My lake has weeds (eel grass, milfoil, etc). Will I hate a jet boat?<Guntersville>

[flowjet]

I really want a Yamaha jet boat. However, my home lake has weeds such as eel grass and milfoil. I'm curious what your experiences are with running on lakes like this? If I buy a Yamaha jet boat will I be totally miserable? Is it an automatic that if I run over this grass I am going to clog and will have to clean the impeller out?

 

[zipper]

I really want a Yamaha jet boat. However, my home lake has weeds such as eel grass and milfoil. I'm curious what your experiences are with running on lakes like this? If I buy a Yamaha jet boat will I be totally miserable? Is it an automatic that if I run over this grass I am going to clog and will have to clean the impeller out?

No, if you are on plane going across it, but I do try to avoid it. Doing no wake speed thru the grass, millfoil in our case, will plug you up if the grass is high enough. I have had to pull the clean out plugs twice in 5 seasons. Both times leaving our slip. And both times later in September when the grass is taller and the lake level is lower. Where are you at. Someone here may have experience on your Lake.

 

[Julian]

I really want a Yamaha jet boat. However, my home lake has weeds such as eel grass and milfoil. I'm curious what your experiences are with running on lakes like this? If I buy a Yamaha jet boat will I be totally miserable? Is it an automatic that if I run over this grass I am going to clog and will have to clean the impeller out?

Add your location to your profile and I guarantee we have a member near you....probably on your lake! They can give you input on what to expect. And also just reply here with your lake name/location.

 

[Dave burke]

My lake has heavy milfoil in spots. I have both a sea doo speedster (15ft) and a Yammie. Running at speed in either boat is not a problem. Running slowly is a pain with the sea doo because it clogs up and it’s very difficult to clean out. The Yamaha doesn’t clog as much but it still clogs. But the clean out ports make it much easier to clean it out.

I also learned a trick on this forum which works sometimes - put it in full reverse, kill the engines and use the water flow to push the weeds back through the intake grates. I’ve also had prop boats, both sterndrives and outboards. You can still have problems but it’s pretty easy to clear - just put it in hard reverse.

I’m guessing if you’ve got weed problems your lake might be shallow. That’s the main reason I went to a jet.

That’s my experience. The key question is how bad are your weeds?

 

[flowjet]

Hey guys. My home lake would be Lake Guntersville in North Alabama. It is a beautiful lake. One of the best bass fishing lakes in the nation. However, part of what makes it a great fishing lake is the grass.

 

[Ronnie]

Unless the weeds dominate the entire lake for the better part of the season I wouldn’t worry about them. Avoid the foliage if you can, hall ass through it if you can’t. Most times I go years without clogging the pump, other years it clogs multiple times in the same season.

 

[OrangeTJ]

Is the vegetation prominent in any significant no wake zones you will need to regularly cross? If so, personally, I'd give very serious consideration to how much you will mind clearing the pumps after crossing those areas. When we had our SX210 and had to traverse an area with vegetation before getting to clear water (Tahoe Keys for anybody familiar with that), we had to pull the cleanout plugs and clear out handfulls of weeds every time before being able to get going. It was a pain. In my opinion, subsurface and surface vegetation is a pretty significant issue with jets. Obviously, the Yamaha makes it easier to deal with than it would be with boats without cleanout ports, but it is still a pain that you just don't have to deal with on a prop boat.

 

[RBC3]

I had my boat on Guntersville all last year, and I saw at least 5 others around. The lake can be shallow in parts and I am careful there, but most of the lake is between 20 and 40ft deep, so it isn't a problem. Only had to pull the cleanout one time when I missed the channel marker and went into 2ft deep water, and it still wasn't too bad.

 

[wscantrell89]

I'm on Guntersville too, been out about 6-7 times now in new AR250, haven't had any problems yet. I was out in April (2021) after those huge storms came through when the river was so high, bridges I could normally "clear" easy, I had to drop the tower down to get under. There was insane amounts of grass in the river from being washed in by flooding, floating matts of grass as big as an acre! No problems yet.

