boat for Puget Sound

[Kim Hampton]

What's a decent brand of boat/skiff for Puget Sound? Easily trailer-able? 16' for so? Mainly for chasing SRC and resident silvers.

[Jeff D]

I've never owned one, but the Valco, I think it's called a Bayrunner 16', looks like a great open center-console aluminum boat for our waters. Nice upturned bow with rails and lots of freeboard. An added bonus is it doesn't require much power to scoot it along, so a 60 hp 4-stroke would be great on it.

There are lots of options and I'd suggest making a list of boats you like and then buy the best used package that falls into your list.

One word of advice is to buy a package that will have good resale with manufacturers people in the NW trust and desire. Same is true for outboards - Go with Yamaha, Honda, Merc and Suzuki for resale value - IMHO.... just in case you want to trade up :)

[gt]

seattle boat show, end of january, hold the dates and go shopping.

[Charles Sullivan]

There's a used bayrunner for sale on craigs list seattle for 4800 with a pic. Even if you just want to see the pic. Seems like a boat you may be able to pop a jet on and use in rivers as well. At least that's what I dream about while it rains and blows every day here in the 'ham. I swear if I don't see some sun soon either my wife will leave me or I'll kill the dog. I'd hate to lose that dog.
Manny for sale,
cds

[ibn]

17' boston whaler montauk!

[topwater]

i think it depends on the type of fishing and where. are you going to be spending the majority of your time fishing the beach areas or in deep water.

for the beach fishing - go with aluminum. the ability to beach your boat and wade is nice. as for the bayrunner, it will get you through anything (i ran an 18' at neah for 2-3 years) but it is not a stable boat for fishing, meaning that it moves when you move. for calmer water look for a flatter bottomed boat with a wider beam. i had a small north river that was great for flyfishing inside hood canal / puget sound. very open and could handle the big wind chop if necessary.

be honest about where the majority of your fishing is going to be and buy a boat for that.... also be advised that once you buy a boat you will immediately wish you had 2-4' more feet. doesn't mean you have to buy it, just be aware that it's likely you will want it. even when i moved up to a 26' almar, i wanted something bigger... boats are evil like that.

chris

[KerryS]

be honest about where the majority of your fishing is going to be and buy a boat for that.... also be advised that once you buy a boat you will immediately wish you had 2-4' more feet. doesn't mean you have to buy it, just be aware that it's likely you will want it. even when i moved up to a 26' almar, i wanted something bigger... boats are evil like that.

chris

Also more horsepower. Every boat I have owned I wanted more ponies.

[PT]

All the advice is good. I'd go look at a 16' Duroboat. They're made in Woodinville and are awesome aluminum boats. Slap a Honda or Yamaha on the back and you'll have something you can use for the next 20 years. Also very light and trailerable so you don't need a monster truck. It's at least worth the drive to check 'em out. Every now and then you see one advertised on Craig's List.

[Kim Hampton]

Thanks for all the ideas. Keep um coming. Even though I make my living driving boats I don't know much about the small stuff. You guys are correct....you alway want more after you buy. Horsepower, size or whatever. I just want to have something manageable and handle a bit of the chop Puget Sound can dish out. Anyway keep the ideas coming. It seems like all the Google searches I type in miss a lot of what is out there. Such as the Duroboat which looks to be a good rig. Oh yeah...for all the guys that have boats...be safe.
Kim

[hendersonbaylocal]

17' boston whaler montauk!

Best boat ever! Hose it down when you get home and put it away. Plenty of walkaround space. Unsinkable and indestructable.

And, it does probably 50+ with the 90hp.

[Salmo_g]

Kim,

It mostly depends on you. Some people wouldn't be comfortable going out in Puget Sound in anything less than a 22' Sea Sport, while others are totally fine being out there in an inflatable kayak. So it will come down to being more about what you want than what you need.

