I've used my 15' Duracraft a few times when I was between boats or one was in the shop. Usually just fished for reds up in Powderhorn, but have ventured across the bay with it before. Just gotta pick your days.

 

Fished a G3 1860 and couldn't get back into a glass boat soon enough. Too light, too narrow, and very uncomfortable. I would have a week long back ache after a day's fishing.

 

My back isn't the best, but seats in a jonboat certainly help. This is my 49th year of having a jonboat somewhere in the yard. First a Gibson, then Ouachita, several Monarchs, and now a new (biggest one yet) 16-foot AlumaCraft. They last a long time. I've had lots of fiberglass boats in the driveway that have come and gone, but the aluminum always stays until worn out.

 

Had a 18 ft LoneStar with a couple of 35s on it (biggest motors they made at that time) back when we had a house at Jamaica Beach (house is now somewhere down on the Yucatan).. Really cool boat. Could cruise at about 30K.. Made one big mistake though...left it in the water down there one winter for about 3 months. Went down in the Spring and was pleasantly surprised that both motors kicked over..Started out canal and best she could do was about 3 knots..at wide open throttle.. Pulled her out and the bottom was covered (and I mean every inch of her) with a coat of solid barnacles about 4 inches thick.. Tried everything known to man to blast that krap off of her and just couldn't get them off...Sold it for scrap value...grrrrrrr!!!!!!...:headknock

Also had a slew of aluminum skiffs we used for duck hunting down on the Barrow Ranch at Baytown for probably 20 years...Good boats that took a real beating winding thru those sloughs..Water was probably more briny than pure saltwater though. No problems with them. Got to looking like hell, but no leaks..

 

May not be Pretty but Functional.There geterdone kind of boat..Rinse off at car wash..and you done no polish of wax..I had em all 12-20 Quatcha to boatright... my favorite 15 - 17 for 2 maybe 4..Light enough to drag off sand or reef..drift shallows about 1'...Sure you gota pick your days but picking boat ramp and ICW helps a lot

 

I'll never own another plastic hull.

 

I fished all over West Bay for a decade in a Monark 14' deep & wide. Traded it to the contractor that Hardi planked my house.
Several times I got caught in windy, rough water...throwing all my gear up front and leaning forward as hard as I could and still have the throttle and hoping the bow came down.

 

Seaark 1872 CC. Not a heavy weather boat, but on a moderate day it does quite well in Trinity Bay. 90HP Etec, a Bob's hydraulic jack plate and a custom T-top. it's all I need. Havn't had it anywhere else except Texas lakes.

 

I have a 20 footer with a center console pushing it with a 90hp Yamaha it also has the steps on the back. It's very deep and wide I love it except on windy days which makes it a very rough ride hard on the back. used it only in saltwater

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I have a 20 footer with a center console pushing it with a 90hp Yamaha it also has the steps on the back. It's very deep and wide I love it except on windy days which makes it a very rough ride hard on the back. used it only in saltwater

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Since 2005, I have been using my MV1860 Alumacraft in saltwater with a 70 Yamaha which I bought new. In rough water it can get bouncy and wet. It does great in the flats and shallow water. If I cross the big bays, I have to pick my days. It is easy to get unstuck in too shallow water. I can usually just push off with a push pole. I used a glass boat 20 years prior to the aluminum while fishing freshwater. When I moved here in 2005, I bought the aluminum boat thinking I would have for 5 years learning the shallow reefs, etc. Now I would have nothing but aluminum. The only negative things that I have. Like I said it does get bouncy and wet in rough water. It is hard to load driving up on trailer with a cross wind. The cross wind blows the back of boat away from trailer when trying to load.

 

^^

Had a 14 ft Deep-V Monarch, not sure what year, 60's 70's? That thing had nice deep sides, light, floated like a duck and leaked like a noodle strainer.

I fished it all over Galveston Bay, Trinity, Rivers, Lakes, you name. VHF, fixed and hand held compass, chart with parallel rules, and cain pole for finding reefs, you were good to go.

Started out with a 7.5hp Eska and the old Green Box Lowrance sonar that ran off lantern batteries, later upgraded to a brand new 30hp Evinrude and mounted a console in it for steering, with a Hummingbird LCR2000, that thing was a fishing machine.

There is no telling how many thousands of hours I put on that rig.

It used to belong to my grandpa, he bought it to pull a small shrimp net with in Trinity bay.

