Greetings everyone,
First post here at Washington Fly Fishing, but have been searching and reading other people's posts for years and I thank you for the information you have provided.
I'm in the market for a new boat and wanted to use the forum as a voice of reason and see if there was something different I should be looking at, or if this is it.
I'm looking at a River Hawk 18 Pro-V Center Console (see link at bottom of post). This will be an upgrade from my 12' Alumaweld that I'll be selling once I have the new boat in the water. My breakdown for use would be something like;
50% fly fishing Puget Sound by myself or with 1 other
20% exploring Puget Sound and camping with my family (3 kids, wife and dog - often it's just me & the kids)
10% crabbing
10% spinning/casting fishing with my younger kids
5% pulling my kids on a tube
5% misc (Columbia River fishing, diving, maybe larger lakes - maybe)
My only real hold up is buying a more family oriented boat for the NW that isn't enclosed, but then it wouldn't be all that great for fly fishing. I'm not interested in a tiller, I'm tired of sitting down low right next to the motor and would like to be able to see better. The window does fold down out of the way while fishing on this model. I like aluminum because I'll typically beach my boat and fish from the shore for a bit, let the kids run around, etc.
Other boats I've been looking at are 17' & 19" Whalers and other CC aluminum welded (i.e. North River, Alumacraft). My budget is 20k and I've been looking for some time to find one that's in newer used condition and I'm coming up empty. 2 boats are out of the question - the Boss says it has to fit in the garage so she doesn't have to look at it every day and she's not parking outside.
Other thoughts? Considerations? Thanks...
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Boat...on=/category/New-Boats-Lacey-WA/105891480.uts
First post here at Washington Fly Fishing, but have been searching and reading other people's posts for years and I thank you for the information you have provided.
I'm in the market for a new boat and wanted to use the forum as a voice of reason and see if there was something different I should be looking at, or if this is it.
I'm looking at a River Hawk 18 Pro-V Center Console (see link at bottom of post). This will be an upgrade from my 12' Alumaweld that I'll be selling once I have the new boat in the water. My breakdown for use would be something like;
50% fly fishing Puget Sound by myself or with 1 other
20% exploring Puget Sound and camping with my family (3 kids, wife and dog - often it's just me & the kids)
10% crabbing
10% spinning/casting fishing with my younger kids
5% pulling my kids on a tube
5% misc (Columbia River fishing, diving, maybe larger lakes - maybe)
My only real hold up is buying a more family oriented boat for the NW that isn't enclosed, but then it wouldn't be all that great for fly fishing. I'm not interested in a tiller, I'm tired of sitting down low right next to the motor and would like to be able to see better. The window does fold down out of the way while fishing on this model. I like aluminum because I'll typically beach my boat and fish from the shore for a bit, let the kids run around, etc.
Other boats I've been looking at are 17' & 19" Whalers and other CC aluminum welded (i.e. North River, Alumacraft). My budget is 20k and I've been looking for some time to find one that's in newer used condition and I'm coming up empty. 2 boats are out of the question - the Boss says it has to fit in the garage so she doesn't have to look at it every day and she's not parking outside.
Other thoughts? Considerations? Thanks...
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Boat...on=/category/New-Boats-Lacey-WA/105891480.uts