tom q vaxy said:
Q: will a short, wide, hull, be more "useful" than a longer but narrower hull?
thanks
yes
and no.
Local river is very popular for trout fishing, the most popular and useful hull is a 20' length 48" width with a jet outboard to get over the really shallow gravel shoals (less than 6" depth) but it is absolutely USELESS at the lake that this river's tailwater is famous for. This particular hull (topwater, shawnee, among other brands) is designed specifically for the purpose. You can get 3 sometimes 4 people in the boat, it runs in inches of water, is it pretty comfortable, doesn't get hot on the feets, but if you use it anywhere that there is some wake more than 6", it is utterly useless. And they don't turn very well either!
But on the other hand, a 14' 56" width jon is much more stable at the lake, but not quite as useful on the tailwater. It'll run shallower but it won't draft as shallow underway. Nowhere near. The hull shape and design is everything here.
A longer narrower hull does great in the flooded timber for duck hunting, but a wider shorter hull floats in less water but doesn't run through the trees as readily.
In 2012 I bought a new war eagle 548LDV, and put my old 25 yamaha on it. It's 15' length 48" wide 8 deg deadrise nice big tall and TOUGH sides and keel. It goes everywhere I need it to, tailwater, big lake, small lake, creeks. BUT-when the wind gets "up there" (15mph+) and the chop gets a little rough, that boat is entirely too small for those conditions on the big lake. And it doesn't do as good as a Havoc or Edge in the flooded timber, although I'm pleased with it the way it is (I don't hunt much if at all out of the boat). It rides great, smooth as it can be given the fact that it is still an aluminum "jon", bone dry ride, plenty of room inside, not much storage (though I'll fix that), and plenty of power for "most" conditions. Only a couple times I wish I'd had put a 40 on it, which is what its' rated for.
You didn't say what your intended usage was so it's honestly, a loaded question.
Ideally you want to address what the normal usage will be and pick what fits it the best. A duck boat is going to sacrifice some shallow water running capability, but a shallow runner isn't going to duck hunt very well.