Lots of good times / memories in that rig

FV Relentless

 

Aluminum Boat

18' x 66" wide. Not a light weight boat. Rides dry when trimmed right, runs reasonably shallow and does not pound bad due to weight. Picture of trout March 2016. Fishing lure faster than generally recommended. I believe some fish will react to an erratic bait escaping. Basically-- try different retrieves if your presentation is not working.

 

18' x 66" wide. Not a light weight boat. Rides dry when trimmed right, runs reasonably shallow and does not pound bad due to weight. Picture of trout March 2016. Fishing lure faster than generally recommended. I believe some fish will react to an erratic bait escaping. Basically-- try different retrieves if your presentation is not working.

I have a Boatright 1966, pretty much everything he said except that I'll fish pretty slow presentation while drifting as well as anchored. I'll never own another fiberglass boat, aluminum forever.

I'll add some pics of the best trips later on tonight.

 

My dad purchased this boat in 1986 and I've been using it since 2000. It's 16 ft. to the transom, 19ft to the end of the fantail. It's 64" at it's widest. It was made by Custom Flat Boats in Louisiana, but is no longer in business. It's always been used in salt water. I've caught plenty of fish from this boat, but nothing of any size to brag about. It's still got the 1985 Evinrude 70HP. I keep saying I'm going to upgrade to a newer 90HP, but it won't give me a reason to get rid of it.

 

Went through many with my dad growing up before he bought a Raycraft Bass boat - Ouachita, Monarch, Duracraft, Alumaweld - 9.5 Johnson, 15 Johnson, then a 25 Evinrude.

You could not fill up a couple of dump trucks with the fish we caught in Big Lake (Calcasieu ) out of a 1648 Alumaweld, 25 Evinrude I ran while in high school and college. Ran that thing from one end to other and back on 6 gallons of gas. Got caught in thunderstorms it's a miracle we made it back to the ramp. Learned early on don't try to outrun them, just get to the nearest shore, get out of the boat, hunkerdown and hope lightning finds something taller.

Spent some long bad nights in Grand Bayou marsh thinking it would be good night fishing. Place the push pole on the front and rear seat. Hang a mosquito net with weights on it over the pole like a tent, spray inside with yard guard and wait.....yes the skeeters found a way in....

Before they leveed the east bank and put the weirs in, we would run Grand Bayou past the Tripod east and chase reds through the marsh all the way to Hwy 27. Many times had to tilt the gas can up to make it that last mile or 2 back to Heberts.

After college, sold that and upgraded to a 17' Marshrunner with a 25 SUZUKI, carved out to a 40 so I could still run it in the refuges which had a 25 hp limit., which was just a fiberglass version of the aluminum boat. Then on to bigger and faster bay boats.

Every now and then I think about getting another aluminum due to its versatility, but that would require another rental shed, which would make 3..... In 2 more years when I retire and move, I'll put one in the my new barn.




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Went through many with my dad growing up before he bought a Raycraft Bass boat - Ouachita, Monarch, Duracraft, Alumaweld - 9.5 Johnson, 15 Johnson, then a 25 Evinrude.

You could not fill up a couple of dump trucks with the fish we caught in Big Lake (Calcasieu ) out of a 1648 Alumaweld, 25 Evinrude I ran while in high school and college. Ran that thing from one end to other and back on 6 gallons of gas. Got caught in thunderstorms it's a miracle we made it back to the ramp. Learned early on don't try to outrun them, just get to the nearest shore, get out of the boat, hunkerdown and hope lightning finds something taller.

Spent some long bad nights in Grand Bayou marsh thinking it would be good night fishing. Place the push pole on the front and rear seat. Hang a mosquito net with weights on it over the pole like a tent, spray inside with yard guard and wait.....yes the skeeters found a way in....

Before they leveed the east bank and put the weirs in, we would run Grand Bayou past the Tripod east and chase reds through the marsh all the way to Hwy 27. Many times had to tilt the gas can up to make it that last mile or 2 back to Heberts.

After college, sold that and upgraded to a 17' Marshrunner with a 25 SUZUKI, carved out to a 40 so I could still run it in the refuges which had a 25 hp limit., which was just a fiberglass version of the aluminum boat. Then on to bigger and faster bay boats.

Every now and then I think about getting another aluminum due to its versatility, but that would require another rental shed, which would make 3..... In 2 more years when I retire and move, I'll put one in the my new barn.

