in front of my sled. Doubt it would make any more of a bump then a stuck log.
 
#42 ·
"Friend or Foe"

I have volunteered with a local special needs childrens organization the past couple of summers. They have two of these for their kids to take out on the lake. They are safe as hell, can't flip or roll over and have lots of pep in them. I run about 195lb on a good day and this little boat pushed me right along. Given the price of $3400+ I would rather have a drift boat. But be warned, they are loud as hell!
 
#43 ·
"Friend or Foe"

Jet sleds are just as bad, worse in my opinion; they're louder, and can carry an arsenal of people and gear. This thing is like a personal jet sled without all the room to store your gear rods. Heck i'd probably buy one if i could afford it. If i get one, i'll be sure to be packin'!! ;) no but really. One thing they're for sure more environmentally friendly than a jet sled. I think people need to chill........... If anything i think there should be sections of river outlawed from motorized craft, or even better any craft. I bet that'd piss some people even more. Are you a nympher or a swinger? Ahh look where we are back to "to each his own."

fishincurt- are they louder that a jet sled?
 
#44 ·
"Friend or Foe"

The only way to settle this is for Scoones to get one for the gear program.

(BTW, for those calling Probasco a media whore, that boat got way more coverage here, including a few reviews, than it ever did in the magazine. Anybody else see the irony in that?)
 
#45 ·
"Friend or Foe"

The Solution...........

Years ago I had a converted 36' cedar on oak salmon troller, and I lived aboard on Hayden Island, down in Portland, before the marina turned into gated community yuppieville. And that's another story.

Anyway, there was a launching ramp nearby and this turkey would launch his jetski every day in the evening and come bombing thru the marina, winding up the machine like a dirtbike. Most annoying. Especially when it was my time of day to park in the cockpit, have a brewski or three and a smoke, and enjoy evening on the river.

I happened to have a coffeecan full of California Fish & Wildlife Seal-Scarers, nevermind why. For those of you who don't know, they are yellow, waterproof and about equal to a quarter stick of dynamite. That evening, sitting on the back deck, I heard that goddam jetski winding up again. So I went in, got one out of the can and waited. Here comes the guy, revving that damn jetski. Fired up the fuse, and made an inspired throw as he passed my transom.

Big bang, plus column of water, and jetski rolls over, guy is separated from jetski, and he pops up out of the water saying many bad words at me.

I just said "come on baby", because I was pissed, and right then Random, my 135 pound male Akita comes out of the main cabin and puts his head, all grin and fangs, over the transom to see what the fun is all about.

Guy turns around, gets onto his ski and goes back to the launch. Never saw him again.

Sometimes frontier justice is good.

otter

ps

Mind you, I'm not suggesting anything......just telling a tale.
 
#47 ·
"Friend or Foe"

alaskamokaiman said:
Be careful who you throw rocks and seal bombs at they could be packin might even be a fish & game member and seal bombs would be fishing with a charge could land you in trouble.
Life is full of risks. I've gotten my edges chipped a few times, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Live large!

otter
 
#49 ·
"Friend or Foe"

I am not 100% sure that this thread is about this but I have been using a sit down jet ski for a couple years now. I didnt use it once this year though because I have some back issues that prohibit any rapid acceleration.

They are genius. You can putt upstream at a walking pace and be completely safe in a chute. You dont have to go fast. Just move along at a good enough pace to maintain good steerage.

I did roll it last year on the Klamath with my bro on back who had never ridden one before and hasnt ridden motorcycles either so he didnt have to whole balance thing as good as he should have. We got wet and cold but with life jackets on it was safe enough.

I think we used 8 gallons of gas in 5 days of fishing to cover 10 miles of water each day.
 
#50 ·
"Friend or Foe"

I think that those things would meet the definition of a personal watercraft. As such, I believe their banned in the Wenatchee River and other rivers in Chelan County. I know that the Chelan County Commissoners tried to ban PWC's and actually passed an ordinance, but there is a chance that it might have been overturned.

The National Park Service has banned PWC's in most areas under their jurisdiction.

I can accept them on large motorized lakes and salt water....however, they should be sunk on site on rivers and small lakes.
 
#51 ·
"Friend or Foe"

i was fishing on the snoqualmie (before the floods) alone in my Drift Boat. I was at the rock wall near david powell area and 3 or 4 of these things come roaring up the river. i think they went all the way up to the falls............ not my cup of tea. the 2 guys with their women looked like the were having a blast. the dumb idiots went right over water that i was fishing and that of several bank fly anglers.
 
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