 

[06c6z06]

Lived in Huntsville and kept my boat at Ditto landing. I boated on Wheeler and Guntersville for 30 years until retired to the PCB area on the coast, and had no problems. Sure, there is milfoil, but not usually in the channels and off channels to the docks. The worst part was when I got a bigger boat I couldn't get under the railroad bridge going to the old steak house. The farther you go up the river the river current "usually" keeps the milfoil at bay. You shouldn't have any problem.

 

[boatnik]

I am going to get another jetboat. I had 2 yamahas in the past. I do like the scarab but wonder how big of a pain it is when you plug the intakes. With the yamaha I pulled the cleanout plugs and pushed out the weeds with a piece of thin wall conduit that I put a slight bend in it. any help would be great. Yamaha or a Scarab

 

[dgfreeze]

For the lakes I boat in, I couldn’t do a jet boat without cleanout ports. The one lake in particular, there’s a ton of invasive milfoil, and I’m cleaning out the ports a couple times every outing. I’ve got a 3/4” wooden dowel rod about a foot long to push the buildup out of the grates. Can’t imagine how difficult it would be without them. If your lakes/water don’t have that issue, it’s not such a big deal, but I’d still hate to get a stick stuck in there with no access.

 

[boatnik]

For the lakes I boat in, I couldn’t do a jet boat without cleanout ports. The one lake in particular, there’s a ton of invasive milfoil, and I’m cleaning out the ports a couple times every outing. I’ve got a 3/4” wooden dowel rod about a foot long to push the buildup out of the grates. Can’t imagine how difficult it would be without them. If your lakes/water don’t have that issue, it’s not such a big deal, but I’d still hate to get a stick stuck in there with no access.

that's what I am thinking also. I had 2 Yamahas in the past and used a similar trick. Thanks

 

[shwnoff2]

For the lakes I boat in, I couldn’t do a jet boat without cleanout ports. The one lake in particular, there’s a ton of invasive milfoil, and I’m cleaning out the ports a couple times every outing. I’ve got a 3/4” wooden dowel rod about a foot long to push the buildup out of the grates. Can’t imagine how difficult it would be without them. If your lakes/water don’t have that issue, it’s not such a big deal, but I’d still hate to get a stick stuck in there with no access.

Are you talking about Indian Lake?? I boat there too with an I/O currently. Looking at a 2022 Yamaha AR 195 though

 

[dgfreeze]

Are you talking about Indian Lake?? I boat there too with an I/O currently. Looking at a 2022 Yamaha AR 195 though

Yep, Indian Lake is not our closest lake, but is our favorite. The weeds were horrible late 2021, but 2022 wasn’t quite as bad. Still pretty bad, though. Hoping they have a better handle on things for this year, but I’m sure it’ll still be a pretty significant issue. Lot of jet boats out there, despite the issues, but a lot of the lake is pretty much off limits for me now. I just clean the ports out periodically, and the wooden dowel rod makes it a bit easier. We like Alum Creek also, but it’s just so crowded all the time. You live close to Indian Lake?

 

[shwnoff2]

Yep, Indian Lake is not our closest lake, but is our favorite. The weeds were horrible late 2021, but 2022 wasn’t quite as bad. Still pretty bad, though. Hoping they have a better handle on things for this year, but I’m sure it’ll still be a pretty significant issue. Lot of jet boats out there, despite the issues, but a lot of the lake is pretty much off limits for me now. I just clean the ports out periodically, and the wooden dowel rod makes it a bit easier. We like Alum Creek also, but it’s just so crowded all the time. You live close to Indian Lake?

I live about 45 minutes north in Findlay. They have a solid plan for spraying the areas with weeds. The test spots they did last year in front of old field beach were clear by the end of summer. Would you say you had the most issue when idling or full speed?

 

[dgfreeze]

Yes, I heard they had good success with the areas they sprayed, hopefully it works well without negatively affecting the wildlife.

It's worse at idle. Hull sits lower in the water, and just vacuums them up until the intake grate is packed full. Fortunately, they don't normally get too wrapped up in the actual tunnel, or the impeller shaft, but the intake grate will get clogged up really bad. Fall of 2021, I didn't have a dowel rod to help push the weeds out, and with my hands, I couldn't reach far enough to do unpack them. Overheat alarm came on for both engines. Fortunately, we were already back at the boat ramp when that happened, so I was able to just shut them down and float onto the trailer, but it was a nightmare. If Indian Lake is your primary lake, I'm not sure I'd actively recommend switching from I/O to Jet at this particular juncture. I still love mine, but it's probably not the best option for that particular lake while the weeds are this bad.

