Looking at a crestliner 1546 and a yamaha 40/30 jet. Want to run the lower klamath, me my dog and occasionally a friend 2-3 times a season. Also want to hunt ducks in the napa slough area, not looking to get in the mud just up the slough and get out and walk to my hunting spot.

Specifically looking at the Crestliner retriever jon at 15'1" which has a max hp rating of 25.

https://www.crestliner.com/retriever...retriever-jon/

The boat weighs 290lbs. Would a jet with 25hp at the pump be enough? Would 30hp at the pump be enought?

I understand the risk of running a 30hp motor on a 25hp rated boat, not sure there's really much risk there other than people saying the insurance company may not like that. As best I can tell it's not illegal either federal or state wise.

I did speak with a crestliner rep via chat who wouldn't advise anything more than 25hp (for obvious reasons) and I did specify I would run a jet on it. I'm wondering if they don't differentiate jet vs prop (I'd be using a tiller model).


Plan would be to use it for 5 years until I retire and if my girls at that point would still want to chase fish and shoot birds go with a bigger boat. Not looking to go bigger at this point.

Any thoughts on the set up?