Aluminum boats

[THunt]

I'm looking into getting a newer boat and wanted to hear your ideas.  I want something between 18-22 feet that I can take up lake chelan and fish the Columbia river with.  I want aluminum for sure but don't know if the open bow in them is going to be a problem for up lake chelan or out crabbing in the sound.  Any ideas or set ups you have would be great.

[Wingin it]

A lot of the open bow boats (with windshield) have self draining bows. If you are talking completely open (no windshield) could be a problem in really rough water.

[FC]

Completely open would only be a problem if you didn't like getting wet

[Dmanmastertracker]

 Boats like Custom Weld, Thunderjet and Northwest Jet do have bow's that you can bury in a wave and they will porpoise up easily -and drain what remains. That said you can go one further if your concerned and easily have them weld on a top plate over the bow. I've thought of one for my 21' Storm, but have been in some pretty rough stuff and not needed anything more. Go 22' if you can, Chelan can be just as bad as the ocean. If you go 22' with extended transom your really out to 24' and pretty stable in any kind of weather.

[trippledigitss]

I want the same kind, an aluminum open bow with windshield. Like an Alumaweld, Smokercraft, I even like the Lunds & Trackers too. They have a sweet 19' Alumaweld Stryker I/O jet at 3 Rivers in Woodinville for 15k - damn I wish I had the money for that!!! The only thing I notice off the bat is that glass boats have much more person/cargo weight capacity and as FC has pointed out before, they ride a bit quieter and smoother especially in rougher water.

[THunt]

Thanks for your input guys.  I have a 16' jetcraft now with the self draining bow but have not had much water over the bow.  It's just too small and I would dumb to take that up lake.

[Huntnphish]

 I have owned a few different versions, a couple things to think about. Get as big as you can afford, what most don't realize is when length is taken out of these boats its taken out of the middle, not off of the ends. What this translates to is much less room inside. When talking about the difference between a 20'er and a 22'er it may not seem like a big difference but when you stand in the middle of the boat you will quickly realize the 2' makes a huge difference.

 My last boat I ordered with what they call a "whitewater" bow. Its a closed bow that will not fill up with water when taking waves or hitting whitewater in a river. The open bows drain but not very fast, it adds a lot of weight for a minute or so. One of the big advantages to this besides not filling up is it gives you "A LOT" more storage space, which is huge on longer trips.

 I have had this boat in the Columbia, up Chelan to Stehekin, up the Snake, running thin in the Cowlitz and Sky, out in the sound and up the inside passage to Rivers Inlet.

 You will not find a perfect boat to do it all well, you trade comfort of ride for running shallow, you trade running shallow for less pounding in waves. Figure out what you plan on doing the most in and decide which you can live without.

 Thats Boneaddict fighting a sturgeon, the boat is 22' and he makes it look like a 16'er.

[jackelope]

Hey I know that boat.

[Huntnphish]

Hey I know that boat.

You should, thats you standing behind Bone.

[high country]

I have an 18' walleye style boat. I have done chelan all the way to stehikin once. my boat took it, but I tried to time the wind too. I ws in some nasty stuff and  I can tell you, that a 22' boat would be 1000x better on that lake, she can get down right mean.

[THunt]

I have all sorts of things to think about now!!  So as far as motors go?  Is a 115 outboard big enough for a 20 or 22?  What about a jet? What about an inboard prop?  I see the prices are lower on inboard jets?

[Huntnphish]

 You loose about 30% of your power through a pump so keep that in mind.

 It really all depends on how you are going to use the boat. If you are planning on running rivers then a prop is out. If you are planning on staying in deeper water then a prop will perform better but you can forget about the smaller rivers, you will still need to be careful on the Columbia because it gets thin with the tide change.

 The degree of the bottom will also need to be taken into account. The deeper the V the better the ride through waves but the boat will draft deeper, meaning you need more water to clear the prop and bottom.

[jackelope]

Hey I know that boat.

You should, thats you standing behind Bone.

No it's not. We were out there solo that day...no other boats. I wonder if that was Ray?
The day I was with you, it was Bone, you, myself, Dennis and Big 50CalJim. We're lucky the boat didn't sink with me, Bone and Jim on there all at the same time.
 

[TONTO]

 Unless you plan on running skinny water forget about the jet as stated before you will loose horse power/efficiency. Inboard jets are just noisy gass guzzlers. They also do not handle big water worth a damn, you have to be under power in order to maneuver and the lack of a skeg/rutter in the water will cause you to slide off a swell. A 115 is plenty of power for a 20'ish aluminum if you are not trying for anykind of speed record, 150hp would give you more noticable performance however. If you get a steeper bow you should not be taking any water over the front any how, but a simple plywood cutout placed over the bow will prevent this if you are worried about it and is easily removed when not pounding through the ruff stuff, the scupes on the side can always be made larger as well alowing the bow to drain off quicker if water is taken over the bow. 

[Huntnphish]

but a simple plywood cutout placed over the bow will prevent this if you are worried about it and is easily removed when not pounding through the ruff stuff

 So as not to look like a complete hick, might I suggest a snap on bow cover like this one, should you go the open bow route. Its much easier to stow away when not in use and will not look like you are from Tenino......oops, sorry Charlie.