10ft jon layout duck boat

[fishy55]

I've got an older 10 footer laying around with a less than mint transom, so I'm afraid to use any of my small outboards on it (3.9 horse and 5horse). I'm a newly addicted duck hunter, and want a layout boat without shelling out the big bucks. I'm sure there's a way to fit two guys shoulder to shoulder facing forward on their backs. The boat's at least 36" wide, I should have measured it. Anyways, layouts typically have a top to them, so the waves can't flood out the boat, and to make the overall appearance much less blocky and defined. I'd think 1/4" plywood would work, but I've never attempted anything like this before. Any help/suggestions would be awesome

There's one bench seat across the front 1/3rd, and a bench all the way in the back, right up to the transom. I'll take some pictures tomorrow when it's brighter out.

 

[fishy55]

This being a layout boat:

 

[fishy55]

Any ideas :?:

 

[Quackrstackr]

Layout boats are extremely stable. A lot more so than a 10' jon.

They also have an extremely low profile in the water (hence the need for a top and usually a spray curtain around the cockpit). The waves just roll up on them.

Having hunted out of the true layouts like you have pictured, the "stealth" type boats like Otter makes and jons.... your success is largely going to depend on what kind of ducks you are planning on hunting from them and where you are planning on doing it.

A tall profile layout will work okay in marsh situations where you can camo the heck out of the top with vegetation but it's most likely not going to work as well in an open water situation like true layouts are made for.

I'm not sure that I would want to be laying in a 10' jon in some of the swells I've been in with a regular layout boat, either.

 

[jackinok]

I dont duck hunt all that much anymore,but i would think the slap a flat bottom makes in any kind of a chop might be a handicap as a layout rig.Like the others,ive used them,but only for puddle ducks when I could set up in the shallows in the weeds.As long as you had a setup like that,they work ok in my limited experience.I would consider a boat that size a one man deal though.Having turned a boat over duck hunting once ,I can assure you you dont want to be in ice cold water,and two guys swinging on ducks in a boat that narrow could flip it in a hurry in the heat of battle so to speak.A true layout boat is a extremly stable, pretty specialized boat,often wood to keep noise down,and very wide for its length.In my opinion a 36" wide boat just doesnt have the stability for even one person to be safely shooting at ALL "come what may" shots,and a flat bottom ,while having good initial stability and bouyancy, loses it very quickly when you start tilting it over.My opinion of course!!

 

[fishy55]

Can't really argue with safety! Would be mainly used in and around the marsh, but we ARE planning a couple trips to Michigan's UP this fall too for some open water divers. Measured the width: 40" across the bottom, 48" across the top. I agree the slap from chop would be very loud, and two guys moving around mid-shot could prove deadly. Just an idea I was tossing around. thanks for the feedback!!

 

[fishy55]

Would this design work? Plywood would be attached to the cockpit and then slope into the water, reducing slap from waves, and adding stability from air trapped below the plywood. At least that's MY theory... Let me know if it'll work. I wouldn't be using it in anything more than a small chop, just in a local 700 acre lake.

 

[Quackrstackr]

1 sheet of 1/2" plywood weighs roughly 50 lbs. 1/4" is 25 lbs.

You will be using at least 3 sheets to do that, possibly more.

 

[fishy55]

1/4" would be used, and I've decided it would only be a one man rig. I don't find it outrageous, as I've seen far more dangerous rigs on here than what I'm cooking up. :wink:

 

[jackinok]

for it to be water /air tight would require some pretty wild modifications .Unless it was removable,it would submarine under the water any time you started moving. Your plywood would have to be a few feet longer than your boat making it nearly impossible to store aboard.The added hieght would make it even more unstable.The added weight would be a factor.The added hieght would restrict your movements so you would almost have to stand to shoot.The restricted visibility would make it nearly impossible to see low flying ducks ,and make shooting at them basically a standing proposition,making your boat even more unstable. And the list goes on,,,,a much BETTER and simpler idea would be to simply add sponsons along side,drop a weighted canvas around edge of boat a few inches below waterline to help lessen slap,if you had to use this boat.All of these have been done,but the fact is they dont make your boat bigger,,an even better idea would be to take the four sheets of plywood this plan would require and build a true layout boat! LOL

 

[Ranchero50]

A set of outriggers would work well for that. Still it's a lot of darn work just to go shoot birds...