 

[shwnoff2]

Yes, I heard they had good success with the areas they sprayed, hopefully it works well without negatively affecting the wildlife.

It's worse at idle. Hull sits lower in the water, and just vacuums them up until the intake grate is packed full. Fortunately, they don't normally get too wrapped up in the actual tunnel, or the impeller shaft, but the intake grate will get clogged up really bad. Fall of 2021, I didn't have a dowel rod to help push the weeds out, and with my hands, I couldn't reach far enough to do unpack them. Overheat alarm came on for both engines. Fortunately, we were already back at the boat ramp when that happened, so I was able to just shut them down and float onto the trailer, but it was a nightmare. If Indian Lake is your primary lake, I'm not sure I'd actively recommend switching from I/O to Jet at this particular juncture. I still love mine, but it's probably not the best option for that particular lake while the weeds are this bad.

What parts of the lake did you frequent? It's a tough decision with the deal I presented on. 2022 ar195 with 27 hours. We only ever launch at the state campground or Blackhawk the only issues we had was likely due to the prop being so low in the water and grabbing what was below the surface.

 

[dgfreeze]

More often than not, we are camping at the state campground, using that ramp. When not camping, we put in at Moundwood, on the East side of the lake. Once on the lake, we used to do a lot of cruising around, idling through the canals, seeing the sights, looking at houses, going to restaurants, anchoring up at the sandbar, stuff like that. Now, with the weeds, we have a limited number of restaurants we will go to, just because of the higher chances of clogging, and we anchor up at the sandbar. Cruising is very limited, and canals are pretty much no-go zones. I'm sure some of them are clear, and if we really wanted to explore, we could find lanes to get around, but it was just so bad that I didn't feel like stopping 20 times to clean out the ports. It just really sucks, because we did have a lot of fun idling around in the canals. Lot of little lanes back in there, and it was fun yet relaxing just putting around.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you shouldn't get the jet boat. I would normally actively advise people to get jet boats, but if a weedy lake is your normal lake, it kinda evens up the pros and cons, in my mind. I love not having a multi-edged knife sticking out the back of the boat, and the swim platform on these boats are awesome. Having the cleanout ports makes the whole weed situation at least bearable, and I'm sure they'll at least get a handle on things over the next couple years. I just won't sit here and actively tell you that I believe you'll definitely be happier with jet boat over a prop boat on Indian Lake.

 

[shwnoff2]

More often than not, we are camping at the state campground, using that ramp. When not camping, we put in at Moundwood, on the East side of the lake. Once on the lake, we used to do a lot of cruising around, idling through the canals, seeing the sights, looking at houses, going to restaurants, anchoring up at the sandbar, stuff like that. Now, with the weeds, we have a limited number of restaurants we will go to, just because of the higher chances of clogging, and we anchor up at the sandbar. Cruising is very limited, and canals are pretty much no-go zones. I'm sure some of them are clear, and if we really wanted to explore, we could find lanes to get around, but it was just so bad that I didn't feel like stopping 20 times to clean out the ports. It just really sucks, because we did have a lot of fun idling around in the canals. Lot of little lanes back in there, and it was fun yet relaxing just putting around.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you shouldn't get the jet boat. I would normally actively advise people to get jet boats, but if a weedy lake is your normal lake, it kinda evens up the pros and cons, in my mind. I love not having a multi-edged knife sticking out the back of the boat, and the swim platform on these boats are awesome. Having the cleanout ports makes the whole weed situation at least bearable, and I'm sure they'll at least get a handle on things over the next couple years. I just won't sit here and actively tell you that I believe you'll definitely be happier with jet boat over a prop boat on Indian Lake.

Thank you for an honest opinion. At this point I think I'm feeling lucky and good about the future conditions. I think the deal I've been offered is good enough that if it sucks bad enough I'll just trade it in on a pontoon! Lol