Duck boats in N Texas?

What are you guys running on these lakes in N Tex? I've been thinking about getting an aluminum boat for duck hunting but I spend a lot of time winter bass fishing the North Texas lakes and the thought of running a small Jon boat on these windy lakes in winter freaks me out.

I run a G3 1860 with a 90 four stroke engine. It is more bass boat then duck boat but runs in 12 inches. It also has high sides and a stable ride. I put a pop up on it so it keeps a fairly low profile.

You won't find a boat that is perfect for both situations but the boat that scuba posted is hard to beat if going to have a single boat for both.

What about a boat like a prodrive sbx? With it being self bailing wouldn't it be good for crossing open water and still be good for shallow water hunting? I know it is not great for any of the situations but it might be good enough for ever situation. I do not have any first hand experience with this boat so this is just my thinking. I would like someone with first hand knowledge to post about it.

I don't have first hand knowledge of thatvoarticukar lake. I do on lakes down here and open water bays that get out of control quick. A ride and a wind can stand waves up on end.

I chased the perfect boat for a long time. There isn't one. If you want the perfect boat, then you need to buy 3 or more. With that being said, if I had to choose, I would not go with a mud motor. I think it might be old yeller on here that has about a do all rig as any. Center console, nice rig with a regular boat motor. Run a tunnel and jack plate and leave the flotation in it. It can handle some big stuff, but if too big, just don't go. You can duck hunt, fish, run lines, hit the river, you can even ski behind it. Do it I were picking one boat, that boat is the way I would go. If he sees this he will most a pic I am sure if it.

Is it fiberglass or aluminum?

I have a really wide aluminum john boat. When I bought it I bought it for bowfishing. After checking it out I took it out to the lake and said if me and a friend couldn't turn it over I would buy it. For some dumb reason we went to the middle of the lake, but we couldn't turn it over.

If your asking about the boat I saw, it is aluminum. I think it was a Gator Trax hull. I had a gator Trax hull and can tell you from experience they are tough. My inexperienced buddy wanted to drive my boat. He did great in open water. Not so great at the ramp. He reverted back to a regular boat, panicked and dropped the prop back in the water. That pushed the bow on a rock so hard I thought for sure we would have a hole in the boat. Nope! One little dent. That boat had the low sides. They also make a high sided boat. It is not really the brand though when at this point of picking out what you want. You want to pick the design then find a brand to fit it. In today's marketing things seemed to have changed a bit, sort of the cart before the horse of you will.

I've got a Gator Trax 1862 w/Suzuki 140hp and jackplate (no tunnel)and you dang sure want the hunt deck. Homey da Clown, and several others on THF helped me w/what would work best for me. I travel big water to get to skinny water and it works great for both. I've been on the open water in 30mph+ gusts (NOT on purpose) and didn't even pucker my butt!

So that is my question. A duck boat that can handle the open water to the slough but then get you too rough the shallow stuff. I be never driven a mud motor but it seems that crossing open water would be kind of sketchy. I guess it also depends on if you are hunting out of the boat or just transporting with the boat. So that is the other question. Do you guys mainly hunt from the boat or stash it.

Knowing how to drive a boat has a lot to do with the water you can cross in one. I've been in a 21' Ranger in 3 foot swells and the driver speared a waved and soaked us. I've also been in a 21' Bullet on Rayburn in legit 4-5 footers and never got a drop of water on me. It all has to do with the the man behind the wheel or tiller.

I hunt from my boat, no land available. I just stuff it in the tulies and sit still.
And I agree 100% w/BarneyWho.

I have to say, I agree with Barneywho. Know your limitations whether you have a 3 foot boat or a 15 foot boat.

I prefer to stash them if I am serious about killing ducks. I have hunted from a boat lots of times though. It is all about hiding them. You have to hide the front sides back and above you. Mallards have a unique trait of staying too high, circling and looking straight down into the boat. If they drift off with no indication of busting you, that means they busted you.

Wal we aren't much different. I put my pants on one leg at a time just like you. The difference is you have tons of sea tow numbers in your phone once you get your pants on, and I don't!

