I really hate to do it, but i have searched and not seeing what i am looking for.

I live in St. Tammany parish and hope to purchase a boat for next season. I have been asking everyone i know what i should go with, but none of them can really point me in a direction. I plan on hunting a lot of the marshes around this area and every now and then venture into the swamp/flooded woods for my wood duck fix.

so i'm stuck deciding if its practical for me to buy a mudboat set-up or just a regular flat boat with an outboard. i want to be able to use the boat for some fishing during off season. so if the mudboat is best id get the sd engine.

any information or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

test drive as many as you can

if you planning on hunting mostly marsh and only a little in the woods a surfeace drive would probably suit you bett erthan buying a longtail. If your talking about hunting around the area meaning pearl river or bayou lacombe a surface drive would really be useful when the tide is out. I've seen outboards go through some pretty intense mud but they wont last like a mudmotor will. SD engines can be easily used as a fishing set-up too because the are realitivly fast and user friendly.

You may think an outboard will be fine for fishing in the summer but once you have a mudmotor you will kick yourself in the butt if you dont bring it and need it.

Yes, I do plan on hunting those areas and wish I could afford a nice lease instead of hunting public land but what can ya do. Yall have answered my question the way it needed to be. Like I said I didn't want to kick myself in the ass because I was in a situation where I needed to use the mud motor and had to leave because the outboard wouldnt do it, but at the same time I wouldn't have wanted to invest in a mudboat and be saying should have just got the outboard this is a waste. After looking at the big picture mudmotors look to be a better and better option.

I want to test drive some around this area, but I don't think there are any dealers around this area. If anyone lives around here and wants to meet up I'm cool with that, and obviously I'd help with cost.

Thanks again for the information and any more suggestions are always welcome.

Think about it this way: A mudmotor can go anywhere an outboard can go, but can an outboard go everywhere a mudmotor can?

I fish out of mine all the time. Just remember, the wider the boat, the more stable it is. My 20x60 is about as stable as a friggin' bass boat.

Budget ???

A MM is lots more $$$ up front - but cheap to run - good fuel economy....

I get over 10 miles per gallon on my stock GDSD rig...
More like 2 miles per gallon on an outboard...

Yes, I am becoming very aware of the cost to get one, especially one you custom build from the bottom up. I just can't afford to build a dual rig lol.

It's easier for me to coup with the cost knowing I can pretty much make use of it all year.

But I'm sure you love your rig just as much as they love theirs. But I get what yall are saying. Anything is possible.

I have a 1850 with a 36 Prodrive and use it for duck hunting and will use it for fishing this summer too. Last year i had a 1546 with a 25 Prodrive that i fished out of alot. I was going thru the sloughs to open water were outboards couldnt get and coming out with a icechest full of fish. I only used my outboard once last summer and it hasnt seen the water since.

I had a 18' Mako Flats skiff when I bought my current MM rig. I sold the Mako shortly after when I realized that I wasn't going to use it much. I haven't missed it at all as of yet. I also fish shallow saltwater marsh so these types of boats fit my needs perfectly.

great replies and information so far. Now my next quest.....to go with the ol' tiller handle or center console?

thanks guys for all the information if i have anymore questions that i cant find answers too, ill be sure to ask.

Where are you located? After hunting season I may get a little ride together down here and you can see a few differant rigs from tiller to CC and all brands.

I use my boat for fishing coastal marshes down here all year round and as stated after long runs a CC is nice. After season there are always some deals on used rigs.

I live in lacombe which is right across the lake and that sounds like it would be a lot of fun.