boat length?

[slick2526]

In your opinon when running a tiller and doing a lot of back trolling what do you believe is a good length of boat for for medium to bigger lakes? will a 16ft do the trick or if I have the option should I go with a 17 or 18ft? I have been finding quite a few nice 16ft boats set up the way I want in my price range and only one or two 17-18ft that im interested in. I have fished a lot out of 16ft and they seem to do the trick but I am wondering if bigger is better?

[dan z]

Bigger isn't always better.... 16' by yourself is plenty of boat to deal with. If you plan on fishing 3-4 guys an extra ft will be nice. Take in that a longer boat will require a bigger engine which also chews up more fuel. It always amazes me how much water a 16' boat can handle. Yes a bigger boat will keep you drier but don't forget you are on water and a lil splash never hurt anyone.

Good luck on finding your craft

[Old Dewjabber]

You need to consider how many people you will fish with. How much will you be fishing the big lakes. Conditions of the lakes you will be fishing in. Most important is it set up the way you want it and affordable.

We just went to a 20 footer from a 16. No way would I go back no matter if it used twice the fuel. Actually since it has twice the motor but is 20 years newer I dont think I'll notice the difference in fuel cost. If so I guess I'll start taking lunch to work to save for more fuel!

Sorry about the rant but that's my .$02..

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

What about the extra length of a 17-18 footer helping to keep the bow down? You end up with a lot of weight in the back of the boat with a tiller rig.

[ammoman16]

Yes a bigger boat will keep you drier but don't forget you are on water and a lil splash never hurt anyone.

That might be true when it's 80 degrees out but not when the thermometer is hovering around freezing.

[fivebucks]

If you want to fish the LOW, Mille Lacs, Winnies etc on a consistent basis I would go for 18'. If you only fish those lakes every now and then and can pick and choose your days then a 16' will be fine. The handling difference between a 16 and 18 tiller by yourself will not be a problem. I fish 75% of the time by myself in a 18' tiller.

[Ballyhoo]

I fished a lot on LOW in a 1775 Pro-V with 2-3 other guys. It gets a little crowded in the boat with 4 guys in it but still fishable. It handles the bigger waves just fine if you have a good rainsuit. I personally would not go any smaller than that. If I had my choice I would go at least 18'.

Like was mentioned earlier, it all depends on what lakes you are fishing and how many people you typically fish with.

[BobT]

Bigger isn't always better.... 16' by yourself is plenty of boat to deal with. If you plan on fishing 3-4 guys an extra ft will be nice. Take in that a longer boat will require a bigger engine which also chews up more fuel. It always amazes me how much water a 16' boat can handle. Yes a bigger boat will keep you drier but don't forget you are on water and a lil splash never hurt anyone.

Good luck on finding your craft

I agree with this 100%. I had a Lund Rebel 16 tiller with splash guards for 12 years and it served me very well. Used it on Vermilion, LOTW, Lac Seul, and the lakes around the Osakis area.

[BoxMN]

Whatever boat you get, within a year or two will end up with "two-foot-itis"... meaning you bought it two feet short In our last change, we went from 16'4" to 17'10" and while we used the 16' just fine for 10 years, still love the boat, the 18' is in a totally different comfort and ability class. And it is still just as easy for one person to handle.

Ride is biggest thing you notice, room in boat to move around once you have another person or two is next.

But our next boat will likely be a 19 to 21 footer, when we get another in the distant future. (Still have a 16' with 50 duck boat that we fish out of too, and it works fine, but after using it a bit it is GREAT to get back into the big boat )

[Whoaru99]

Yeah, a full sized 16 can handle a fair amount of water, but in hindsight I wish I would have purchased larger...both for passenger comfort/capacity and for those occasional vacation days hampered by wind. Sucks when you take a week of vacation and get blown off the lake for a couple days.

[B-man715]

Get the biggest boat that will fit in the garage

For me it could only be a 17.5' (and its a tiller of course ) but if I had room for a 20 footer thats what I would have bought.....

But a smaller boat can be easier to launch and load solo.

I can fish three guys comfortably (with lots of gear), but an extra couple feet would make fishing up to five with gear do-able.

Depends on how you plan to fish.

[Tom7227]

How the boat is rigged is most important. Flat floor with easy walking access is paramount. If you have kids I would recommend that you go wide and deep so that they're safe and as comfortable as can be. My guess is that most folks seldom go with 3 adults in a boat and almost never 4. I don't know what the price difference is but I would go for a good quality 16 rather than shooting for a longer boat for the rare instance when you want to take 2 or 3 adults along. If you fish alone most of the time I see very little reason to pay the extra money and put up with the extra costs of caring for and moving around a bigger boat. If you spend a lot of dough you probably are going to want to garage it and so making sure it fits is also a big deal.