I bet that 18 footer with a 140 will shizzle and get!

Actally that is my fault, I edited my post. We aren't burning down this dude's thread.

Dang. I missed it before you changed the post.


To the OP: Know your abilities and watch the weather. Most of the time you can trailer the boat and launch on the side of the lake protect from the wind and not have to cross the main body. If you are caught having to cross the main body you can generally run the shore line in shallow water if you have a mud motor until you have protected water in your favor to cross. Again, watch the weather read the conditions, and know your abilities.

Well that is also a ranger problem...but I will refrain from commenting further as not to offend the ranger faithful. I'll just say that is why they put so much flotation in them.😂. But seriously the comment is true. The real problem is when you lose power and a wave hits you on the side. A small Jon boat will swamp in a sec. Cold water, waders, and a sketchy boat are a bad mix.

One bad boat sir!

If you run water that looks like Ol Yeller's then you have the perfect boat...if you run stumpy water that will tear a lower unit off then the mud motor is the way to go.

I'd have one built if it was me (18x48 is perfect size) and put either the new Mudbuddy motor that looks like an outboard or put a GatorTail on it. You have reverse on those motors (for when you fish or around the launch) a lot like an outboard but don't have to worry with stumps or super shallow water.

Like everyone said there is no one perfect boat for all situations but that is two different scenarios where two different boats would be preferred.

Thanks and yes Wal, that motor will pop you up on plane, even on skinny water!

I'm running a heavy flat bottom aluminum boat with a mudmotor. I went with an 1854 that has 24" sides, 3/16" bottom, 1/8" sides and believe this hull size is a pretty versatile outdoor platform. If I were to do it again, I could easily save some weight and live with an 1/8" bottom. The boat has seen some pretty rough open water without issue. The only real disadvantage I've found to the mudmotor -vs- conventional OB is speed. The mudmotor is s-l-o-w. If I'm running an empty boat with minimum "stuff" I can get 25mph. Once you add another hunter, dog, decoys, 12gal of fuel and all the other junk hunters take, the speeds fall to the low 20s. Keep the same hunting loadout, add a third hunter and the boat will barely get on step. Add a fourth hunter and you will bowplow all the way to your hunting spot. When the boat is loaded for bowfishing with fuel, lights, trolling motor, extra battery, generator, etc.. you are just slow trolling all night. You better be close to your fishing grounds because if you have a long way to go, it's going to be a long ride.

The trade-off for speed is that all the stuff I've hit this past duck season didn't leave me stranded with a busted motor. The mudmotor has saved me lots of walking and really opened up the areas I could get into with the boat. I've had the boat in some nasty flooded timber and flooded cedar flats this year without a single issue. A few weeks ago I struck a steel corner post on a submerged fence line while scouting some some flooded areas on a local lake. I hit it hard enough that the motor flipped up and ripped the tiller out of my hand. If that had been a conventional OB it would most likely have destroyed the lower unit and I would have been stranded. Luckily, it didn't leave the slightest mark on the skeg of the prodrive. So far it has been very versatile and only feels too big when it comes time to hide it.

I went through all the transitions. I went from V hull like we all had, to flat boats, flat boats with a tunnel, long tail mud boats, surface drives ect. The 15 foot Dargel Skooter would give most mud rigs a run for their money. It could run in spit. I have now come nearly full circle. I don't like mud rigs because it is not a fair trade for me any longer. I used to run some long runs way up into marsh bad lands. Now everyone knows about these spots, there are no secrets any longer. I am not and you are not the only footprint on the soil. I don't need to go back there anymore since everyone now has mud boats and they all want to go back there. I run an airboat that gives me some freedoms but takes other freedoms away. WMAs don't allow them. They hardly allow regular boats.

So the change came about that my wife and I are older. I don't want to have a flat boat with a tunnel that will run in 4 inches of water. They cause damage and they are rough as a cob in choppy water. I will take the 23 foot Explorer and run as shallow as I would ever need and ride in dry comfort and keep my teeth in my head. We cut across west Matti the other day at a 15-20 mph in rough water and it just cuts the waves and makes a nice cruise. If we wish to get somewhere shallow I can kick up the motor, roll in slow and do what I have to do. When it is time to leave, I can idle out and get to deep water and blast off.

