Over the past 4 months, I have started learning and teaching my children (13, 11, 8, 5) how to fish.  We have been bank fishing on lakes and ponds and some streams. We went from not catching anything to catching 8 LMB yesterday - small, but catches nonetheless. My 13 year old caught 4, my 11 year old caught 3, and I caught one.  These were caught at three different locations and conditions nearby each other.  My 8 year has caught 3 in an hour window in the recent past and even my 5 year has casted and caught a LMB on his own.

 

While standing on the bank, it is tempting to look across the small lake and think about how nice it would be to have a Jon boat to fish some good looking areas that aren't accessible to bank anglers.  But I also think about how much we still have to learn and it would be better to leave the boat out of the equation and just focus on becoming better anglers.  It seems to me that bringing a boat into the equation would add another variable, curbing the learning process of how to catch fish.

 

I have really enjoyed the thoughtful discussions I have come across on this forum and so it seemed to me a good place to ask this question:

 

Is it better to wait until we have learned even the essential basics of catching bass before getting a Jon boat?

 

As a side note, I have the means to get the boat - and the associated items that go along with it, that isn't the issue.

 

Thank you.

There is a learning curve going from bank to boat - It introduces a whole new set of variables, but it also opens up a ton more water to access.  It's really not to bad though, definitely worth it.  The fishing stuff is pretty much the same, you'll just have more options.  Boat positioning is probably the hardest thing to get used to, since the bank doesn't move around while your trying to fish like a boat will.  You'll get used to the multi-tasking of fishing and controlling the boat with some practice.  

 

Sounds like you and your kids are really into it, might as well get the boat bug started now because it sounds like you are heading that way regardless....If you wait too much longer they might stumble on bigger boats and that john boat will turn into a bass boat, start small while you still can ?.

You're gonna need a pontoon to haul around 5 people to go fishing!  A jon boat aint gonna cut it unless you go 2 people at a time.

5 minutes ago, gimruis said:

You're gonna need a pontoon to haul around 5 people to go fishing!  A jon boat aint gonna cut it unless you go 2 people at a time.

 

Agreed - I wouldn't take 4 adults on a 21 foot bass boat much less 4 kids who need constant supervision.

I took as many a 4 kids between 6 to 7 years old bass fishing in my 14' aluminum v hull boat set up for bass fishing, 5 would be a problem do to the limited seating available. I rigged all 4 kids up using spinning tackle with slip shot rigs they could drag along the bottom and catch bass.

Pontoon boat resolves a lot of issues, space to move around safely. Pontoon boats are not easy to manuever in the wind but definately a good family fishing boat.

Tom

8 minutes ago, WRB said:

I took as many a 4 kids between 6 to 7 years old bass fishing in my 14' aluminum v hull boat set up for bass fishing, 5 would be a problem do to the limited seating available. I rigged all 4 kids up using spinning tackle with slip shot rigs they could drag along the bottom and catch bass.

Pontoon boat resolves a lot of issues, space to move around safely. Pontoon boats are not easy to manuever in the wind but definately a good family fishing boat.

Tom

I was planning on a 1648, or something in that range, so I'm not overly worried about weight... my 13 girl weighs about 80 pounds, and it goes down from there.  Room would be an issue, but they all love the Ned rig so they aren't out casting every 3 seconds.

Everyone wears a PFD and stays seated. The problems I have with Jon boats in general is they are not safe in the wind or waves because of the boat shape. Jon boats have very low freeboard, meaning from the boats inside floor surface to the top of the gunnel is under 16". When a Jon boat passenger stands up the gunnel is too low to prevent falling overboard in the wind or waves or when the boat is underway. 

48" bottom width may seem OK but consider a sheet of plywood is 48" wide, that is a narrow boat width. My 14' V hull was 60" between the middle 2 bench seats and that was narrow! My 17' bass boat is 72" wide inside between the bench seat and most pontoon boats are at least that wide inside, far safer for kids to move around.

We have a member who has 3 well behaved kids who fished out of his 16' canoe safely, so it also depends on the kids and adults in the boat.

Tom

54 minutes ago, WRB said:

Everyone wears a PFD and stays seated. The problems I have with Jon boats in general is they are not safe in the wind or waves because of the boat shape. Jon boats have very low freeboard, meaning from the boats inside floor surface to the top of the gunnel is under 16". When a Jon boat passenger stands up the gunnel is too low to prevent falling overboard in the wind or waves or when the boat is underway. 

 

We have a member who has 3 well behaved kids who fished out of his 16' canoe safely, so it also depends on the kids and adults in the boat.

Tom

I have the kids wear auto-inflatable PFDs when they are bank fishing... there are too many things going on for me to keep track of what they are doing at any moment in time.  This is true for my strong swimmers also - particularly on the strong current creeks and the banks with drop off.  My thinking is that there is fishing line, rods, hooks, trees, limbs, etc... in short, there's a lot going on that if someone falls they could end up face down underwater and have a foot stuck and not be able to get their head above water.. etc.  It buys me time.

Growing up in SoCal I spent most of my life in the ocean - particularly free-diving in kelp forests with float lines - and I was always very careful about being caught in something.  I carried two knives on different parts of my body.

So I'm right there with you. 

Are you worried about the investment a boat is? If you are set on a jon boat, thought about buying something like an 18 footer that is wide without an expensive motor? Just something to putt around in and makes it super comfortable (and roomy) for everyone to fish in. Seems like you want more boat to get you access to more spots without all the $$$ it includes like steering wheel, etc.