Northwest Fishing Reports

Hi, just became member, am looking for reviews on the River Hawk 16 or 18. I am very close to doing the deal on either one but am trying to find out how these boats are with a jet outboard and what size would be suffient ,ratings are 60 for the16 and 70 hp for the18. will be tiller model. History have had many outboards and boats as I am 61 years old ,but new to jet powered, load in boat 90% of time will be myself and fishing gear any info would be appreciated

Rseas is the only member I know who has one, its with a prop. I'm hoping for a ride in his boat as I am thinking about buying a 18' with Yamaha 60 /40 jet with bay kit. I've gone back and forth with the 90/65 but river hawk don't recommend it.

thanks sickbayer for the reply, did river hawk not recommend the 90/65 due to the weight of motor ? or the power ? I'm curious if you are looking at a centre console or tiller . plus since the 18 is only 200 lbs more than the 16 and all other measurements are the same I think the 60/40 should be fine. plus if you use the bay kit ,it could effect insurance ...just my 2-cent's worth

The 18' I rated for 70hp, only reason id do the bay kit is it would give me 60hp on the lake. I called river hawk and asked them about 90/65 and they didn't recommend it as it was only rated for 70hp." Duh I said". Anyways they wouldn't give me an answer except to say they know of people putting 115jets on them!
I really think a 60/40 jet be enough for two on the river three be a push. I'm undecided until I hook up with rsea's.

Is rated not I. Lol phone typing is tough

I have one. I absolutely love it! I have a proV16 with a 25 hp merc. It does 25 mph with 2 full grown men, typical fishing gear. It handles rough water very well. I have seen one with a jet on the Nisqually river and it looked like it did just fine. I have owned smokercrafts, alumacrafts, trophy's, and Lowe. In fact I traded in my new 2013 Lowe 1652 HD for the 2014 ProV. I highly recommend them!

Oh, I had them weld on downrigger mounts. I would get that for sure!

Oh my bad in saying Rseas it's ResQ.

Get the highest hp you can afford if you are running a jet. It won't hurt to have more than you need. IMO, 40 is not enough.

Cascadian wrote:Get the highest hp you can afford if you are running a jet. It won't hurt to have more than you need. IMO, 40 is not enough.

That's all fine and dandy advice, it isn't as simple as that. You might not even got insurance for one, what if the coast guard pulls you over and see your motor is 20hp over rated on the transom? In fact you also have to find a dealer who will install an oversize motor on it.
I know for a fact elephant boys in Spokane will not put a 90/65 on.
A 90/65 mec fyi is almost same price as the 60/40 Yamaha jet.
The reason I say go with a 60/40 Yamaha tho is because it is the only motor out there that has the lower unit and bay kit available. I tried every motor manufacturer.
And if you wanna link the motor to the ff at that size Yamaha and Suzuki does mec does not.
Also you have to remember all boats should have two motors IMO. So adding a kicker motor on top of a 90/65 is a huge amount of weight hanging off the transom.

Oh and I'm always on the look out for good deals this is worth considering if you want a riverhawk all ready to go

2014 RIVERHAWK PRO V16' http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/boa/4978461122.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If I had more than a 25 on my 16 I couldn't troll with my main. (I don't have a kicker). 40 hp is plenty! I agree for more but 60/40 is plenty. This hull and reverse chine glide. Unless there is a trolling motor, 40 on the 16 would be much.

thank's to all that responded to my post all very valid points, I'm pretty sure I'll go with the yami 60\40 for all the above reason's, as much as I would like to have a little more power. I will be putting a kicker motor on, also plus as I mentioned for the type of water i'll be fishing, and most of the time myself and fishing gear , so weight should not be an issue , I'm just working on quotes from a few dealer's. not really worth me buying in usa as I'm buying with Canadian funds unless I can almost steal the boat...... again thank for advice

sickbayer wrote: And if you wanna link the motor to the ff at that size Yamaha and Suzuki does mec does not.

Sickbayer, what is "linking the motor to the fish finder"?

Some motors can link to the fish finder and display engine info like rpms, temp ect....

Above is the right answer. FYI the merc does at 90/65 but you gotta buy a 600 dollar part. The yam and zuk just a cable that is from the engine to the FF. Like ResQ says will display engine info and I think but not sure engine diagnostic codes?