I chose a 16' Lund SSV as my all around Puget Sound, Grays Harbor, Columbia River, and river boat. Since I run rivers a lot, I powered mine with a jet. If I was only going to use it in the sound and other deep water, I'd use a 30 or 40 hp 4 stroke. Part of the reasoning behind this boat is that it's easily handled by one man, I can beach it nearly anywhere, I can fish everywhere I want to go, and it requires no special vehicle for towing.

Have fun shopping.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

[Roger Stephens]

Kim:

I use to have a 14' Duroboat and really liked it. It had a pretty deep V-hull so it could take some pretty heavy waves. A 16'er would be even better for Puget Sound safety wise.

If you can, I would get a 4 stroke engine vs a 2 stroke. The 4 strokes get about twice the gas mileage, are much quieter, and no oil fumes.

Roger

[tythetier]

I WOULD GO FOR THE WHALER, OR A LUND SKIFF. PEOPLE WOULD TAKE A LUND 15' MILES OFF SHORE UP IN KETCHIKAN. ONE YEAR, A GUY WHO RENTED ONE WOUND UP WINNING THE HALIBUT TOURN. WITH LIKE A 310 POUND FISH.

YOU CAN CUT A WHALER IN HALF AND SHE WILL STILL FLOAT, YOU CAN BEAT THE LUND TO CRAP AND IT WILL BEG FOR MORE.

TY

[Coach Duff]

Whaler or Lund -iagree Both are "harder than woodpecker lips" as we used to say in the Corps. Tough as hell. If you have money falling out of your rear end, than Grady White makes a fishing machine. Lots of dinero though. Too much for most anyone I fish with. Coach

[Smalma]

We each address our needs differently and any boat ends up being some sort of compromise. That said I solved my needs with a 16 foot lund Alaskan, powered with a 40hp Yamaha 4 cycle. Has worked well for my fishing in Puget Sound, San Juan Islands, Willapa bay and several lakes.

I really like the extra width that Alaskan provides - made a stable and open fly fishing platform for two. I got a central console and wasn't sure whether I wanted/needed it but have to say it was a wise choice as my back takes a much less beating that with a tiller - an important consideration as we get older. Movable pedestal seats provide options for various fishing applications.

The 40hp pushes the hull at about 28 mph at wide open (5300 rpm) and 20-22 at 4200 rpm. More than enough for my fishing though if you are going to make long runs more horses may be nice. At cruising speed I get about 7 miles/gal. The lighter Aluminum hull (whole package fully load is about 1300 #) let me get by with a smaller outboard and being able to tow the rig with my ranger pickup.

After 2 years of hard use - more than 100 days on the water there still are little that I would change with my set up. Added a good color depth finder, down riggers, electric motor and a few other goodies.

Good luck with your search
Curt

[Kim Hampton]

Thanks for the info Smalma and everyone else,
I took a look at some Lunds today at Sound Island Marina. Nice boats but I want to look at the Duro boats before I do anything. I agree, I'd want a steering console. You said yours is a center console. I don't see that option as it looks as if everything is off to the side or can you place it in the center? I know a Boston Whaler is a great boat but I'm not sure if I want to throw that much coin at something realizing I spend over half the year in Alaska working.

Boy you got me thinking when you mentioned Willapa...about how old I'm getting. I grew up in the Grayland/Westport area and started working on the charter boats as a baitboy when I was 12 years old. Myself and my two older brothers ran the things for several years. The two older brothers owned their own. I remember going inside the N. Spit of Willapa close to shore at times and fishing kings. It was great fun when the fish were there but I kind of lost the desire to fish that way (gear instead of flies) after baiting hooks and taking care of tourists that long. Of course we called small boats like a 16' Lund coffins. That was over 25 years ago.

Anyway getting all this information is great and gives a direction to research. That's half the fun.
Kim

[livetofish]

Lund over Duraboat any day. Resale is good and they take a pounding and keep coming back for more (mine's a 1985!).

Also, seriously consider a foot controlled, bow mount saltwater electric motor for working the beach and keeping the boat positioned hands-free in current and/or wind. More casting, less steering; no anchoring means being able to follow the fish if necessary. Remember that on most beaches the cutts are in close to the beach and it doesn't take long to get blown/pushed in too close or out too far.

