The best small boat?

[thinkingman]

Crestliner Sportsman 14 foot, lots of free board, flat floor, and great seat layout. These are well built boats.

I run a 16' crestliner sportsmen w/40hp tiller. I fish it on Puget Sound and the Columbia and many lakes around the state. I also use it duck hunting though not as a blind. Great platform but you still need to watch the wind and head in if the sheep start to show on any big body of water.
If I wanted a boat for the Columbia mainly I would not consider anything under 14'. I would also want something with reasonable beam/floor width and gunnel/transom height. Lastly I would want to put at least a 25hp motor on it.

I had the same rig with dual batteries and a 40hp 4str Suzuki.
With my heft on the tiller, there was not a lot of freeboard but that boat had a lot of great features.
Probably the widest 16' I've seen.
Where did you get yours?

[pickardjw]

I've had a 17ft lowe roughneck with 50hp mercury for 11 years and put it through the ringer.  At certain times of the year it has downriggers on both sides for puget sound salmon and dungeness crab.  In fall they come off and I attach a blind for Potholes and Eastside duck/deer hunting. We've fished all of the kokanee lakes in the state. Great boat, but as others have said, on really windy days I'd prefer to be in true V hulled boat with more depth and transom height.  My buddy claims he'll never have kids because of the pounding his junk has taken while cruising on the bow. The roughneck is a "modified V" which is better than a flat fronted john boat.  I'd say it's a good middle of the road that can do a lot.  The welds have all held.

This is probably my next boat hull type, digging the pics!

[metlhead]

Are the Westcoaster 152s still around? Great little windshield boat. Always wanted one but ended up with a Smoker 15Lodge

[KFhunter]

Roughneck and those style of boats are awesome, jet sleds are even more awesomeness

Add a big offshore tuna capable overnighters boat for 4 guys and a guy would be set

[Mfowl]

Crestliner Sportsman 14 foot, lots of free board, flat floor, and great seat layout. These are well built boats.

I run a 16' crestliner sportsmen w/40hp tiller. I fish it on Puget Sound and the Columbia and many lakes around the state. I also use it duck hunting though not as a blind. Great platform but you still need to watch the wind and head in if the sheep start to show on any big body of water.
If I wanted a boat for the Columbia mainly I would not consider anything under 14'. I would also want something with reasonable beam/floor width and gunnel/transom height. Lastly I would want to put at least a 25hp motor on it.

I had the same rig with dual batteries and a 40hp 4str Suzuki.
With my heft on the tiller, there was not a lot of freeboard but that boat had a lot of great features.
Probably the widest 16' I've seen.
Where did you get yours?

My brother bought the hull and trailer new in 04 from Boat Country, I believe. He powered it with an early 90's 40hp Evinrude 2s and an 80's Honda 10hp originally. I bought it from him in 08 and by 2010 repowered it with a 2005 40hp Merc 4s then a couple years later the Honda died and I added a 2004 8hp Merc 4s for the kicker. It has a lot of hours and miles on it but has been a versatile low cost boat!

[MeepDog]

Update: last night I ended up buying a 16'4" lowe/sea nymph fishing machine with a newer 25hp Yamaha. It needs some new carpet, but the floor plan is wide open like a jet sled. I'll update with some pictures later. It has the self bailing transom so that takes a load off the mind about waves over the stern. I'm pretty excited about it but it's definitely more boat than I'm used to.
I attached a screenshot from the craigslist picture.

[Stein]

What the heck is a self bailing transom, I must be behind technology?  Is that where you get going and pull the plug?

Congrats, best day in a boat owner's life.

[MeepDog]

What the heck is a self bailing transom, I must be behind technology?  Is that where you get going and pull the plug?

Congrats, best day in a boat owner's life.

I'm not sure what it's really called, but I'm talking about area in from of the outboard and transom that if water splashes past the motor it just drains out of the boat.

[Mfowl]

What the heck is a self bailing transom, I must be behind technology?  Is that where you get going and pull the plug?

Congrats, best day in a boat owner's life.

I'm not sure what it's really called, but I'm talking about area in from of the outboard and transom that if water splashes past the motor it just drains out of the boat.

That's a splash or wave well. Nice score on the boat! A bow mount and a kicker and you'll be fishing for everything that swims in the river!

[Stein]

What the heck is a self bailing transom, I must be behind technology?  Is that where you get going and pull the plug?

Congrats, best day in a boat owner's life.

I'm not sure what it's really called, but I'm talking about area in from of the outboard and transom that if water splashes past the motor it just drains out of the boat.

Gotcha, those are nice as you are much more likely to take one over the back than front.  At least from my experience.

[MADMAX]

What the heck is a self bailing transom, I must be behind technology?  Is that where you get going and pull the plug?

Congrats, best day in a boat owner's life.

I'm not sure what it's really called, but I'm talking about area in from of the outboard and transom that if water splashes past the motor it just drains out of the boat.

Gotcha, those are nice as you are much more likely to take one over the back than front.  At least from my experience.

Pretty easy to wire in a bilge pump also
You can thank me later 

[Stein]

I have two in my boat not including the manual tire pump style one.

[MeepDog]

I have two in my boat not including the manual tire pump style one.

Those bicycle pump style can move some serious water! They have saved my butt when I forgot the plug and found my boat full of water at the launch. This new boat has a manual bilge pump.

[Stein]

Yeah, I had a 14' Smokercraft I would take shrimping.  Took one over the back and about half swamped it.  The manual pump did the trick quickly.

[Blacklab]

Had a 15 foot smoker craft/Sylvan. Great boat miss it. Fished the columbia river for salmon ect. Pick your days. Big waves little boat not much fun