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Same thing for me! I grew up with aluminum boats and can't even imagine how many fish were pulled over the sides from Big Lake and Sabine Lake. In 99' or 00' the aluminum boat (15/48 Weldcraft with a 25 Suzuki) became a taxi because I learned what wadefishing was all about. In 04' I bought a little glass boat similar to the Marshrunner (made in the same building), called an Exploiter. The Suzuki couldn't get the boat up on the pad, so upgraded the motor to a 40hp Mercury and ran that hull for nearly 10 yrs. That Exploiter was indestructible and rode real nice for what it was. I destroyed an old riveted Eldo-craft, a Weld-Tek, and a Weld-Built in Big Lake throughout my teens and early 20s!

The thing I miss about the aluminum boat was that nobody pot licked me, unless they could see the water flying! The small boat also had a very limited fuel supply compared to a big boat, so you tend to fish more and run less to make for a day of fishing.

I think I'm gonna buy a new aluminum boat in the near future. I will probably go with an 18/42 Southfork tunnel hull and fish the marshes, Sabine River, and use it for hunting. I've had some really great memories from fishing out of aluminum boats, as well as some of the scariest moments during foul weather!

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Everyone has their personal equipment decisions when it comes to equipment. There's a whole bunch of guys who have decided it's really important to look cool. I have no problem with people who want to confuse equipment with knowledge. It does keep the economy moving.

Some are more interested in function over form. Saltwater bays are rough on equipment, stuff is going to get scratched, covered with mud, slimed out, and it's up to the owner as to how much time and effort they want to devote to their equipment. Remember everything on a boat is some sort of compromise, you decide what you want to give up.

 

I have a G3 Outfitter 170 with a 70HP Yamaha. Its not the driest boat Ive ever been in but takes rough water pretty good. I use it mostly in fresh water but have been in the salt a couple of times. I've had my share of boats but after having glass I always go back to tin.

 

I have had roughly 6 Alum. boats from Monarchs to Dura Craft, All Weld, and last was an Aluma Craft.
2 were deep and wide, my last one was 18' long tunnel from Jerry's marine, 42" bottom vented, with a TUNED 40 Merc 2 stroke.

 

Dose any one us a semi v 14 foot in the bays and flats


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Dose any one us a semi v 14 foot in the bays and flats

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As a young teenager my dad bought me a 14 ft Ouchita semi v with a 9.9 Mercury. I used to run all over Jones lake and west bay. Great days growing up.

 

I had a 18' Alumacraft tunnel and I used to learn my way around the LLM lakes and flats. I ran that thing everywhere, including the occasional reef and sand bar! I'd just push it off and keep going! Best part is they are tough and very low maintenance. Sometimes I wish I still had it!

 

I have an 18' wide bottom flounder boat and love it just as much as my 23' cc. The most important part of maintenance is routinely replacing the anodes because electrolysis can be a B****.

 

1987 Duracraft 1860 with a 105 jet drive. Doesn't leak a drop.



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Here's my favorite jonboat picture. Coastal artist Sam Caldwell with a 40 pound ling in my 14-foot Monarch, years ago. That fish just didn't like being on a trout stringer, so we turned him loose. Wasn't room for him in the boat. I was sitting on top of my Merc 18 outboard when I took the picture. Sam was probably a little sore next day, but at least he had a seat cushion to sit on...That dive bag behind him had a mask and snorkel, so I jumped overboard and took the second photo. Oh, we had some fun that day.

 

have had a quachita,two monarks and three alwelds along with a couple of plastic boats,present boat is a 2180 alweld escort.it is a good around boat for bay,old river marsh,river,lakes,jetties and outside the jetties on good days.it doesn't mind trot line weights either.have been fishing trinity and galveston bay area for 47 years,mostly with aluminum boats.

 

I know this is a dumb ??? But what is the best weather to take like a 14 foot semi v to the coast and what is the worst


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I know this is a dumb ??? But what is the best weather to take like a 14 foot semi v to the coast and what is the worst

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Need to know your area, watch the winds with Windfinder app or something so you don't get stuck out in unprotected areas if the wind shifts, very dangerous. Know your route and the winds that protect it. Bring plenty of safety gear.

 

Now I know what the best is but I'm trying to plan my trips and kinda know what kinda of weather to go down there on


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