Hey Guys,

Recently got my motor back up and running after having it sit on the bottom of the river for the past six months. Now it's time to find a boat. What are Yall running and what kinds of speeds are you seeing on yours. Looking at flat alwelds, go-devils, and gator trax rogues. Your recommendations would be appreciated greatly!

Patrick

A 1644 is gonna be hard to beat for overall performance and usability. If you mostly fish and hunt and carry other people and gear, I like my 1648. If it's just you and you like to explore and mess around I'd go like a 1640 or so. Whatever width you go with, I'd stay at 16' for the length.

I'm good with the size, more interested in recommendations on boat builders. Don't want to go with a mod-v, either, for safety reasons.

I am really happy with my Rogue but go devils are great boats also. I have a 16 foot rogue plus hunt deck so it's really 17'6". The length really helps with balancing the weight on these skinny boats. With a 24hp mud buddy longtail I get 18 with another person and my dog.

I was talking with Kent at Gator trax today and he said that it is difficult to mount longtails with the huntdeck as the handle can actually catch on the huntdeck. Is this a concern for yall who have backwater motors on a hunt deck GT?

I have only seen 1 other person here I think that had a longtail on a hunt deck besides me. I bent my handle a little more so that it wouldn't hit the false transom but even before I bent it I could easily get the prop out of the water before the handle hitting the false transom stopped it. The hunt deck is an awesome for a place to hunt your dog, prevents backwash into the boat from stopping too fast, and makes a convenient step in and out of the boat from deeper water. No way I would have another hunting boat without it.

But looking at the 23 lite it doesn't look like the handle has much of a bend like their standard 23 or a mud buddy or go devil frame. That might make a hunt deck more of a problem in your situation. How much of a bend does your tiller have?

That's good to hear. I guess I could call backwater up and try to buy a tiller with more of a bend to it if it's an issue. Or just have it bent here in town. Don't have it here in front of me to look at but it really doesn't look much different than the tiller on the min-23 mud buddys. What size/type boat and motor do you run MDMARSH? Also a little concerned about the weight on the Rogue's. Can't find any figures online, but assume they are around 400+

You can take it to any fab shop with a press and they can bend it for you. Or you could make a wooden jig and bend it yourself. If it looks like a 23 mini then it should be just fine. Must be the angle that the pictures were taken on the backwater website because they look almost flat. I run a 1638 rogue plus hunt deck so the hull is really 17'6" long with a 24 hp mud buddy long tail.

Yeah I think 350 to 400lbs is probably pretty close. A 1638 godevil is like 390lbs according to their website and they have the extra boxes in the back and middle bench as well as floatation. My rogue is wide open with no floatation in it. It's heavy but 2 guys can drag it around. Gator glide would help that even more.