Newbie Question

Ok, I am sure you guys and girls have seen this question pop up before but I need to ask it anyway. I am looking at buying a used jon boat for fishing reservoirs (electric motor only) and some lakes (limited to 20 hp). I have two sons 7 and 10 that will be with me and maybe my wife. Would you recommend semi v or flat bottom, 14' or 16'. I am new to the boating world and any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Oh and I am new to this site as well!

Thanks for any info,

T

If the waters are small and fairly calm I would go with the flat bottom for more fishing stability. If the waters you fish on tend to kick up waves then the v will give you a better ride, but the boat will rock a little more than the flat one while fishing and moving around the boat. From what you describe, I would go with a 1448 flat bottom jon at the minimum with a 80 pound 24 volt dual battery setup.

Since your wife will go sometimes and your boys are only going to get bigger, I'd go with a 15' or 16'er for a little more comfort.

I fish out of a 1442 flat bottom, it has about a 63" beam. For tournaments my partner and I are both over 200 lbs. I also have fished with my wife and grandaughter just fine. Like Jim said, it is a bit more stable than a semi-v. Seeing that most time is spent fishing and not running I also recommend a flat bottom. The 1448 has a 71" beam and will be even more stable. You can see my boat at https://www.electric-bass.org click on navigation menu, click on fully rigged ebc boat

not saying bigger is always better, but you can't make a boat bigger if u know what i mean when you need the space. by the way welcome..... :fishing2:

:WELCOME:

I like the 16ft mod V's and considering you may have 3 poles going at once, I think you may appreciate the extra distance between the hook from the person next to you and your ear.

Wow thanks for all of the responses!! Ok, I have another question. What are the advantages of riveted vs welded boats?

tncsant said:

Wow thanks for all of the responses!! Ok, I have another question. What are the advantages of riveted vs welded boats?

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Id go with a 1648, riveted. Welded boats are sturdier, but theyre heavier. I would hate to have an all electric set up on a welded boat, it would be slow, and also be hell to load because of the extra weight.

I have found a couple of boats listed on Craigslist. What are some of the bells and whistles you guys would look for in a used boat?

bigger is always better! width is important, get the widest, cheapest/best deal you can find! welded equals stronger, no leaky rivets ever, but also equals more expensive. If you had the choice between two boats, same price, identical in every way except one welded, one riveted, then it would be foolish to buy the riveted one, but don't worry you'll never have to make that decision I don't think.

But think about how you plan to use it, how you might like to use it if you could, then figure out what you need to do both those things, that way it will be at least next summer before your looking for a bigger/better/badder/what-have-you boat!

wolfmjc said:

not saying bigger is always better, but you can't make a boat bigger if u know what i mean when you need the space. by the way welcome..... :fishing2:

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Exactly my toughts

nathanielrthomas said:

Id go with a 1648, riveted. Welded boats are sturdier, but theyre heavier. I would hate to have an all electric set up on a welded boat, it would be slow, and also be hell to load because of the extra weight.

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that's not true... I have a 1546 all welded boat and I'm faster than all of the other boats in my club - with a lot more weight. I run right at 5mph with all of my batteries (5), decks, trolling motors (3) and 2 guys with a combined weight around 400lbs...

and - heavy boats float just as well as lightweight boats... I personally think they are easier to load because of the weight. But if you look at the specs, there's not that much difference between an all welded boat and a riveted boat

russ010 said:

nathanielrthomas said:

Id go with a 1648, riveted. Welded boats are sturdier, but theyre heavier. I would hate to have an all electric set up on a welded boat, it would be slow, and also be hell to load because of the extra weight.

Click to expand...

that's not true... I have a 1546 all welded boat and I'm faster than all of the other boats in my club - with a lot more weight. I run right at 5mph with all of my batteries (5), decks, trolling motors (3) and 2 guys with a combined weight around 400lbs...

and - heavy boats float just as well as lightweight boats... I personally think they are easier to load because of the weight. But if you look at the specs, there's not that much difference between an all welded boat and a riveted boat

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So your boat is heavier than the other boats and you have more weight, but it is still faster? Do the other guys have the same power you do? From my experience, if you have the same power on the same boat, the lighter boat is faster. Im not saying that you cant make a heavier weled boat faster than a comparable riveted boat, because obviously you have with 3 trolling motors. But with the same trolling motor on either boat(welded or riveted), the lighter boat will be easier for the motor to pull/push. I mean, logically speaking, if you put a 24v 70# thrust on a welded 1648, its obviously gonna be faster than a riveted 1648 with a 12v 36# thrust. You get what Im saying? Either way, somehow the extra weight has to be compensated for.

There is about a 30-40% weight increase for welded boats over riveted.. How is a heavier boat easier to load? Im not tracking. Could you explain?

As far as loading - the wind doesn't blow you around as easy as a lighter boat, that's all I was getting at with that. Other than the wind, they are about the same to load.

There is another guy in my club that has a 1436 with 3 motors.. a 55 up front and 2 30s in the back. I can pretty easily outrun him.
Then there's a 1432 that has 3 40s and I barely outrun them.

Granted I do have heavy motors (71 up front, and 2 55s in the rear)... But there is a 1648 in my club that has a 55 up front and 2 55s in the rear. Pretty much the same boat as mine except it's riveted and it's an open floor so he doesn't have all the weight I do - I can put my 71# on 3 and still outrun him - and I'm carrying 2 more batteries.

Here's the funny thing though (and now I'm just thinking out loud)... I think my boat runs better with just 1 of those 55s in the back than both of them. I guess it might be the resistance or something, but dang if it don't make a difference. Only reason I keep 2 back there is if one or the other decided to die on me while I'm out on the water

Holy moly that alot of dang trollin motors. I see why you got 5 batteries now. lol :LOL2:

nathanielrthomas said:

Holy moly that alot of dang trollin motors. I see why you got 5 batteries now. lol :LOL2:

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It's not fun getting a dead battery 2 miles from the ramp... and all you have is a net (which by the way makes a dang good oar if you break the real one earlier in the day on a snapper (turtle))

My 16 mod v had a 67 up front and a 80 in the rear, I am certain i was heavier than most, since i was carrying probbaly 400lbs in just batterys, I could run like 4.3 without the 80 and 4.9 with it, not a huge difference, all your speed is in the front motor IMO, I bet a 101 bow mount would be faster than a 70 with a 50 pushing..

I like the 1648 semi v. I would put an 82 lb thrust motor on it and fish all day in comfort. It has a lot of stability and room for the family.