Matching a boat a motor and to needs - poll.

Howdy,

I'm new to the forum. Found this forum while trying to do some research on selecting a aluminum jon boat to go with a Honda 15HP 4-cycle outboard I picked up just before Chrstmas for about half of it's retail value.

I fish for crappie, bluegill, spotted bass and may fish for strippers and white bass. The area I'm fishing in is the Northeastern portion of Georgia including Lake Oconee, Lake Lanier, Lake Hartwell, the Oconee River and possibly other small (Mostly electric only) impoundments near this area.

I'm needing help picking the best balance of jon for the above application, so I've set up a poll. Stability is a consideration, since I'm almost fifty, but I would like to be able to move along reasonably well with two people in the boat.

BTW, don't know if this is pertinent, but I'm quite handy with tools, have a good table saw and a variety of woodworking tools, am a hobby woodworker and part time gunsmith. I am also an electronics technician and grew up working as a mechanic in my Dad's shop. So many things are within my "do it yourself" range, except for fiberglass. I'm not skilled in working fiberglass.

So I'm throwing out a poll options on jon boat type Please vote and comment with your thoughts on length and width and anything else you think I should consider.

Thanks for your help,

Dave

Welcome Aboard Dave!

I chose the ModV 1654 boat, as I believe what you describe as your fishing raeas will do well, and the belief that go as big as you can, for comfort and stability. If the 15hp motor proves under-powered for that boat you can always upgrade a slightly bigger hp.

Exactly what Waterwings said!

You have lots of options with that hull, and it will handle your OB nicely.

Welcome to the site. Please jump in anytime.

BTW - Great 1st post!

I too voted the 1654, but you would probably be just fine with the 1548. Lake Lanier is a big lake, and you do not want to be out there in a flat bottom. On the flip side, a 16 foot vee is a lot of boat for a 15 horse. And, on a large lake like Lanier, and Hartwell, a 14 foot vee is going to seem a tad small. The mod vee will give you jon like stability at rest, but will take bigger water a lot better. One of the best boat designs in my opinion. (that is the reason most tourney aluminum bass rigs are mod vees on steroids)
A 15 or 16 foot mod v will still be a dog with the 15 horse, but I feel that you would be happiest with it. I fish with a dog of a boat right now (you see 3 various sized boats, and 7 outboards in my sig, but only one boat is water ready, and even then, it is underpowered, and uncompleted) and it works just fine on Allatoona.

BTW, where do you live? I live in Cartersville, and fish Allatoona mostly, but once the Alumacraft is complete (if that ever happens - free time is nonexistant) we will head around to Lanier, and Oconee from time to time. [/quote]

Welcome aboard Dave,
Im glad you joined here. You have a great motor in that Honda thats for sure. I cant wait to see what you decide to match it with!

Thanks everyone for the information. I'll start saving towards buying the 16 footer. Your answers are confirming what I suspected.

Bassboy,

I live in Statham, GA currently and am attending college at Athens Technical College (I'm a retread.). I own a Riverhawk B-52 right now, but am not finding it very stable in that it rocks a bit more than I or the wife are comfortable with. I grew up on boats, but I'm 49 and with my bad knees, I can't stand up in the Riverhawk to fish. In addition, I don't like working with fiberglass everytime I want to add something to the boat.

Hence my desire to get myself a more stable and easily modified aluminum boat.

Regards,

Dave