Northwest Fishing Reports

I have been debating getting a new boat, but am torn between several brands. Does anyone have strong opinions for or against Hewes Craft, Woolridge, Alumacraft or similar brands? Any input would be appreciated.

What is your primary use?

Salmoln & Steelhead on rivers, use in Sound for both along with crabbing, and some lake use with the family.

And how much money do you wanna spend? Say you had 20K go buy two boats one with a flat bottom for the rivers and one with a good v hull at least 18 footer for the sound. If i had to buy another boat I would really consider doing it this way or just go buy a bigger version of what i already have with a radius hull. keep us posted love it when people buy new stuff on here

So you're saying inboard jet???

I'm biased against Alumaweld boats in general due to the shortcuts taken during manufacturing, general lack of storage and the thinner materials they use in the hull. Granted I haven't looked at any of their newer models so I'm not sure if they have shored up thier product. With the mid grade boats like Hewes, Raider, North River & Duckworth the differences in pricing is the finish\trim and power opttions and I'd feel comfortable with anyone of them. As Sickbayer eluded to, there is no one boat to do it all. Pick a boat that will handle your primary fishing desires, otherwise you will be dissapointed in it's performance. If you can wait for the next Sportsman's Show it will save you a lot of driving around to look at different manufacuter's product to see which suits your needs best.

sorry g-mqan, nothing wrong with alumweld boats, mine is a very good boat, see no shortcuts in the boat, it has some better features than the hewes, dont see how you say they are mid grade boats, what would you say was a top grade if you think north river and duckworth are midgrade.???????? I have fished the sound , lakes and now on the upper Columbia , the boat does everything I could wish for.........jmho...............

Im with Gman i went and viewed the Alumweld boats and the sides with so thin i didnt even want to lean against it, even the gunnels where 1 inch thick where do you mount you downriggers? As for upper grade boats customweld spring to mind even willie boats are very well laid out and superb quality. But the real topic here is how much does he wanna spend?
As for me i have a thunderjet some folks dont think much of them but i assure you look at the welds and finish and the .250 bottom on my boat and you be suprised i really didnt think thunderjet were midrange but one of the lower end boat makers but compared to other boats ive seen out there im happy had it for six years and still looks like new. So being bias i say buy a Thinderjet!!

oh yeah an inboard jet is the only way to go no price on safety!

What I consider the higher end boats are your Customwelds, Weldcrafts, Rogues, Wooldridge and their like. When you climb aboard one you'll understand why these boats command upwards of $40K used! Outside the welds are continuous and near perfect and inside the boat is laid out with all the bells and whistles in place. As for material , even the mid range boats I mentioned have .190" hull thickness at a minimum unlike Alumaweld that come with .125" bottom and .100" sides. It does make for a lighter boat and would be great for lakes and large rivers, I just wouldn't trust it if I were running rapids or beating it in rough seas on a regular basis.

What????? No Thunder Jets????? Very nice boats and a good price point. You can go total custom if you want to spec it for the factory too. So many options and so little time!!!!

There are many quality boat manufactures in our area that make custom and semi-custom boats. I couldn't possibly name them all in one go and I'm not even going to try. I spent a good amount of time looking for deal on a quality used boat and found that they are very hard to come by. So much so that after a few years of looking, my wife convinced me to just buy a new and outfit it the way I wanted it. What can I say, love my wife!

I really dont think the finish on woolridge is much to shout about and that is the main reason I didn't buy one. Still they are proud of their boats.

Thanks for the input everyone. I'll update you all when I pull the trigger on one.

bumping an old thread Kevin, cause I wondered if you decided? There are so many types of waters in WA that I am always struggling with this decision myself.

I hadn't decided, but my better half decided for me because she decided Ineeded to hold off until sometime next year.

lol, bummer. my boat shopping started up again about a week ago because my wife sent me a random text saying "i think you need a boat". lol