Jamie

 

[jackinok]

AMEN!but then again,duck hunters go out when any sensible person would be home in front of the fire!LOL,any number of ways to make a boat more stable etc. I think he is missing the point that the whole purpose of a layout boat is a low as possible profile on the water.We used to do it with sink boxes,but so many people drowned in them , I think they are outlawed in most places now .The place a layout boat really shines is in big water ,with divers beating into the wind about six inches off the waves .In that case you need as low a PROFILE as possible.They can be very effective and lots of fun,but they are also wet cold and even a little dangerous.All the ones ive seen for the last few years have been anchored out much like a floating shooting platform and had another boat picking up birds and standing by just in case weather got too bad.If, in fact, it does get too bad for a duck hunter to go out!,,

 

[Quackrstackr]

Yup.

You won't shoot many puddle ducks out of them unless you have it hidden in a marsh. Their angle of approach is too steep and they'll pick you out every time, even in a factory layout.

 

[jackinok]

your right there!,quite honestly, I bet ive not seen more than 5 true layouts in the last twenty years. And yet somehow they have become THE classic duck hunting craft.Like I say, a excellent, highly specialized boat made for pretty much one use.All the duck guides around here that i've seen are using 18-20 ft semi vees,camo'd with whatever vegetation matches thier lakes they hunt.alot of them run jets on thier out boards so they can get in rivers or back in the flats.

 

[fishy55]

Thanks all. I'll just rattle-can it and cover it in burlap. Easy enough.

 

[jackinok]

I hope i havn't offended you,My suggestion (if you really want a layout rig) is to watch around your area for a old (snark or one of its copies)beginners type ,sailboat.They can usually be found really cheap,have the decks you want made in,are foam filled so they are practically unsinkable,and have nearly the exact hull shape of a layout boat.Just remove the sailing rigging,add a little higher coaming with a few strips of plywood,cut out the center keel slot and patch its resulting hole with fiberglass,some camo paint and you have a layout boat.They set very low to the water due to hull shape,and can be ballasted to set even lower.The hull shape of a layout is a displacement type,the more you load them the more stable they become. I must warn you though,there are several misconceptions about layouts both heresay and in print.
The first and most inaccurate one is that they are made for rough water ,and that waves just roll off them.THIS IS absolutely 100% NOT TRUE!!!! any breaking type wave of any size will sweep over one from stem to stern , fill and quite possibly drive it under in a heartbeat! they are not made to withstand actual waves,they are made due to their hull shape to ride Swells not breaking waves.
The second is that they are excellent all round duck boats.again not so! they draw too much water to really get back into the shallows where probably 90% or more of the hunting is done in this country,they are nearly impossible to power with anything other than oars,or by sculling.any bird more than a couple of feet above the water will instantly pick it out,and thier large decks are very hard to camo, even in a backwater slough.
They were and are made for one thing only,hunting large rafts of ducks far offshore out of any surf.If this is what you need they are excellent shooting boats.however even when hunting ducks offshore ,a regular boat anchored good in the lee of a rocky ,or high bank for a backdrop.and a large spread of decoys set out of the shade ,will get your fair share of shots when these birds hunt for a lee shore to ride out a storm!. again my humble opinion only,and I apologize if Ive offended you.

 

[Quackrstackr]

^^^^^

What he said. I've hunted out of them on KY Lake for divers. Sharp breakers roll up onto them and if they were tall enough, would break into the cockpit with you. They ride rollers with no problem.

You need a tender boat to deploy one. You can't reasonably row or skull one into position.

Like I said before, forget one for puddle ducks. They pick you out in a heartbeat.

 

[fishy55]

I've been wanting one for a couple trips we have planned to the UP and for a local lake that holds lots of diver ducks. I've done a little searching and found that lots of guys just camo their normal fishing boats to look like waves and such. Divers aren't that smart, compared to puddlers, so it works...so they say! I've been working on my uncle to part with his little sailboat he hasn't used, like, EVER. Hopefully I'm successful!

 

[Quackrstackr]

Divers are as dumb as a box of gravel.

We shoot them just sitting out in the open in camp chairs from the bank. :lol:

Matter of fact, that's how we killed all of these one morning last year.