17' Roughneck (70hp) + 65hp jet + fuel tank (13 gal) + two adults near the stern = water over the transom.

You can take that to the bank. Which is where you will be headed if you have no bilge pump.

Be certain your boat dealer knows how to set up a jet rig for the river.

Id get a center console for river running. Something like a G3 Gator Tough 18CC DLX or Roughneck 1760CC

psu_fish
Id get a center console for river running. Something like a G3 Gator Tough 18CC DLX or Roughneck 1760CC

I concur.

The wider the beam the better. Center console can be a PITA when moving about the boat.

Tunnel hull with a min. 7' beam. ZOOM ZOOM.

Jets are gas hogs but there ain't nothing like ridin' the river.

River people are cool.

My buddy has a Harborcraft jet boat, awesome for the river up there.  We can fly through water that canoes have to get out and walk through.  We have had it out on bigger lakes and it was good there too.  I would say the only downfall is trying to dock it.  As soon as you let off the throttle it quickly turns.  If you have the cash that would be the way to go. 

Sounds like your buddy has the "Extreme Shallow" which uses an engineered reverse chine.

Your comment about the docking caught my eye. Of all the boats I have owned, I've noticed a difference with docking my current dingy which also incorporates a reverse chine.

Darn thing glides across the water. Drop the power to soon when docking and it's start over, not dropping or reversing power and it's "rig for collision".

BTDT, last time I was fishin' the river with my oldest in his Lund Predator, we're comin' down the river at 40mph, I'm sittin' up front on the casting deck, and my Sheetz coffee cup blows back to the back of the boat. He thought it was somethin' important and immediately cut the throttle. I nearly went out of the boat over the bow! Man, you talk about hittin' the brakes in a panic stop!

Ha haa, I bet that left a tingly feeling. Seat belts installed now? LOL.

I had a similar incident with my nephew. About a half mile up stream from the 8th Street Bridge in Franklin lay several large flat boulders which lay just below the surface of the water. Sometimes the water isn't quite deep enough to allow passage without dragging. Thank goodness the water wasn't any shallower or I'm pretty sure my nephew would not have returned to his seat. After that, the post was removed with the seat flat on the floor.

Another good time, I had a console and wind screen but my passengers did not. Running full throttle through the riffles was a hoot at sunset. For me anyway, the windscreen gave me protection from da bugs. 😆