Lowe Roughneck boat

[TheHunt]

I need to get a cheap boat to learn how to run rivers.  I was considering buying a roughneck.  What are your thoughts?  The link below is the URL of the boat.  I would not get the consol it shows in the picture and just run the motor by hand. 

http://www.loweboats.com/hunting-boats/frontier-2070

I am not interested in buying a 35,000 dollar boat or 20,000 dollar boat to learn how to run a boat up and down a river. 

Looking for opinions...

[7mmfan]

Great boat. I run one on the Upper Columbia and guide out of it daily fly fishing for trout. Stable, runs smooth and can go anywhere. Honestly no need to buy a super-vee or a north river in my opinion. Been looking for a new one myself to have on the west side for river running and duck hunting.

[mebco09]

Go down to 3 rivers marine in woodinville. They have good used boats own there on occasion.  Pretty fair guys to work with too.

I would try to find a used Lund or similar, there seem to be quite a few 16-18 foot tiller boats on Craigslist.  Get one with a jet drive or convert a prop motor and have at it.

[Sportfury]

Love that style of boat. My buddy has a 16 footer and it is great on the lake. You can stand on the bow, stand on the seats, all the people in the boat can stand on the same side of the boat and there is no worries. Not sure if he has ever had it in a river.

This boat has been on CL for a while. He keeps dropping the price and it is pretty low now. http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/boa/3295047417.html

I want something like that, but the wife wants a bigger boat, so I am looking at the 20 to 30,000 range.

[TheHunt]

Yes, I saw the boat already.  BUT I need a completely open boat.  I am not planning on any seats so four people can fish out of it and not get in each others way. 

[huntnphool]

 I would suggest taking a guided fishing trip with a guy that runs the river you are wanting to fish. You can take notes when running up and down and learn how to fish it from a boat at the same time. Cheap insurance and valuable information all in one.

[TheHunt]

Not sure I would trust that option.  Here is the reason, each river runs at a different flow at different times of year.  I plan on taking someone who knows how to read water so that I can learn the same therefore I can read the water myself and it really does not matter what river I am running up.

[Button Nubbs]

Here's my

It looks like a great beginner boat and you are on the right track with wanting a tiller boat imo.

Keep in mind that a flat bottom boat is a nightmare to do ANYTHING with if its even just breezy. Trying to side drift out of a flat bottom will work but you will be much happier if you had somewhat of a v type hull. Also with no seats a flat bottom will pound your passengers into submission. A famous quote from my much younger brother while riding on the bow of my old boat was "I feel like I'm in jail, cause my ass is getting pounded!"

Go with the max hp rating for the motor. You can never have too much especially if your planning on pushing 4 guys up river.

Stick to rivers like the cowlitz at first until you get a grasp on things. Its hard to get in a whole bunch of trouble on there. LOOK BEHIND YOU when you fire up the big motor and get ready to run back up river, you don't want to cut someone off who is on full plane coming up river.

One good thing about flat bottom boats is you will be impressed by how little water they drag. I had a couple but pucker moments in my boat where I thought we were for sure gonna hit, but we didn't even come close.

I will be your guinea pig!

[cohoho]

Keeping this as my two cents also...................  If you go with this company, keep it at the 2070 size with the biggest motor you can, anything less like the 1655 and such on the Roughneck style boats ride back end down so bad you have to put people on the bow to get on step.  Maybe a bit of an exaggeration but close.  Out of the many, many boats I ran and test drove before deciding to buy my river sled in AK, I thought Roughneck was in the bottom of choices.  The hull thickness is super thin and river rocks will make it like someone hit it with a ball peen hammer on every trip, the transom are not solid weld alum or at least weren't before but merely alum sheet metal over wood and the welds are horrible. I know ATEC is now making boats down here in the lower forty eight, check one out before making a purchase.    I had the 1860 model with tunnel (Properly designed tunnel, not some crap Lowe makes for props in the swamp and sell for jet motors).  Anyhow the ATEC started flat and flat on going to plane and then of course running plane flat, feature that is critical if you deside to run a pump.   I abused the heck out of the boat on AK river rocks strewn rivers for six years til upgrading to a Wooldridge Alaskan and it worked flawlessly, where friends had Lowes and were unhappy with planning time and power needed to get the performance on shallow rivers and couldn't go as far up river as I could ever!  I could go where the Airboats previously were the only boats in those areas....  It handled very well and I felt safe on larger rivers like the Kenai and the Yukon.  The ATEC could haul a lot of weight - if a bull moose, gear, two dudes and son is enough weight on about 5" inches of water in places...  I wish I had that boat here for the smaller rivers, would be a blast.  G-3 also makes a solid jet sled style boat too that you might want to consider.   

[TheHunt]

Thanks Cohoho for posting up a new company to look at.  I never heard of them...   

I understand that the flat bottom boat will beat the living crap out of you and anyone in the boat.  Finding a boat with a modified "V" hull and cheap as possible is a real challange. 

Eventually I would like to get a Wooldridge Alaskan XL, Boulton, or Northriver.  But not until I figure out what I am doing on the river.  My wife gave me the green light to spend the big money but I am not interested into listen to the "You put a dent in the boat, don't you know what you are doing?" and listening to that until I die.   

So I will figure it out with a much cheaper boat... 

[Button Nubbs]

I second the g-3. That's what I had and I loved that boat. It would seriously go anywhere.

[cohoho]

Not sure what rivers your running but man love the skinny stuff for sure.  One advice for running skinny water....  "Run it like you stole it!"  (of course I say that for snowmobiles too! )  Straight lines approach to cuts, bank to bank and follow flow.  Running up is always easier then coming down and spot ahead for deeper pockets that you can blast to in the event it gets shallow really quickly.  Watch for deadhead and sweepers and stay away from anything in the water that creates a down stream vee of water from it...  Upstream vee is your friend....  Learn the feel and how to slide the boat around corners by practicing on open lakes...  And of course the number #1 thing about running skinny - Expect damage....

[Skillet]

I was looking for what you're looking for a few years ago, so I'll throw my $.02 in there -

Starcraft Rogue 1886

I had one in the 1686 model - shallow v deadrise, modified v bow, welded construction.  Fished 3 guys on 4-leg stands really easily, so the 18'er should be fine for four.  Really not a bad boat at all for the money.  Sure, the welds aren't what you'd expect to see in a Weldcraft, but it is a solid boat with .100" thick sides & bottom that is meant to be used.

I modified it for my type of use by doing some "off-label" stuff with the flotation boxes and other storage areas and fished the heck out of that boat on rivers and lakes.  Had a 40hp merc 4S prop on it.  I sold that boat to a friend 4 years ago when I "upgraded" to a Lund - and if it ever becomes available I'm buying it back!  Doubt it will, though, because he loves it as much as I did.

[WSU]

How cheap does it need to be?  Super-vee L's are cheaper than the normal models.  I think you will want to fish out of the various models before you buy.  You will discover that some boats track far better than others.  Boats that don't track well make fishing a complete pain in the ass.

[Button Nubbs]

Another tip, try to stay off the fishy water but sometimes, especially in the summer, its inevitable. Also watch what side the other boats are fishing off and go around if possible.