Northwest Fishing Reports

Man, oh man... I am going through a mid life crisis over what my preferred fishing vessel is.
I’ve fished out of a 14’ Lund deep V hull riveted boat, x 11 years. Finally a year ago the hull gave out due to corrosion. After 11 years and A LOT of time in the salt, I felt like I got my time and money out of it.
From there I went into a Hobie Mirage drive kayak this past year.

While the Hobie PA 14 has been a lot of fun, honestly I’m not sure it is me..
I feel super close to the water, intimidated about the day I flip, and frankly it’s just physically awkward doing things from such a cramped sitting position. Every thing must be highly dialed in as far as placement goes. As well as I miss the 2-3 people in a boat trolling thing.

Anyway, so my question is that I’m asking what manufacturers out there make welded hull boats, (in the 16’ range?). I am talking boats in the style of a 16’ Smokercraft, etc?
Another words a deep V-hull, 25-40 hp tiller, 3 bucket seats, etc.
As I said, I came from a Lund, but totally not aware of which brands in this size are welded.
I could easily accept going back to a riveted similar boat, as long as it was a boat that spent most of its time in someone’s garage, and little time on the water... but want to explore the idea of a welded hull.
I need to sell so much boating stuff, it’s crazy. I’ve got two pontoon boats, 3 kayaks, a wooden Pram, and 2 float tubes.

We have a 16 foot all welded smokercraft Phantom. We absolutely love it. Big enough to fish the sound on decent days and perfect for most lakes. The phantoms are kinda rare, but the pro tracer and osprey are nice reasonably priced boats as well. The alumaweld Talon also looks like a decent welded 16 foot boat.

I was close to getting an alumaweld talon but ended up with an 18ft intruder which I absolutley love. It's a 1999 and I've had it for almost a year, it been in salt and on lakes almost every weekend since I bought it, no joke. Most people think it's a newer boat too since it's so well taken care of and garage kept its whole life. Alumawelds hold up well over the years and look great. As do most welded boats. Like you said look for a used boat that has obviously been garage kept and take your time looking, the right boat took me about 6 months to find I think... my 2 cents. Good luck!

Would you expect anything else from me?

Hewescraft 16' Open Fisherman

hewesfisher wrote:Would you expect anything else from me?

Hewescraft 16' Open Fisherman

Hewesfisher, I was actually hoping very much that you would post up on this thread.
Yeah, that Hewescraft 160 Openfisher... that is exactly the layout I’m talking about. The length is a perfect slide into the garage, it doesn’t appear to have all kinds of bells and whistles, (or maybe the pics just don’t show it)

The trick is even finding one in the used market to that I can see what kind of price they sell for used. I suppose I can broaden my search across the country (just for pricing)

I am not completely dismissing riveted boats from good builders, again... my boat’s death came from 11 years of total year round use, and lots of salt.. but, the amount of disection that it took to remove all the flooring and foam floatant material was a freakin’ nightmare. The thought of EVER doing that again sent me over the edge.

OK, I’ll follow up on the boats mentioned above as well.

Just saw this on CL. Seems like it is well kept and a nice layout.

https://olympic.craigslist.org/boa/d/we ... 67514.html

I liked my 15 foot Klamath and it's still giving my son fishing adventures. Although, at 20+ years it dos leak, although not enough to be unsafe.

Looking for a used welded boat...….. Well, Hewes has the market by far but that's because of contract production, they have the numbers. Does it mean they're the best manufacturer, they have the numbers. Since you're looking at a used one, that just means lots of searching and looking. You might even find a new one for the price of a used boat by hounding the dealers. Cabelas/BassPro have a new contract with Thunderjet and I'll bet they're wheeling and dealing. I don't know if they're (Cabelas)still selling them but River Hawk makes a very nice welded aluminum, a little lighter than the "Heavy Gauge" guys out Lewiston/Clarkston and the central valley in OR. Start looking, CL Portland, a lot more boats down south with the Columbia. Look at a million, buy one. Good luck!

