River Pro on the Upper Miss

This past Sunday my family took the River Pro for a ride up the river from Champlin, Mn all the way north of Monticello, Mn for a day of boat riding, picnics, etc… Anyone that knows of this stretch of the upper knows that it can get really shallow in most areas (6″-2 feet of water). Right now the river is still up a bit from normal up on this stretch, but none the less what a dream it was to run 20+ miles without even raising an eyebrow watching out for shallow sections. This is the ultimate shallow water machine in my mind. I cannot wait to tackle the smallies this summer in this rig.

Here are a few pics of the boat beached on a sandbar just north of downtown Elk River, Mn. Plus my boy James and best 4 legged buddy I know of, Bailey.

Here is a closer shot of the boat.

Here is the whole crew.

Great pictures! In mho that is a big part of what this outdoor stuff is all about. Good family times with a little education and lots of fun thrown in. Do it as often as you can, life is to short.

Nice pics, Steve.
I used to live near there, and drive by that section of the river daily. Some memories, and beautiful country. Gotta enjoy good times outdoors with the family

dave

PS. nice boat!

Those are some great looking photos Steve, and the boats not bad either . I can’t wait to see your smallmouth reports this summer, something tells me we will be seeing lots of big bronzies from you, perhaps a new state record. Lots of untouched water to hit this summer for you as well.

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something tells me we will be seeing lots of big bronzies from you, perhaps a new state record. Lots of untouched water to hit this summer for you as well.

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Got an open seat for ya this summer Bob! Bring your side kick as well!

This last pic I think is priceless. It my little boy James reeling in his own sunfish!

DZ – Looks like a great time. Glad to see the little ones enjoying themselves!

The pic with the kids is AWESOME, I can’t wait to get my little guy out this summer and catch some fish. I can’t think of a better way to spend a day on the water. As far as the open seat, say the word and I am all for it. With the price of gas getting so high we may want to bring Dan with

Awesome Steve, gotta love pics of the family on the water

That thing looks like a Stealth Fighter plane. Do you got a fuel boat that you can just pull along side as your doing 5o mph down the riverand re-fuel on the fly???

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Props are for clocks

( Saw that in KT’s guest room )

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yea???
Does that mean Ice Bergs are for Captain Mack of the Sinktanic????

“ICEBERG DEAD AHEAD”

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Do you got a fuel boat that you can just pull along side as your doing 5o mph down the riverand re-fuel on the fly???

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Ripper,
I wish I did. The only negative to this rig so far that I have found to be a pain in the keister is that 240hp. At 50mph…..she guzzles gas like a fighter jet and my wallet folds like a cheap lawn chair. Kevin (Kevin Turner) tells me to keep that 240 at 4K rpm’s for optimum fuel efficiency. Man is that hard to do when the thing feels like a Nascar on water.

Gary,
I think Mack has graduated from the Icebergs already. He is talking about running the gauntlet of the Kettle River! I told him that he can go first!

Forget “Deadliest Catch” on dish……..We got it live right here!!!!!!!

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And that voyage commences tomorrow morning. Anyone want to come with to shoot some footage?

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You cheater….wait until the river drops to summer levels!
Be sure to take lots of pictures for us to see when you get back…….if you get back!

Anyone want to come with to shoot some footage?

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If you can find a way to get me out of this office, I will go and shoot the video camera all day for ya

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Anyone want to come with to shoot some footage?

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Yeah, also call the Paramedics and a Flatbed!
JK buddy.
Good luck and lets hear all about it when you get back.

Great shots DeeZee! My oldest turns 26 this year! Take advantage of this time now! It really does fly by!
Tuck

Looks awesome Steve!! Those smallies won’t even see you coming.

Steve-

Thats a good looking boat! That would be perfect for that stretch of the river.

That sandbar is a great place to have a little picnic with the family!

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Do you got a fuel boat that you can just pull along side as your doing 5o mph down the riverand re-fuel on the fly???

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Ripper,
I wish I did. The only negative to this rig so far that I have found to be a pain in the keister is that 240hp. At 50mph…..she guzzles gas like a fighter jet and my wallet folds like a cheap lawn chair. Kevin (Kevin Turner) tells me to keep that 240 at 4K rpm’s for optimum fuel efficiency. Man is that hard to do when the thing feels like a Nascar on water.

Gary,
I think Mack has graduated from the Icebergs already. He is talking about running the gauntlet of the Kettle River! I told him that he can go first!

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How much better would an opti get you and is there an option to have an opti ?

26, thats just a few years younger than me…

Jami

I had the opportunity to ride in and drive my boss’ RiverPro on this same stretch of River last year. I remember we buzzed up a little river to the Elk River dam and all the shore fisherman were sitting there stunned. They had never seen anything like it, much less a boat ever up in there. We even took it over a pretty good sized log jam and the boat and everything else came out fine. I might be taking him up on some more fishing offers, so look for me in a black RiverPro on the Rum and Upper Miss. It is hard to miss Mark’s RiverPro because he mounted two big spotlights in front of the windshields.

Howdy guyz…sorry for being late to the party. (I haven’t had much time to surf the web lately)

Steve way cool pics, thx for postn’ them.

Mack, I got your video, but it wouldn’t open. I’ll try again today….

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How much better would an opti get you and is there an option to have an opti ?

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If ya run the 240 & 175 in the 3800 rpm range, she’ll give about 4 to 4.5 miles per gallon (That’s better than a 60/40 merc OB Jet).

Yes, you can get the 200 Opti in a sport Jet. The fuel data is unconfirmed, but I’m told about 6.5 miles per gallon at 3800 rpms.