For those of you that hunt on the Miss. I've hunted out of venice a couple times and I see most guys pull their duck boats to refuge with their center consoles. My question is would a 18 x 54 with 36 PD be big enough to travel in the river? or is it not a good idea to have any mud motor in the river? I've never boated in big current like that.

thats plenty of power to push u through the current may not be goin as fast depending on the power of the current. but if there is noticable current u will feel it on yur motor..

do you hunt in Venice too?

If you are running the Mississippi with a Mud Motor, the best thing to do is Run as close as you can to the Bank. If possible, damn near touch the bank. This will increase your speed.

J is right on speed near da bank. I run da cut at da Wax and dat is the most effective. In da Mississippi, u gotta watch out for large wakes from large vessels. I recommend flotation in a boat used there.

I know some guys that run from Venice down river in smaller hulls than that with surface drives. I did it with my rig and it seemed really small out there

hell my pops is been on the mississippi in a 12' with a 3.9 merc! he said it wasnt too fun! wear your life jacket!

i ran it with my old boat, a 14'x40" riveted Lowe with a 23 LT. did just fine. some nice big wakes to jump out there!

ive run the river a good bit and any 35 SD is enough to take care of ya. the only scary time ive had when i was coming out of the pass to get into the river in my 17x58 with 4 guys and a heavy hunting load and hit a ships wake way before sunrise... my guys almost jumped out...but J i run close to the rocks on the bank and hit sum of em a few times and theres a lot of sand on the banks of the river too

Ive rode it with my 17' with 36 prodrive and wasnt scared. Wear life jacket and watch the barges

you dont wanna be on the bank when the swells from some ships roll up,thats the worse place to be,won't take you long to figure that one out!

If it was me i would not be caught dead in that river in any small boat like that. That water is cold and running very hard and if you go in the water in the dark its going to be some trouble. We hunt the bottom of the mississippi river in a 28 foot long custom made aluminum boat with twin engines and radar and some of them wakes still are scary. Im not knockig anyone who does it in there mud motor rigs but to me its crazy just wait till you get the right boat coming by...you wont do it ever again.

You ever think the guys pulling the mud rigs with bayboats may be doing it for a reason?? I run the Ohio River almost everyday of the year fishing/hunting/trapping. Barges and their wakes are a part of the game. I run the river with my GDSD all the time. However I will not run the river overloaded like I do in the backwater. I have a plateboat for big loads and rough water. I know I'm not telling you guys anything but messing around on the river overloaded is asking for it. Take two boats. Randy

its a good idea to get the life jackets out too,even if you aint gonna wear it,have it ready.
last time in the river,foggy,traffic,etc,told my podna to get the jackets,he looked at me like i was crazy.(his boat)he started diggin for them and 3 or 4 mins later when he finally got them out i told him its kinda like not havin one if you gotta go thru that much shit to get to it.

Exactly how we do we have to smaller boats that go on our big boat and it just makes things so much safer running and when you have your family in the boat you can never be to safe

I have been all the way to Pass A Loutre in a 1854 prodrive. Its plenty big enough

mcduff, if you can run the river as you mentioned a few times during the day or wait till first light and head out to your teal spot. Once you get the feel for it you will be o.k. There are people that live on the Ohio near me that refuse to get anywhere near the river. They say there is some god aweful undertows out there and they will sweep you under. I say 'good' stay off the river. If you lack confidence in running the river you are better off staying off of it. My buddy Gary goes with me all the time but you will never see him out busting waves on his own. If he went out by himself it would be to save someones life and he would have seven life jackets on.
Randy

I know what you're saying, I would rather run the back bays myself.

I was born and raised in Venice and on the MS river. Hell my first mud boat was a 14' Ron Chapman pirogue with a 32cc weedeater . I use it to cross the river with it all the time, Respect and a little common sense will go a long ways. Like Brads stated most guys "don't run the river" they just cross it! I strongly suggest in scouting out the area you plan on hunting / riding in advance on a calm day and learn your route ( Googl map/Sat. maps are your friend ). The river South of Fort Jackson is damn near a 20 mile straight shot down to the Head of Passes. A strong North or South wind will get the river rolling out 5 to 6 foot seas in a blink of an eye. Listen to your gut feeling!

IMO, If you have to stop and think about it then you probably shouldn't be doing it! Theres a few cuts and back ways through out the marshes and banks to utilize. But not all are navigable and most have under water obstructions (mostly rocks)! So its also wise to have someone thats familiar with the area to guide you around your first time out.