White River Boats...

Since going to school just a few hours away from the famous White River, I have always known that this area has a specialized boat to navigate the local waterways; What I did not know, is that I would eventually be living in “Trout Capital, USA” and working out of one of my own, every single day.

As I mentioned in my last blog post, the transfer from Colorado to Arkansas has its differences. In this post, I want to go over a little bit about my newest boat, “Tina.”

I have owned and operated many boats in my guiding career; none of which are anything like Tina. Tina is made by Shawnee Supreme Boat Company based out of Midway, Arkansas. A fiberglass hull that measures 20’7” long with a 40/30 Yamaha jet drive motor on the back, Tina is a White River fishing machine.

My only true experience working out of a boat with the motor was back in 2011, in Alaska, while guiding for salmon, Dolly Varden, and arctic grayling. For the past seven years or so, my Colorado guiding experience has been out of different rafts and drift boats… without motors.

White river jonboats were created as a specialty vessel to navigate the White River water system and are extremely unique. My boat is outfitted with a remote trolling motor, an electric anchor system, and my good old Sawyer square top oars that I use on my other two boats. With this set up we are able to fish high water, low water, and everything in between. What I did not realize when I put my oars on Tina, is that she is actually as heavy as all of my other Arkansas guide buddies had warned me. Rowing this boat is quite different than rowing the raft or the drift boat. While on the raft or the drift boat, the oarsman actually makes maneuvers avoiding rocks, lining up for rapids, and keeping a straight line. After moving, contrary to what I’ve known, Tina, simply, is not rowed. The Oars slow her down a tiny bit and keep her in a straight line but to be honest, that’s about it.

When fishing out of the jet sled, the primary goal is to cast as little as possible. The person rowing must keep the boat at the same pace as the bobber while the angler focuses on mending and setting the DAMN hook. The casting is essentially the same, depending on the Anglers experience, but I like to fine-tune each individual’s cast to make it easier and more productive. The rigs that are fished out here, in Arkansas, are quite different than back home in Colorado. Here, they are much longer and much heavier when the water is high and that can make for a long day on the water without the tips from your guide. I PROMISE we try to make it as easy as possible for you! If it’s easy on you, then it’s easy(ier) on us!

With all of the negatives aside, including cost of gas, Boat and motor maintenance, and learning to navigate the river at all different levels of water which can change by the hour, by the way… and the million other things boat owners must battle… Let’s talk about how awesome owning a jet sled really is. With the jet motor on the back of a flat bottom hull, We can pretty much go anywhere to fish anything. When I’m by myself I like to see just how shallow I can go and let me tell you… she would skim over a half flooded football field! With over 20 feet of space, There is room for beer, wine, whiskey, any gear you need and some you don’t… plus the dog. The KUSH seats And lean bars are similar to what you would find in your living room while watching TV. While I recommend standing up, it is awfully nice when you do decide to sit down for a break (Always fish standing up unless you’re over 80). While a lot of the bait and spin fishing guides keep the motor on to maintain that drifting speed, as mentioned above, the only time I use the motor is to go from one spot to another or to cross the river. Having the motor on the back allows us to fish a productive spot more than once while also being able to ditch a certain stretch of river to find more willing and cooperative Fish.

All in all, I am extremely happy with Tina and can’t wait to share her and the Arkansas waterways with you all.

It took me a little bit of time to get used to the differences between the raft, the drift boat, and Tina. No matter the differences, the end goal is the same… Be happy, share knowledge, and catch fish.

*please excuse any typos as I write this on my ancient iPad…in the bathtub… soaking my overworked muscles in epsom salt 😁