Aluminum boats

[Cap.Silver]

I had Thunderjet I/O with 175 hp Mercury Sportjet 19' and sold it . The only thing I didn't like were the vibrations and noise of the inboard. I would go with an offshore bracket with outboard also for more space and air seats 

[CAMPMEAT]

My buddy is the shipping boss at Hewescraft. Call Clarks in Colville and get pricing on what you want.

[high country]

I have the snap on bow cover. I would not travel big water without it handy. My boat wears a 115 HP 2 stroke that I played with and I can pop up 200 lb slalom skiers and full speed is about 55. I used 7 gallons of gas to go up to stehikin and did so in about an hour....pretty good economy.  4strokes are heavier and it is tougher to extract much more power, but they idle better and of course don't smoke. I would want 150 as a minimum 4t outboard on a bigger boat. 

[THunt]

Sounds great the boat I have now is just a little small.  Im not sure about the nice bow cover.  I'm from the method so the plywood would fit my style! Lol I will do some research and let you guys know what I pull the trigger on.

[PA BEN]

http://www.hewescraft.com/

[rasbo]

of all the boats I looked at on the water,and being an owner of a alumaweld,if I had the money,I would get me a 20ft hewes, a 150 and a 9.9 kicker 

[cohoho]

I recently sold my Thunderjet 22 foot Rio, it is a good all around all purpose boat and can run shallow-----BUT any wind waves over an inch will literally beat the living snot out of you.  That goes for any jet hull of 12-14 degrees.  Jet are designed for shallow use- not open water, yea they can perform in big water safely, but your kidneys, back and cavity fillings will pay the price.    But if your intent is rivers and skinny water then you can't beat them..period.  But the big inboards come with alot of draw back, weight- if your stuck- your stuck....  I ran some of the skinniest water around in AK with a different boat - Wooldridge 17 foot AK which I have yet to find a better shallow running boat, other than an air boat...  Just recently went the opposite direction in boats and got a 23 foot Wooldridge Super Sport Offshore with a 200hp Honda.  Man why didn't I do this earlier.  Thing handles like a caddy, room for a girls volleyball team and stays on track while anchored like the Queen Mary...  What you were looking for- a boat for Lake Chelan and the Columbia is exactly why I now have this boat.  I would personally stay away with anything smaller than 20 feet or you'll be trading in very soon, especially if you take more than one extra with at any time.  2 feet is a huge additional to a boat.  Good luck in your search... 

[high country]

I recently sold my Thunderjet 22 foot Rio, it is a good all around all purpose boat and can run shallow-----BUT any wind waves over an inch will literally beat the living snot out of you.  That goes for any jet hull of 12-14 degrees.  Jet are designed for shallow use- not open water, yea they can perform in big water safely, but your kidneys, back and cavity fillings will pay the price.    But if your intent is rivers and skinny water then you can't beat them..period.  But the big inboards come with alot of draw back, weight- if your stuck- your stuck....  I ran some of the skinniest water around in AK with a different boat - Wooldridge 17 foot AK which I have yet to find a better shallow running boat, other than an air boat...  Just recently went the opposite direction in boats and got a 23 foot Wooldridge Super Sport Offshore with a 200hp Honda.  Man why didn't I do this earlier.  Thing handles like a caddy, room for a girls volleyball team and stays on track while anchored like the Queen Mary...  What you were looking for- a boat for Lake Chelan and the Columbia is exactly why I now have this boat.  I would personally stay away with anything smaller than 20 feet or you'll be trading in very soon, especially if you take more than one extra with at any time.  2 feet is a huge additional to a boat.  Good luck in your search... 

I am high country, and  I endorse this message.

[BLUEBULLS]

I can't believe nobody's mentioning boats like Lund, Crestliner, etc.

They're made for the wind. Been in tons of rough water with them and they perform well and it's dang hard to spear waves. The newer glass boats, like the Ranger, Skeeter, Yar craft etc. sure ride a lot nicer though. The ride of any deep V beats the heck out of any sled or Semi V.

Never had a need for a cover on front unless you consider back when I had bass boats, filled them plumb full many times

[THunt]

Ya the hewescraft is really sweet.

[bloodhound]

we have a 16 foot lowe walleye style boat and it works pretty good. we use it in the bay and in big lakes. if we did it again we would have bought the 18 ft though and put a little bit bigger motor on it. i would look at the 185fm by lowe. the lowes had the biggest gas tanks of all the walleye style boats and the thickest metal. if your gonna hit the river you really want to keep in mind if your gonna anchor or not. you need a boat that rides higher in the water with taller sides if your gonna anchor in case you catch debris on your rope so you have time to cut away before you sink.

[MADMAX]

I have an 18ft Duckworth after downsizing from a 22ft Hewes
Love it and no regrets going smaller

[THunt]

Madmax why did you go smaller?

[MADMAX]

I dropped down for a few reasons.

1) Lack of partners who actually want to go out instead of talk about fishing.
2) Made 4 grand more than I paid for it, got 40K for an 05 Hewescraft 22Ft
3) Easier to launch and recover an 18ft boat myself at the launchs I use on the canal.
4) No more 2 fish halibut limits at Canadian swiftsure bank, so why go way out ?

The 18ft still fishes 3 guys comfortably and the Yami 115 pushes it great at about 40 mph and I love the trolling motor.

I ended buying an 03 HD Road king classic,  paying off my Jeep and buying a smaller boat, all for the 40 K, I made off the 22ft Hewescraft, bigger is not always better in my opinion