hey all, i will be a first time owner of this type of rig, so i dont have much knowledge of this type of rig either......

ok guys help me with this gator trax type boats, i live in jackson ms, and we have a huge lake that also has a river system in it... but its a huge bass fishing area and the waves get pretty big on windy days and i was thinking that the gatortrax style boats, beaver tail, gueax custom, gator tail styles would just not be good for that at all unless they ride better than i think, other than that one place i think they would work fine for all the other places i go... just doesnt seem like it would bowfish 4 people very easily and hold a fan without getting tipsy and feeling unstable, also it would seem that the boat would sit very low inthe water for all that weight,,,,but i like the idea of using the boat the duck hunt and fish out of and really want it for using it for bowfishing.... and could get like a 35 horse mud motor with reverse.. so what size boat would yall recommend for what i want to do ...???????????


I have been shopping for a do-all type boat so please help me ??

If you are wanting to bowfish 4 people out of a boat and it be stable and draft less water then I would suggest something like an 18x60 square chine boat, with tall sides and tall transom for the waves you are talking about. Since you mentioned reverse on your motor then I would suggest you look into either ProDrive or Gatortail motors and buy an 18x60 boat from THEM as well.

so the boat would be stable enough then for my uses, can anyone post some pics of these boats ???

what size motor for that type boat and 4 people and gear ..... ???

with an 1860 boat and 4 people and all your gear with a stock 35 hp motor you might run 23-24 mph or somewhere around there.

But there are a few places that can slap a stage 1 or so on whatever motor you buy and it will run better. But I suggest buy the stock motor first and if it isn't powerful enough for you then mod it.

westendangler on here has a 1860 gatortail boat and muddiejeep has an 1860 ProDrive boat.

would like to see what they have to say about their boats, and also what i want to use my boat for ??

I have a 1854 sea ark with a pro drive stage 3 on it, I bass fish out of it and duck hunt out of it. Just had it out today, 3 people, dog, 3 12 volt batteries, 80 pound thrust trolling motor on front, 6 gallons of gas, cooler full of beer, and was going 25-26 mph on the big water hitting speeds of 28-29 through the shallow stuff. I am selling this boat!

not tryin to be a dik but those speeds sound terrible for a stage 3 prodrive.

with a lot of the weight up front it slows the speeds down the second you take that weight out of the front you are looking at 35-37 mph, price to pay for setting it up for bass fishing I guess. I also have a box that I built in the middle left that holds the gas tank and the two batteries as well, which is at the least 60 lbs. more weight in the front means more boat in the water which means slower boat. Like I said, if I take all that shit out, it hauls the mail no problem. With myself in the boat with all of the above stuff mentioned I get 30-31mph. So, I guess in all reality it does slow the boat down a lot..

well... glad you like your stuff, hope it works out well for you, but don't come on here trying to peddle a time bomb motor on a mismatched boat to a new guy that doesn't know anything about these boats and motors.

It would probaly be cheaper for you to buy one of these.. They are both going to work the same.

Good luck on puttin' an "Do-It-All" boathull together !!!!

Folks been tryin' that fo years .... we have gottin' closer .... but we still can figure on needin' 'bout 3 hulls to cover our all 'round use !!!!

Jokes aside ..... ifin' the coin is there ..... sounds like 18x60 or 20x60 with a set of stock duels will come purdy close to meet yore needs !!!!

How much money do u have to spend in this boat u want? Got enough $ for duels?

I have 20k to start with...

I just dont want the boat to get to close to the gunnels when 4 people are in it.. thats why i like the 24-26" sides, all the other boats i have looked at all have 20-21" transoms... Remember the water i run is more deep than shallow but i like the idea of getting to those really shallow places too !!!

gonna bowfish with a flush platform with lights on the deck... to help on not being tipsy... just want the extra freeboard for the weight of all the stuff.

Also thought i could use the mudd motor instead of having a seperate fan on the back, and just rig it with a push/pull stick, and throttle and that would save alot of weight with not having a fan stand, fan motor, shroud, and all the extra gas tanks for and stuff..... Do you think that can be done??... wonder if I could get the dual 35 GTR motors and use one of them to push me around for bowfishing and then use them together when under way to the next spot ??


also want to fish out of it be either bass, trout, redfish, panfish, and have a removable 7' rod box for that season in the center infront of the center console.. then when its duck season take that one out and put in the side 5 foot box for guns and stuff... then for bowfishing time take out that box and drop in the extension deck making the frint deck longer for 3-4 of us to bowfish comfortably with 12 150 watt hps lights and set my generator infront of the center console and have room for fish barrels behind the deck !! i also want some storage in the seat behind the center console with 3 pedestal holes for seats and a couple pedestal seat in the center of to the boat for duck hunting.

Trolling motor will be removable, also want the removable polling platform too.
But i really want the 20" transom and 24"-26" sides if they can do that !

I thank you gonna need a nuther 20 ......

I'd get a 20x60 with 20" transom and 21" sides. 24" sides arent necessary. Both ProDrive and Gatortail can build the rig you want, but your gonna need more than 20k.

Good luck.

20k is a starting point, jsut dont want to go over 30k

Get an airboat!

Just get a tunnel haul G3

20x60 with 21" sides, and a Stage 1 on your motor. simplify your life and forget about all those crazy boxes and extra decks and shit. When you take 4 guys bowfishing, take turns and one guy drives the boat while the other 3 fish off the front deck. That'll do everything you need to do, and save you about a gazillion dollars.

A 20'x60" wit duals would be ideal for your needs if da coin is der. You can save bout $4k if you go wit a single motor and put a stage 1 on it but it ain't da same power as duals. And to answer your question yes you can run just one of da two motors while fishin if you choose to do so.