[Smalma]

Kim -
Sorry I mis-stated the position of the console - it is on the right side. Don't know what the heck I was thinking. Still a nice boat that I'm really enjoying!

Curt

[Uncle Jimmy]

Hey Kim,
The important part is the motor. I can not stress this enough. All my life I have made my living in small boats one way or another and all I have to say is...Yamaha. Do not compromise on this and I am sure you will be happy with whatever hull you choose.

[gt]

yep, i concur on the yamaha engine. every third world location i have fished, that is what you find. bad gas, probably little to no maintenance, keep on tickin'. when reelfast was in the planning phase, almar asked what engines, i said yamaha, they said '...the best choice from their point of view, but i could specify anything i wanted...' i have to say, when i start these 150s, i actually have to go to the stern to make sure the pee stream is there, thats how quiet they are, amazing.

[EHB86]

I bought a 16' Northriver Revenge last summer, put a 4 stroke, 40 hp tiller Yamaha on it and we love it. Handles the Sound fine, real beamy, with enough of a V to ride well. Will do nearly 40 when it's flat. The boat is real open, with a flat sole, I would highly recommend looking at one, they are not much more than a Lund (which is a great boat), but they are, in my opinion a lot more boat.

I also have a 23' aluminum boat with twin 4 stroke 115's, but the Revenge is so easy to launch and deal with in general, that it gets all the use. I put downriggers and a sounder on it, works slick for trolling and plenty of room for flyfishing. Easy for one person to launch/haul. My .02. Worth what you paid for it. The Yamaha motors are real hard to beat.

[jerreca]

I've been using a valco bayrunner '18 on Monterey Bay for years and I love it. I find it a stable platform. Easy to trailer. 40 hp Evinrude = 25 mph. Evinrude very reliable. The boat has higher sides than most aluminum boats and may not be the easiest for climbing in and out if beached. Great in rough water, tho. Just moved to Puget Sound and can't wait to fish it here. Good luck. je

[East Fork]

I've been using a valco bayrunner '18 on Monterey Bay for years and I love it. I find it a stable platform. Easy to trailer. 40 hp yamaha = 25 mph. yamaha very reliable. The boat has higher sides than most aluminum boats and may not be the easiest for climbing in and out if beached. Great in rough water, tho. Just moved to Puget Sound and can't wait to fish it here. Good luck. je

You are going to love your 18' in the San Juans. I've run a bayrunner 20' for the last 3 years in the San Juans. It seems to be the perfect trade off between cost, trailerability and comfort on the water.

[GregA]

I have a Boston Whaler 16' Dauntless that is great on the Sound. It has a nice casting platform up at the bow that's perfect for flyfishing. I miss my old 15' bayrunner's ability to beach on the rocks, as well as it's relatively lighter weight for launching, but the Whaler's a LOT safer feeling on bigger water when the wind and waves kick up as they so often do. Every boat I've ever had has been somewhat of a compromise, it's the nature of the beast and you have to get what suits you best. Greg

[Richard]

Lund over Duraboat any day. Resale is good and they take a pounding and keep coming back for more (mine's a 1985!).

Also, seriously consider a foot controlled, bow mount saltwater electric motor for working the beach and keeping the boat positioned hands-free in current and/or wind. More casting, less steering; no anchoring means being able to follow the fish if necessary. Remember that on most beaches the cutts are in close to the beach and it doesn't take long to get blown/pushed in too close or out too far.

Agreed.

If you are looking at aluminum boats, determine if you want a rivetted or welded hull. There are negatives and positives to each. If you want to look at a welded aluminum boat (typically heavier gauge aluminum bottoms and sides relative to similar model rivetted boats) and want to go new, check out the Crestliner Alaskan 16' boat.

Given a choice, it would be Alumaweld. Then the Whaler. :-)

[martyg]

Boats have been a problem for me. I never have the one that I want.

