Fishing/duck boat

[Fishnbeer]

Wife gave green light to buy a boat. I primarily fish the Delta/Sacramento river and some lakes in the area. Do some anchored bait fishing, drifting, trolling, and a good amount of bass fishing. I do want the ability to take it in the bay for halibut and stripers during summer months. Also want to be able to throw a camo net over it and blast some ducks come fall. Call it a blast and cast boat.

Looking at 18' outboard, center or side console aluminum, 60HP range plus front mount trolling motor. No carpet, I want to be able to hose that shit out when I am done.

I checked out tracker boats, they are pretty close to what I want but they are more of a flat bottom. I would like the same size and floorplan of the grizzley models but want more of a V for cutting through chop. Cresliners are similar hull design.

What other boats should I look at?

BTW has anyone seen the financing on some of these? 8.5% for 15 years..... 😂😂 you spend more on interest than the actual boat

 

[grapehead]

Nothing beats a mitchcraft for those uses.

 

[Alpine4x4]

We used to run an 1860 Lowe Roughneck with a 60/90 Yammy jet on it. Made for a great duck/bass boat. Only issue was it was a flat bottom so in the wind it blew you around like a top. Smoked a lot of birds and caught a lot of big fish in that boat. I'd consider the Lund Predator as well, Lund makes an excellent boat.

 

[YJ4Rox]

Xpress

They have all kinds of options, all bedliner, seadek, center or side console, camo what ever you need.
Great boats for the money. Bay boats, bass boats, skiffs, catfish, crappie, or a mixture of whatever.

Shoot the 185 catfish might work for you but has a 90 Yammy on it.

XP18CC bay boat

Xpress Boats | The Original All-Welded Aluminum Boat

Family-owned and operated, Xpress Boats has been building best-in-class aluminum boats in Hot Springs, Arkansas since 1966.

xpressboats.com

 

[JD Mark]

You fish for ducks?

 

[grumpy356]

I want an aluminum flat bottom boat with a mud motor.

that's all I got.

 

[Drummer79]

Look at G3 boats. I was on one today and I liked it. The one I was on was a 17, and Tom (the owner) said he wished it had more storage inside than it has in reality once he bought it, but I liked it. The 18 on their website has alot more options, including hydraulic steering, which Tom also wished he had, but not optional on the 17. The inside of the boat has what for lack of better term I'd call rhino lining, which Tom says is a bitch to get stains out of, but good traction and all.
Link to the 17 like I was on today Bay 17 - G3 Boats
Link to the 18 foot one Bay 18 GX - G3 Boats

 

[Jackie Treehorn]

Flat bottom boats are great for duck hunting because you can get them tighter to the shoreline. Flat bottom boats suck for everything else.

 

[SomeGuyFromOlympia]

You fish for ducks?

back in the 80's my Grandpa would take me trolling
I used to catch ducks all the time

then he would stomp on them, and I would just be standing there holding my pole with a

 

[RusM]

Duckworth, Wooldridge, FishRite, Bolton, Hewescraft, AlumaWeld, North River, and on and in. They all make an 18' welded aluminum boat that will do everything you want.

But you really need three boats, a flat body for ducks, jet boat for the Rivers and a bigger boat for the bay.

 

[Chevy_man]

Flat bottomed jet boat will work for hunting and rivers.

Then you'll want a deep v with a lot of power to hit the salt water.



My Dad bought a 17' Alumacraft escape with a 50hp Yamaha. It was going to be his one and only boat....

He gave that one to my kids to use on the local ponds and reservoirs.

He bought himself a 21' Lund with a 150hp Merc to fish the river and Ft Peck. It gets around twice as fast, burns twice as much gas. Doesn't freak him out when a storm rolls over the ridge...

He then ended up with an 18' flat bottomed jet boat with a 4.3 or 5.7 Mercruiser (I haven't pulled the cover yet )
This is his duck boat because it'll run in 8" of water with no problem carrying 2 men, 2 dogs, and decoys. Needed it to hunt geese on all the islands in the Yellowstone River.


Me? I do the maintenance on the 17' and fuck boats. If the kids didn't enjoy fishing off it so much it would be gone.

 

[sicumminsde]

Just get a SeaArk. They use thicker hull material than most. A 15 degree hull will ride pretty good in rough water.

I have a SeaArk 2072 with a 15 degree hull and a 200 Yamaha on it. It's a great boat!

 

[Leadfoot21]

Sounds like you want a fishing boat much more than a duck boat . Duck boat is a flat bottom mud motor boat and I’ve spent many an hour fishing from one on big lakes without issue .

Decide which one you will use more so it doesn’t sit and go to waste .

 

[2big bronco]

This shit is all my best friend talks about... his boat is super clean and for sale (I'll find a link)... so he can go buy a new one in Bakersfield... supposedly a 60k boat on sale for 45k (will also try to find a link to that one.

 

[YJ4Rox]

Just get a SeaArk. They use thicker hull material than most. A 15 degree hull will ride pretty good in rough water.

I have a SeaArk 2072 with a 15 degree hull and a 200 Yamaha on it. It's a great boat!

I always forget about SeaArk, they make killer boats and you can get Suzuki's on them.

 

[det107]

Fishing & hunting recreation will get old...

A brighter horizon is to invite chicks aboard-