For those that have owned/fished a Gheenoe, Riverhawk, Santee

[Pinwheeled]

This style of boat has really caught my eye as of late. I have seen a ton of them on the Caney and always thought of them as just a river boat. However after seeing how many of these style of boats are used for flats fishing, it made me think about them a little different.

I'm currently fishing out of a 1448 aluminum mod-V with a 25hp. I do alittle bit of everything with it but I'm mainly a bass and trout fisherman. I've had it in some pretty nasty conditions and run the Caney on high water and it has done fine. However, it's just not very comfortable for my wife and little boy. It isn't really ideal for any kind of fishing either. It's also going to need a good bit of work in the near future.

That's what made me think about this style of boat, particularly the Santee center console model. It looks like it could be more comfortable for my wife to ride in and have a larger deck for bass and fly fishing. I also love the fact that this style of boat would be cheap on the front end and cheap/easy to maintain. My biggest concern would be how it would handle rough water. I fish JPP, OH, and the Cumberland quite a bit. All of them can get a little rough from boat traffic at times. I just don't want to feel unsafe once the pleasure traffic hits the lake. My boat now isn't particularly stable but it is fairly deep so I don't really worry about large wakes.

If anyone that has owned or fished out of this style of boat could give me their thoughts, I would appreciate it. I'm going to try and go look at one sometime next month but I would love to hear what others think.

[Alphahawk]

My nephew has owned 2 RiverHawks. I’m a big guy.....they are not comfortable to me. He also had his out in the lake a few times with me in it up front. Lake was dead calm and we went over a small wake....his last one had I think it was either a 20-25 Honda on it and it would scoot....anyway it about broke my back riding in the front of that boat on the lake. We fished the Caney a lot with those 2 he owned and on the Caney they shined. But IMHO those boats are not made for even slightly rough water.

Regards


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[Pinwheeled]

Appreciate it, Alpha.

Attached is the model that I have in mind at the moment... Santee 160CC



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[riverhawkluke]

I have a riverhawk and love it, however that being said santees are said to be even better. On January 6th, an outfitter from knoxville who specializes in those boats will be bringing a couple boats including a santee to Nashville, he would be a good resource to talk to.


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[riverhawkluke]

Originally Posted by riverhawkluke

I have a riverhawk and love it, however that being said santees are said to be even better. On January 6th, an outfitter from knoxville who specializes in those boats will be bringing a couple boats including a santee to Nashville, he would be a good resource to talk to.


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I also will note, that no, it is not a good boat in any sort of chop or waves, I would say it's unsafe to have on priest in the summer. The boat can very easily spear waves when running and has low walls if you don't see a wake coming. I love mine for the river and inshore fishing in Florida/ South Carolina (it does a great job) but it is has its limitations.


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[Pinwheeled]

Originally Posted by riverhawkluke

I have a riverhawk and love it, however that being said santees are said to be even better. On January 6th, an outfitter from knoxville who specializes in those boats will be bringing a couple boats including a santee to Nashville, he would be a good resource to talk to.


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Thanks, Luke. Appreciate the input. I saw that he was going to be in Nashville on his Instagram. Planning to go check it out if I can. Those Santees look really nice


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[Saltwaterwalt]

My son has a Towee, made in TN. It's a great river boat, with his jet drive, we can blow over riffles and we can both stand and cast no problem. Very stable.

[Buccaneer]

Probably not of relevance but before I moved to Tennessee I lived in Titusville Florida for 20 years. I know the Green family that makes the Gheenoe and have owned and fished out of several models. I always ran mine with a 25 Mercury and primarily fished the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River in addition to the St. John’s River backwaters. I found them very stable and a great shallow water fishing platform. Went the bass boat route when I moved to Hendersonville.

[thejwalker]

I too have had my eye on a boat like this. Last week on vacation down in SouthWest FL I saw a guy at the island boat ramp launching a Ghenoe (spelling?) and I asked how he liked it for inshore and he was raving about it.

He mentioned it was his second from this make and that he's been seeing a lot more of them around.

He said it can handle a mild chop just fine and he can get back into the flats / skinny water like a champ.

It was a good endorsement.

[Pinwheeled]

Appreciate all the input, guys. Good looking rigs too 👍


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