Thread: Help settle debate please

Would depend on how wide bottom is and how deep sides are. A 12 by 42 with 20 in sides would be ok. Less no thanks at my age and dexterity.

I'd feel safe in a 900 acre lake in my little float tube.

Lake or narrow dammed river?

Float tubes are safer, than 12x32 jons.

The boat has a 40 inch bottom with 18-inch sides. The lake is a damned up small River.

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It may be okay for a young person in good shape. Sounds more like a pond jon though. The problem with little jons is that they have virtually no secondary stability, and you can be in the water in an instant. Trying to get back in, they are easily swamped.

Originally Posted by EWS

Sounds more like a pond jon though. The problem with little jons is that they have virtually no secondary stability, and you can be in the water in an instant..

Definitely not a pond jon. Been using this boat for almost 20 years, 3 or 4 days a week. You can walk in it and it never takes water. It is marketed for lake fishing. I have 2 larger boats but this particular lake is 10hp max. Thanks for your opinion.

Yes as long as the water is warm and I had my life jacket on.

There are a lot of boats that would be safer obviously but the thing about boat accidents is that most of them don't kill or seriously injure you. I would feel safer on any small lake in a jon boat than driving my car on some highways. It all depends on what you mean by safe. If it means feeling safe that you won't end up in the water then that is completely different from feeling safe you won't be seriously injured or killed.

If you are fishing in cold water you can wear gear that would probably protect you if you go in the water but you would probably still want to stay close to shore. That would be just one of the many conditions that depend on the operation of the boat not the boat itself.

My answer would be I may take off my life jacket while fishing in a 22 ft bass boat on a small lake with speed limits but anything smaller or while underway I would leave it on. That said I don't actually ever take off my life jacket in any boat.

I would use a small jon boat if it was convenient just like I would drive a small car in traffic if I needed to. In both cases my level of attention to detail would be higher. Life jackets seatbelts and airbags don't always meet the needs of a situation but they certainly make dying less likely.

Reasonably safe if your a reasonable person would be another way of putting it.