Hay Chris I'd offer you my 17' Glasply, but since you want an aluminum boat check out this one.

https://portland.craigslist.org/nco/boa ... 29457.html

The open fisherman is fairly new to the lineup, less than 5yrs IIRC. Several members on the Hewescraft forum with them and they are very pleased.

Hewescraft has really stepped up their game after employee theft/fraud all but bankrupted the company in 2011.

Cabela's lost their Hewescraft contract because they wanted to open a new store that would have competed directly with the highest volume Hewescraft dealer in WA. They tried to force the issue, and rather than bow to Cabela's, Hewescraft protected their long standing dealer network relationship and cancelled the Cabela's contract. That's integrity.

This isn't an open boat, but neither were the other two posted earlier, can't see the pics unless you subscribe though (my site, my rules ) - http://www.hewescraftowners.com/HCO/vie ... f=9&t=3963

Here's another one.

https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/boa/ ... 81419.html

Here's one off of offer up.

https://offerup.com/item/detail/623464791/

Morning Chris,

Have you made any decisions? Something enclosed with a heater would be nice.

rseas wrote:Morning Chris,

Have you made any decisions? Something enclosed with a heater would be nice.

I’m too cheap to go for an enclosed boat, and I keep it in my garage, so certain height limits.
I am gathering targets of welded hull boat models. I am not ‘dead set’ against a really low hours riveted boat, but right now I’m on welded hulls. I am noticing the Gregor boats, 16’ , very basic deep V hull, not looking for a lot of extras.

Will be selling a very nicely outfitted Hobie PA14 Mirage Drive 180 kayak soon, in case anybody is listening.

The old Best day and Worst scenario! I wish you luck and if I can help in anyway just holler.

We have a big F/G boat unofficially for sale.
Going to be a screaming deal for someone. Rebuilt duoprop O/D, 20 HP Honda kicker w/remote steer that will troll at 1 mph, new steering, alternator, exhaust risers... the hull is in excellent condition and deck is solid. Wired for Scotty and most of the teak trim/accents have been refinished.

We bought it as a project, have 20,000+ in it (purchase price and mechanical improvements) and will be selling it for 5,000-6,000.

Bodofish wrote:Looking for a used welded boat...….. Well, Hewes has the market by far but that's because of contract production, they have the numbers. Does it mean they're the best manufacturer, they have the numbers. Since you're looking at a used one, that just means lots of searching and looking. You might even find a new one for the price of a used boat by hounding the dealers. Cabelas/BassPro have a new contract with Thunderjet and I'll bet they're wheeling and dealing. I don't know if they're (Cabelas)still selling them but River Hawk makes a very nice welded aluminum, a little lighter than the "Heavy Gauge" guys out Lewiston/Clarkston and the central valley in OR. Start looking, CL Portland, a lot more boats down south with the Columbia. Look at a million, buy one. Good luck!

Indeed, I found my boat in Portland on CL and made the 4 plus hr drive to get it. Seems like more selection for better prices, than Seattle area at least. Take your time for what you want. Alot of boats should be coming up soon with spring some where around the corner haha
Cant wait to see what you end up with!
Again, good luck!

Yes, even during this slow winter time frame, I have seen a larger selection of boats in the general Oregon area.

Portland has a lot more "sportsmen" than Seattle So a lot more of our kinda boats. My DB came from half way there. The big thing about down there is no Amazon or Microsquish to inflate the prices. Buy there, sell here. Give a shout if you want to make a run and look at some.

Thanks Matt. Yeah, even though I’ve been boating about 15 years now. (I thought I kinda new what I was talking about)
In the past couple weeks I feel like I’ve been learning a lot.
I’m a little embarrassed to admit.. I have always stated that my Lund was a ‘Deep V hull’. Uh... nope! Just got schooled on the “Low Deadrise hull, Moderate Deaderise Hull, “ etc!

Matt, check your Bodo Comcast email, I sent you a message.