[hitthebricks]

I made the jump from a 1750 alumacraft tiller to a 2050 Crestliner SF. The 17 was a great boat on the St. Croix but was lacking on Rainy and Kabatogama. The 20 with more horsepower makes those long runs easier and the windshield is an added bonus. The larger gas tank is also helpful on extended fishing trips.

Don't know of anyone that regrets having a larger boat but many that wish they had the larger boat.

[ClownColor]

In your opinon when running a tiller and doing a lot of back trolling what do you believe is a good length of boat for for medium to bigger lakes? will a 16ft do the trick or if I have the option should I go with a 17 or 18ft? I have been finding quite a few nice 16ft boats set up the way I want in my price range and only one or two 17-18ft that im interested in. I have fished a lot out of 16ft and they seem to do the trick but I am wondering if bigger is better?

I made the mistake 6 years ago of buying a 16 footer (16.5') and now wish I would have gone 18'. biggest reason is space. My rod lockers only hold a 6' rod (or slightly over). It gets tight with 3 adults. I do a lot of fishing by myself so I thought I could handle it better. It's not to small that I will sell it because of space but If I did it over again...bigger (if cost doesn't break price range).

[slick2526]

Most of the time I will be fishing by myself or with one other person. I agree that a 16ft boat will do good in most situations and lakes. I just feel a 17-18ft boat would be more comfortable and nicer when handling big water.

For those of you who run boats this big do you find it necessary to have a kicker for trolling? I am assuming that you wouldnt want anything smaller than a 50hp on a 18ft boat? I have heard that most motors of 50hp will not troll down to slow enough speeds for pulling cranks either? Do you think a 90lb+thrust electric stern mount trolling motor would do a good job? Also planning on a I-pilot or I-pilot link to go on the bow also.

thanks for any and all help guys

[fivebucks]

I have a 18 ft pro-v tiller with a 75 hp. With a sock off the front I can back troll spinners and bottom bouncers. I can troll forward with crankbaits without any problem without a sock and can troll down to 2 mph.

[BobT]

With regard to motor size, one thing I have learned over the years is that I will never again put a motor on much smaller than the boat is rated for. If I want to be able to troll down to a crawl then I will invest in a kicker or good electric. It's not worth it to be caught out on rough water with an undersized motor and it can be dangerous.

[Whoaru99]

Most of the time I will be fishing by myself or with one other person. I agree that a 16ft boat will do good in most situations and lakes. I just feel a 17-18ft boat would be more comfortable and nicer when handling big water.

For those of you who run boats this big do you find it necessary to have a kicker for trolling? I am assuming that you wouldnt want anything smaller than a 50hp on a 18ft boat? I have heard that most motors of 50hp will not troll down to slow enough speeds for pulling cranks either? Do you think a 90lb+thrust electric stern mount trolling motor would do a good job? Also planning on a I-pilot or I-pilot link to go on the bow also.

thanks for any and all help guys

I have a 90hp 2-stroke on my 16ft boat and run either a 19p or 21p prop. Not much good for trolling unless you have a strong head wind or are doing some super speed trolling.

I know I gave my $0.02 previously, but I thought I'd say again that I more often wish the boat were larger rather than the same size or smaller.

[SkunkedAgain]

I've ridden on many larger boats but have never owned larger than my current 16.5ft Navigator. Yes there are some times that additional boat space would be nice or a bigger boat would handle big water better. However, my 16ft is relatively light. A 90hp motor moves it just fine. A bigger motor is not required. I can launch and retrieve solo with ease. I don't need a kicker. I don't need a large trolling motor.

Place me firmly in the class of sometimes desiring a bigger boat, but 95% of the time being quite happy with a nice 16 footer. That said, my main lake is Vermilion so I don't fish the massive lakes like Mille Lacs, Winnie, Leech, etc.

[Whoaru99]

In terms of speed, sure, the 90hp on mine moves it at roughly 40mph. It is rated for a 115 and I'd probably have done that if there would have been a carryover at the time I bought mine. However, it wouldn't really be necessary since it's probably only a 2-3mph top end anyway. Takeoff might improve in some condtions, but if I'm that heavily loaded I sometimes put on a 17p 4-blade. The thing nearly leaps out of the water when I can it with that prop on.