Right now I have, what I feel, is the prettiest boat that I have ever run. It is a composite center console boat, 17.5 feet, and really heavy. Nothing smooths chop out like 2,000 pounds of hull, but launching and taking out can be a problem on sketchy ramps. There have been many times where I wanted to go out, or come back in, but the ramp that I wanted to use was just a shithole of broken concrete at that level. Muscling 3,500 of boat, trailer and motor isn't prudent.

If I had to do it over again I would get an aluminumboat with an appropriate tiler steer motor. Yamaha would be my first choice. Tom Wolf runs an aluminum boat - he can lauch at pretty much any ramp, it sips gas and he gets around Neah Bay just fine.

Another viable option would be a RBI. A 16' - 18' RBI is light and incredibly seaworthy. The low freeboard would help keep from getting blown around when you are drifting a shoreline. I once was running S&R off the Jersey coast in a 14' RBI in 20' breaking seas. I had Wave Runners around me and a chopper in the air. It was a warm day and I would have been immediately picked up if I went swimming. In all, the 14' RBI and Wave Runners were better in those conditions then the 21' Impact. I could turn and run fast through the wave troughs, where the Whaler just didn't have that agility.

Re Whalers.... They are great boats, but there are also plenty of others in that genre that deliver a better value. Whalers hold their value, but if you are buying used it will work against you. Grady, Wahoo and Mako come readily to mind. I worked out of a 21' Impact for two years, and that was a phenominal boat for lots of different waters, but the Impact and the recreational Whalers are worlds a part.

[Jeremy Floyd]

My Brother and I bought a 1997 19' Wooldridge SUV with the offshore motor mount 2 years ago from Ed's Guide Service up in BC. This boat was specifically bought for the sound and playing around Neah Bay.

They sold it with the trailer and rigging and a 130 horse 2 stroke which we pulled off and replaced with a 115 Yamaha 4 stroke for a few bucks over $16k.. It tops out at 45 and cruises really well at about 32-33.

They thought something was wrong with the boat because it cavitated so much so we took it down to Wooldridge in Seattle and he told us that the only problem with it was that the motor was mounted way too high and they had put some custom prop on it. We dropped the motor and went back to the factory prop. Ran like a champ. We ended up selling that motor though 2 weeks later back to Ed's and picking up the Yami.

[hendersonbaylocal]

Re Whalers.... They are great boats, but there are also plenty of others in that genre that deliver a better value. Whalers hold their value, but if you are buying used it will work against you. Grady, Wahoo and Mako come readily to mind. I worked out of a 21' Impact for two years, and that was a phenominal boat for lots of different waters, but the Impact and the recreational Whalers are worlds a part.

Wahoo and Mako are definitely cheaper than their Whaler counterparts, but I don't know if you could say that Grady Whites are any less expensive - I would lean towards the opposite.

Why would holding value work against you if you are buying used? If you have the cash and are looking for something that will be decent investment (in boat terms of course:beathead: ), you can't beat a whaler. We had a late 80s 17' Montauk for 8 years that we left it in the water all summer, ran hard and put away wet and sold for the same price we bought it for. I can't say anything for the quality of the boats under the new ownership, but I taught sailing out of a different 17' from probably the early 70s that was on its third or fourth engine and still going strong. That hull will be around for another 25 years.

[gt]

if you intend to go with a new or use glass boat, do your homework and find out just how much wood is used in the construction process. several, perhaps all, with the whaler as an exception, still utilize the old style wood stringer/chopper gun construction methods. dry rot waiting to happen to'yah.

[South Sound]

You said you wanted one for Searuns. Why in the hell would people want a 90 hp for searuns. I understand the issue of getting here and there, but damn this seems more like bass boat excessive hp. Get a high sided boat or a whaler. Either way make sure you can run in 2-3 ft or water. The best searun action required you run in shallow. SHALLOW water. I mean shear pin busting water. You can run a smaller kicker motor, but you have to ask how much are you getting yourself into for Searuns. I run a Alumaweld 1969. 1982 Evinrude 6hp. Old school and little worry or maintance. Run up onto the rocks so you can cast from shore.

