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[devon42]

does anyone take their car topper boat to the upper fraser or is it a little to fast to do that?
i have a 12 foot aluminum and a 9.9 i use on lakes and im wondering if it would be abble to take on the mighty fraser? or is it to risky.

[lovetofish]

Bin there done that. Don't plan on doing it again soon. But we only had a 6 HP and had to run in very shallow water to move upstream. It is quite interesting to have gravel flying over your shoulder as you get too shallow and the prop is digging in. 
Unless your 12 footer is a deep hulled boat, it could swamp very easily with all the jets and other high Hp boats that leave big wakes.
We never felt particularly safe in our 12 footer. A 9.9 would probably move 2 people around OK but maybe a little slowly.

[chris gadsden]

does anyone take their car topper boat to the upper fraser or is it a little to fast to do that?
i have a 12 foot aluminum and a 9.9 i use on lakes and im wondering if it would be abble to take on the mighty fraser? or is it to risky.

Used it for years in the Chilliwack area but be carefull at all times of course and do not overload and if you have lots of boating experience you should be find. A sounder is a good idea too unless you can read the water well as there is several gravel bars one can run up on, done that too.

Where the Harrison River meets the Fraser should be an area to be careful of and depending on the area you want to fish launch below or above it.

[devon42]

i was thinking of launching at the pump station and making my way from there hopefully find some bars close so i dont have to be out in the current for to long
how are the bars around that area this time of the year? heard of a few close the mouth of the vedder and was going to try soon but i dont want to get out there and not find any decent bars. anybody been out there recently?

[buck]

devon42

Fished the Fraser for years with a 9.9 and 12' car topper. I had no problems as long as you don't overload your boat. I would fish upstream of island 22 as there are lots of good bars. You can launch at Jesperson or Gill roads. Not many good bars around the mouth of the Vedder.

[mikeH]

I was wondering the same thing  have a 12 aluminum with a 7.5 merc.I'm curious is it ok to use this type in the harrison bay for trolling?

[lovetofish]

Harrison bay should be fairly safe for a 12 footer as long as you launched at Kilby and didn't try to run through the confluence with the Fraser. I hear that area can be a little tricky. The bay will not have much in the way of current but the wind could make it choppy in the afternoon.

[mikeH]

Cool thx when i do launch it will be at Kilby.I didn't want to start another topic since this one is already started.Really want to dip the 12 footer in a river  just don't want to be stupid about it.Is a 7.5HP engine doable in the Fraser?

[firstlight]

7.5 is too small for the faster flows above Dewdney.

[skaha]

--a guy went over Niagara in a barrel and survived.. doesn't mean its a good idea.

--each of us should know our own limitations... if it makes you nervous don't do it. trust your gut feeling.

--take away the operater as assume you are competent.. it is very difficult without knowing what 12 ft boat you have.. if it will work.
--small boat.... a good set of oars can go along way if you get into trouble
--I had a 12 ft sears.. narrow very rounded bottom and low freeboard, it made me nervous... I have a 12 ft greenriver.. highsides, wide runs more like a 14 ft.
--you could check out your loaded speed on a lake with hand held GPS... this would give you an idea of how much river speed you would loose.

--what you have to think about is what is adequate... if you encounter floating debris do you have the power to maneuver around it.
--upstream wind causing waves or downstream wind increasing amount of power needed.
--One thing that caught me off guard ... as a novice with a whitewater kayak I was picking my way down the chilcotin staying in the milder water and within my skill level... then a more experienced kayaker in the faster water.. dumped and sucked out of his boat  I was closest and almost made the fatal error of going after him and dumping myself resulting in two people needing rescue.
-I was able to swing over where he could grab my safety rope on the front of my boat and hold him until the others could swing in. they were able to turn, back in and get him on the rear of their boat.. allowing them to power him out of the area.

--my point is I got away with this cheap lesson where no one got hurt... what are you going to do if you have only enough power and boat to slide up the slower slackwater.. but debris or other boater blocks your course and you have to venture out into water where your boat is not adequate



 

[chum dad]

I've seen a guy last year in a dingy paddle to the boat side of the Peg last year, I've also seen people paddle a canoe across the Fraser to get to a fishing spot, personally i think anyone doing that is foolish. I've got a 15' with a 30hp and I've gone through two props to prove just how unforgiving the Fraser can be if you aren't careful. Make sure you have a good depth sounder and carry some tools as you might need them. I've seen lots of 12' boats with 7.5hp near Chilliwack as long as you don't go too far you should be okay. The Fraser can drop dramatically in a week and that fishing spot you made it too last week may be dangerous a week  latter so be careful.

[lude98r]

Im not sure about this but doesnt a depth sounder measure the depth at the back of the boat? and if yes then would a sounder help when a sand bar is suddenly right there?

[lovetofish]

--a guy went over Niagara in a barrel and survived.. doesn't mean its a good idea.

--each of us should know our own limitations... if it makes you nervous don't do it. trust your gut feeling.

--take away the operater as assume you are competent.. it is very difficult without knowing what 12 ft boat you have.. if it will work.
--small boat.... a good set of oars can go along way if you get into trouble
--I had a 12 ft sears.. narrow very rounded bottom and low freeboard, it made me nervous... I have a 12 ft greenriver.. highsides, wide runs more like a 14 ft.

Good points Skaha.
Our 12 footer is a harbecraft, and like your sears, rounded and narrow with low freeboard. We never felt very safe on the Fraser. Our 14 ft Misty River has a deep vee hull, is wider and is very stable. We have no worries in this boat, even standing up fighting a spring. Lifejackets on of course.

[lovetofish]

Im not sure about this but doesnt a depth sounder measure the depth at the back of the boat? and if yes then would a sounder help when a sand bar is suddenly right there?

Most sounders are set up to read forward. But like you I wonder how far in advance they read. I laugh at their advertising where they say they can read the bottom depth at high miles per hour. Most boats wouldn't be able to stop or avoid the shallow area if they were going at the rated speed and were only watching their sounder for depth.

[metalleg_man]

I used to take my old 12' out with a 9.9 and after upgrading to a 14' with a 15hp.  never had too many issues with them getting around on the Fraser.  As long as the river isn't too fast, otherwise its a slow go upstream.  Like everyone says don't overload, wear a life jacket and watch out for gravel and sand bars.