I hit an unmarked rock in the middle of the river.  I fish in Black River called such because there is maybe in the direct sun, 18 inches of visibility.  Anyway, I was not going fast, (thank goodness) but it kicked my motor up bent the skeg and gouged two of the tree blades

I am going to grind the blades out smooth and balance them the best I can I just cannot afford a new prop right now.

But, this is why I have been asking about the three types of rock guards that are on the market I have gotten some replies, with opinions on how well they would work but none from anyone who has used any

Do any of you guys know a place that I could ask?  

That sux man......i feel 4 ya

try iboats.com

do you just river fish, if you do I would invest in a jet outbord conversion kit its well worth the money if you stick to the rivers. you can run in inches of water there pretty cool.

I agree with northgabassfisher.  If you're going to basically fish rivers almost exclusively I'd slam a jet drive on that thing and quit worrying.  

I've seen the jet drive's in action... very impressive.  If you don't do the conversion, at least get the prop fixed.  Chunks or dings in a prop may look plenty usable, but if it's not balanced well and true, then you run the risk of prop vibration which in turn can eat up bearings,shaft seals, etc. on your lower unit.  Much cheaper to make sure the prop is in good shape.  

As far as the guard's you're looking at, they look kind of cumbersome to me.  I think the basic skegg guard is probably not a bad idea, but it's not near the contraption that you're looking at.  I also don't know too many people who fish good water that still have their skegg in one piece that's not bent or broken at least a little bit.  Occupational hazard I guess.

SFC Hall,

I fish on the upper Potomac, lots of rocks and at times, low visibility.  I wish I could get the Jet conversion but too pricey for me for now.  I installed one of these on my small outboard and I'm very happy with it.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat21276-cat420002_TGP&id=0000976013490a&navCount=1&podId=0000976&parentId=cat420002&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=IG&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat420002&hasJS=true

I've hit severall rocks since installing it and not a nick on the prop.  It's a study rig, much stronger than I anticipated.  It does require drilling some holes through the skeg.

All in all it has given me peace of mind fishing on a rock filled river.

At least you didn't know the rock was there! I nailed one that I knew was there, just under the surface, for nearly twenty years. I feel for ya too! Iboats would be a good place to look. My nephew has one on his river boat that is made out of 3/8th inch bar stock. It looks like a semi-cage in front of and around the prop. I don't know the brand, but it worked great. You need to have someone checkout the output shaft with a dial indicator to make sure the shaft is not bent. By the way, my brain hickup cost me $2300. Good Luck!

you should definitely try the jet in a river situation, ive got one, and we can run in 3-4 inches of water.