 RiverPro boats began as a dream. Kevin Turner, owner/operator of a successful auto body and retail tire business in Hillsboro, Missouri, was an avid river fisherman. Frustrated by the limited access of prop-driven boats to his favorite shallow-water hotspots, as well as the inefficient performance of outboard jet-drive motors, he was compelled to design a specialized river fishing boat, powered by a more reliable jet propulsion system.
Kevin set to work designing an all-aluminum, all-welded hull that would stand up to the rigors of the rock-infested shallows he frequented in his search for smallmouth bass. After several prototypes were built and refined, he knew he had his boat— a rugged, reliable pro bass model, powered by a high performance Mercury Sport Jet drive that would take him anywhere he wanted to go.
As he plied the rivers of the Midwest, other boaters and fishermen began to take notice of the sleek, nimble, low-profile boat that would easily navigate waters no ordinary prop boat could manage. Word spread, and interest grew. The most common questions: “Where’d you get that?” and “How can I get one?”
Turner realized there was a genuine need for his remarkable design. He knew rivers are the most under-utilized fisheries in the United States, and very few boat manufacturers were tapping this virtually forgotten segment of a large and ever-growing market. He could actually sell them, he thought...and RiverPro was born.
Soon Turner was building RiverPro boats to order. His rugged, river-tested hulls, powered by Mercury Sport Jet drives and featuring fishing-friendly interior layouts, were taking fishermen to places they had never been able to go before.
As more RiverPros began showing up in fishing tournaments and boating circles, demand soared. Next, a high-profile, catfish-oriented hull design made its debut, and demand reached even higher peaks. RiverPro, Inc. was in business.
In the past few years, RiverPro has delivered dozens of built-to-order jet boats to river fishermen and boating enthusiasts, including pro fishermen, guides, the In-Fisherman, DNR agencies, US Fish and Wildlife Service, US National Park Service, and the U.S. Border Patrol.
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