Its all about finding what best suits you.

The sbx hull is like ol yeller's boat but it has full floatation and a self bailing hull so if you do take a wave over the side it drains right out the back. I do not know if you can get a hunt deck on the sbx hull or not.Ol yeller has does the outboard do in the stumps and lay downs?

I've done a small amount of hunting on the ETX lakes and I don't see how you could effectively hunt out there without a mud motor. Key word there is effectively. Yes, you can run a OB to a certain point and idle from there, but you're going to waste a lot of time that way and still run the risk of sheering a prop. Look at the guides that hunt up there full time. Every one of them has a mud motor and there is a reason for that.

I would run a mod-v mud hull with thick aluminum bottom to handle the stumps and timber you will encounter. The boat my brother and I run is a 1756 Havoc MST with a stock 35MB and it works great up there on those lakes. The two of us with hunting gear can run 25-26mph which is plenty quick I think. If we put mods on the motor we could really scoot. The boat has inverted ribs, leaving a flat surface on the bottom of the boat, but allows you to cut on a dime. It also tracks really well with a trolling motor, unlike a true flat mud hull.

I run 17 foot SBX with a 37hp mud motor and center console.

The biggest drawback is how fast it slides on windy days with an absolutely flat bottom. The second is speed during the daytime in the middle of the lake. Plenty fast at night, in the rivers and skinny water. Scary fast in some cases.

You definitely want to be back by the console in rough water. Water flows out the back very fast and its pretty nice to be out on a windy day and realize the water isn't building up at your feet.

I love the boat. It is everything I always wanted, but I duck hunt and fly fish in the same shallow areas. Your mileage may vary.

If I were to have a second boat it would be a Hellbender Bull with an 8hp outboard for solo hunting.

In 46+ years of various hulls w/outboards, hunting all sorts of water (stumps, reeds, rocks, timber, etc.), the worst I've done is dents, shear pins and transducers. With this rig I raise the jack plate and tilt the motor up and slow down when I get in the crap. I can feel stumps on the hull and swing the [censored] end around to miss it w/the motor. You can probably go faster through the crap than me w/a mud motor, but I bet I can get to the crap faster!

I'm in agreement w/most that there is no perfect duck rig for every situation, however I'm extremely pleased with my latest ride.

X2^^^

I took mine across white caps the other day, dangerous but paid attention and got through it,,, would not have wanted to do it at night

Ol yeller why do you need the hunt deck on the back of the boat?

Why did you opt for no tunnel?

Just curious what your pros/cons were...

Nice rig BTW

Easier to get the pup in the boat and if you happen to goose the motor in reverse it doesn't boil over the transom into the boat.
It's also easier to get my butt in the boat when my waders are full of water (yeah, I did!).

Rick aka Homey da Clown explained to me that if I hunt mainly reeds, grasses and that type of lake bottom, the tunnel will tend to funnel the reeds, etc. to the prop. He said tunnel was good for rock, sand, gravel, and shell bottoms. At least that is my understanding.

Thanks ol yeller for your help.

I have a 2000 Xpress with a 90 HP Yamaha. I fish with it all year, tough on windy days because it is so light, but it works and it goes where fiberglass boats don't; I have the dents in the hull to prove it. It works great for duck hunting, too. I often take 2-3 of us, dog, gear, into good duck spots.

Sold and have run in CC mudboat w/outboards with and w/o tunnel...the sidewall edges of tunnels in heavy veg, cattails, etc will act like grader blades and not let the rear end swing around when idling or a slow speeds..and yes they funnel it all to prop too. Tunnel, outboard and jack = rocks/sand/gravel runner. You will also draft more at the stern with a tunnel due to loss of bottom surface area. huntdeck = easy for old man to get in/out of easier too

I've been wanting one like this for a while. A center console with a mud motor in the 18ft range seems like a good compromise for stumpy lakes and more open water.