Just my .02

[Sterling silver]

I have to agree with Josh on this. Especially if you're fishing one or two people, a lightweight, easily handled boat is ideal. Gets you in and out of crummy launches and is easier to handle on a windy beach. Aluminum can take a beating on the rocks and barnacles and be little the worse for wear. I'd go with an aluminum boat about 16 feet long. A slick 4-stroke engine and a fly rod and you're set to go.

Sterling

[Kim Hampton]

Yep, I agree with Josh and Sterling. So far I've looked at several boats (new). 16' Lund, 16' Duroboat, 150 Montauk Whaler and a Lowe. The Lund and Duroboat would probably handle what I want to do with the Duro being the easiest to handle. The Whaler is a beautiful boat with what I call a really clean deck for fishing. The Lowe looks really nice also but I think getting to be too much to handle weight wise. Not sure about that though. Also I'm fairly interested in the Harborcraft / Jetcraft boats but I haven't found a place to take a look at one yet. I saw some pictures of one of the PSFF outings this fall. I think someone was using a Jetcraft during that outing. I'd be interested in hearing what they have to say.

It's fairly easy to get all caught up in the facts, size, speed and hype of all the boats out there. Then a person (me) could end up with more boat that he needs or can handle. You know getting it on and off the trailer or getting it off a beach if I wanted to shore fish. This summer I sold my white water raft that I used on the Yakima and other areas. Basically is was too much for me to handle when fishing alone which I do most of the time. I don't want the same thing happening with this boat. That's why at the minute I'm leaning toward the Lund or Duro but still want to take a good look at the Jetcraft or see what pops up on the used market but I'm leaning toward new.
Anyway thanks for all the info....it's pointed me in several different directions and like I said before that's half the fun.
Kim

[martyg]

Kim

You are on the right track as far as I am concerned.

One more thing that I will chime in with... Depth in a boat is great for seaworthiness, but it sucks for our fishing in Puget Sound because you get blown around by the wind a lot. Aluminum boats are light, with less hull in the water and more above the surface.

I try to make super stealthy drifts along likely shorelines. If I have to crank the motor to reposition, because I am drifting too shallow or tow deep, then I just blew my presentation.

[Richard]

That's why at the minute I'm leaning toward the Lund or Duro but still want to take a good look at the Jetcraft or see what pops up on the used market but I'm leaning toward new.
Kim

Lund, all day. Lund Alaskan; performance, options, quality, and resale.

I have a Smokercraft Alaskan, and it's a very good boat, but it's not quite the quality (or was the price!) of the Lund.

[David Loy]

Another vote for the Lund. Unfortunately, my Dad just sold his. Without my input. Damn!
I grew up on the Sound and spent a lot of time in assorted Whalers. Love them and the times we had. But they're heavy. And pricey.
For a SR fish boat, lighter seems best. I wouldn't go out in the nasty weather anyway.

[Sterling silver]

Kim,

Go to Lake Union Sea Ray in Fife and look at the Jetcraft/Harbercraft there. Awsome boats. Hell for strong. PM me if you want more personal review.

Sterling

[Salty Fly]

Triumph. I currently own a 210. It is 21' and runs a 140 Suzuki 4 stroke (excellent economy) with 70 gallon fuel capacity. Indestructible and easy to maintain. It can go to the back waters of PS, Neah Bay or offshore. Take a look at www.triumphboats.com to see durability.

[gt]

that is a nice boat saltydog, just was not long enough for my needs. also seriously considered the 'scout' boats in that same length, another nice choice and also bullet proof. no wood in either boat, BTW. chemically bonded upper and lower hull parts with everything foamed in place, very nice indeed.

[Kim Hampton]

Sterling,

I took a look at the Jetcraft at Lake Union Sea Ray.....like the looks of um. I've sent a PM.
Thanks,
Kim