Almost everyone here knows I run a jet boat in the Susquehanna River. The Susquehanna is extremely shallow and rocky. I run a G3 center console tunnel Jon boat with a 115/80 Yamaha outboard jet. Which is a great platform. Like everyone we all want to upgrade our rigs.

I decided to get versaflex 225 (better known as K5) sprayed on my boat hull. This is a pure polyurea that was developed as a blast resistant polymer. After this gets put on wet lander is the final coat to make it super slick. All this is to protect the hull from rock damage and glide over them easier if I do hit.

It did make loading and unloading a breeze. It feels like it’s a roller trailer. I feel less flex through the hull. I did bump into a rock while drifting down fishing and it just deflected right over it. It did. It hang up like I normally would have. It does take me a little longer to get on plane and I may change impellers to counter act that. I do not draft any lower and can still run in 3” of water on plane.

Here is a sample of some of the sections I run. You can see all the shallow rocks and area I go. I do this on plane to remain in complete control and run the shallowest I can.

K5 sounds like magic. Let us know how it ages.

@Swamp Girl its nothing new. People have been doing it around here for awhile. There is only a couple places on the whole east coast that do it. If you put a hole in the boat insurance would pay to have it put on instead of totaling a boat hull.

2 minutes ago, Susky River Rat said:

@Swamp Girl its nothing new. People have been doing it around here for awhile.

It's new to me, so I'm sticking with my "It's Hogwarts magic!" assumption. Yep, K5 came from here:

@Swamp Girl with boats like the rock proof style they run extra thick hulls with UHMW or steel plates on them. The new banshee boats are running V8 inboards because of the weight. For me K5 is my only choice for a production aluminum boat.

According to what I've read that's the right stuff.

I've run my Duckworth 16 X 65 inch bottom tiller open sled with a .160 inch hull for 30 years with no need for UHMW of steel plating, she flies along on an 85/60 Suzuki, there is absolutely zero flex or oil canning in this hull, it's built like a brick outhouse. I've even accidentally ran her hard aground on a barely wet rock island midstream at speed when I went to long before returning to my trailer during last light of the day, ran a cable from a truck winch across the river in fairly heavy current to drag her off. There are wants and needs, so far; a fancy bottom has not been a need.

8 hours ago, Susky River Rat said:

run in 3” of water on plane.

That’s an amazing machine.

@spoonplugger1 the boat of choice varies greatly from region to region. The Susquehanna is very unique and the needs are different than most other shallow water places.

@Alex from GA yeah for sure man! It’s the def the correct stuff for the area.

@Skunkmaster-k its what you need to get around in a lot of places here.

11 hours ago, Susky River Rat said:

Almost everyone here knows I run a jet boat in the Susquehanna River. The Susquehanna is extremely shallow and rocky. I run a G3 center console tunnel Jon boat with a 115/80 Yamaha outboard jet. Which is a great platform. Like everyone we all want to upgrade our rigs.

I decided to get versaflex 225 (better known as K5) sprayed on my boat hull. This is a pure polyurea that was developed as a blast resistant polymer. After this gets put on wet lander is the final coat to make it super slick. All this is to protect the hull from rock damage and glide over them easier if I do hit.

It did make loading and unloading a breeze. It feels like it’s a roller trailer. I feel less flex through the hull. I did bump into a rock while drifting down fishing and it just deflected right over it. It did. It hang up like I normally would have. It does take me a little longer to get on plane and I may change impellers to counter act that. I do not draft any lower and can still run in 3” of water on plane.

Here is a sample of some of the sections I run. You can see all the shallow rocks and area I go. I do this on plane to remain in complete control and run the shallowest I can.

That’s an awesome setup. I get jealous every time I cross the Susquehanna. I’ve never fished it to date, but it’s on my bucket list for sure.

@stk44 where do you normally cross it? And you need to fish it man!

@Susky River Rat it’s usually when we go to Lebanon or Hershey, so I think that would be near Harrisburg.

You probably cross at 81 or 83 so yeah it’s Harrisburg. I fish the Harrisburg stretch sometimes

Nice upgrade!

With not much rain in June you could be giving it a real test come July.

Running in to skinny of water, you yourself can get bounced around a little…be careful!

Last year with the river a couple feet below normal. Some guys quite running certain sections because they was afraid of getting thrown from the boat.

Will be monitoring how it does…might be something I will add to my boat.

17 hours ago, spoonplugger1 said:

I've run my Duckworth 16 X 65 inch bottom tiller open sled with a .160 inch hull for 30 years with no need for UHMW of steel plating, she flies along on an 85/60 Suzuki, there is absolutely zero flex or oil canning in this hull, it's built like a brick outhouse. I've even accidentally ran her hard aground on a barely wet rock island midstream at speed when I went to long before returning to my trailer during last light of the day, ran a cable from a truck winch across the river in fairly heavy current to drag her off. There are wants and needs, so far; a fancy bottom has not been a need.

When you run one of them aground they don’t off push to well 😃

@Dooger this is currently what’s going on here in my boat at 30mph

That's easy running everyday stuff for jet sleds, wait till the rocks are peaking above water, and everything starts at near basketball size, nothing is smaller than your fist, and it goes up from there in current like you see the kayaks and canoes run in vids, going up is easier, you lose some perception running downstream but you probably noticed that already. The island I ran up on was fist to double fist sized rocks mostly.

I love how variable boats are. All of them float, but that's about the only thing they have to have in common.

@spoonplugger1 you act like I do not already run stuff like that.

@MontanaBasser it really is pretty cool honestly.