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79inpa Offline OP
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I’ve been doing some fishing for walleyes in my 14 foot row boat. The trouble with it is that the sides of the boat are quite short and I’ve almost taken on water when some boats pass me or when the waves pick up. I’m thinking about getting a bigger boat so that I can try some larger reservoirs and not have to worry about sinking.

If I wanted to go fishing for walleyes even on some of the larger lakes what size boat do I need?

I could also use a fish finder. What features do I need and roughly how much I need to spend in order to get a good one?

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Depends on how big of a lake you want to fish and how well you watch the weather. My 20 ft. Glass boat can get mighty small in a big wind. As for finders, down and side imaging along with GPS mapping. Like everything else the sky is the limit price wise. Walleye central classified is a good place to see what boats are going for these days.

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Originally Posted by 79inpa
I’ve been doing some fishing for walleyes in my 14 foot row boat. The trouble with it is that the sides of the boat are quite short and I’ve almost taken on water when some boats pass me or when the waves pick up. I’m thinking about getting a bigger boat so that I can try some larger reservoirs and not have to worry about sinking.

If I wanted to go fishing for walleyes even on some of the larger lakes what size boat do I need?

I could also use a fish finder. What features do I need and roughly how much I need to spend in order to get a good one?

Sounds like your problem is related more to the shortcomings in the design of your boat than size, per se. However a bigger boat (within reason) almost always brings with it more comfort, range, safety, versatility and capability. 18' -20' seems like a good compromise for one man to handle, alone, when necessary. Keep in mind that required horsepower goes up significantly as the size goes up. But aluminum boats, because of their extreme light weight, can generally get by with much smaller motors.

Regarding fish finders, do your own due diligence as technology changes rapidly in that area. Personally I would look at the a high quality unit which combines fishfinder/GPS/plotter functions--bigger the better.


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You need a deep V boat. Some width will help as well.

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Have done a ton of walleye fishing myself, about 55 years' worth.

If I were to buy a boat today for walleye, it would most likely be an 19" Pro V Lund with 90 HP Mercury or Yamaha. Like this one

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]


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Our 14' Crestliner, with a 20 horse Merc is a nice boat.


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They are all nice hey? We are blessed when it comes to fishing in Canada, that's for sure, hey wabigoon?

For the Pacific Ocean, fishing off the West Coast of Prince Rupert, I LOVE a Kingfisher.

Last edited by KillerBee; 11/08/22.

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I started out with belly boats years ago, then I bought a couple of canoes and then I bought one of these. A 10hp motor, nice little trailer, life was good for a while.
[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]
I never felt safe on bigger water so we bought a 16 ft. Smokercraft. Side console, 50 hp motor with a bow trolling motor and one deep finder.
[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]
We finely retired and bought one of these, it fills all our needs.
[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]
[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]
[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]

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Originally Posted by MickinColo
I started out with belly boats years ago, then I bought a couple of canoes and then I bought one of these. A 10hp motor, nice little trailer, life was good for a while.
[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]
I never felt safe on bigger water so we bought a 16 ft. Smokercraft. Side console, 50 hp motor with a bow trolling motor and one deep finder.
[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]
We finely retired and bought one of these, it fills all our needs.
[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]
[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]
[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]


Beautiful Lund MickinColo, I'll bet you are having a TON OF FUN with that puppy!


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It's been a great boat. With the 4 stroke motor, It's a different world, Quiet, no smoke, no stink,,,, as my eye doctor would say, happy, happy, happy.

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Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrfect lol ;o)


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It really depends on the water. Regardless of big or small, I prefer a V-hull. They track much truer when trolling, especially if the motor is transom mounted.

If you are short on space or money, a tiller boat is hard to beat. They fish bigger without the consoles, so you can buy something smaller and not feel too cramped. Even a 14 footer can do ok. You also get a lot of control with a tiller. The downsides are the ride can be a bit wet in choppy water, long runs just aren’t as comfortable, visibility underway isn’t quite as good, and you tend to have a lower HP rating.

If you fish big water and run long distances, a bigger boat is a must. The longer the boat, the less likely you’ll bow-dive into chop. Big water gets choppy, no way around it. A console boat in the 18-20ft range really shows its benefits when you need to make a long run. I can get up and go from 42 to 45mph and cover a long way in a short amount of time. A 20 mile run isn’t a big deal at all.

As far as electronics, a gps chart/depth/down scan/side scan is really helpful. I have Lowrance units in my boats. I’ve found anything less than an HDS processor can be slow to load on the fly.

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One thing for certain, no matter how big the water gets, if the chop can go from rolling to 4' high in a hurry, you want to feel and be safe!

Do you professionals agree?

Cheers ~


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Originally Posted by KillerBee
One thing for certain, no matter how big the water gets, if the chop can go from rolling to 4' high in a hurry, you want to feel and be safe!

Do you professionals agree?

Cheers ~

For sure.

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I've been through a handful of boats, mostly used for walleye fishing and have come to the conclusion that the choice for me would be a wide, deep 16-18 footer with an open platform and a good sized tiller motor, possibly with a smaller kicker for trolling, but for the fishing I do, trolling with the bow mount electric is more enjoyable.

Speaking of electric motors, my newish 24V electric Minn Kota Powerdrive is one of the most useful items I've ever added to my fishing arsenal. The Spot-lock feature is amazingly useful and being able to record a track for trolling or a spot to return to is very handy.

Sidescan sonar is a really useful tool as well. I've found bluegill beds with it, and it's useful for following drop offs or weed edges too.


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As said above bigger angry water is no fun no matter what size the boat is.

Not many parameters given.. if your looking to ease into it the older Lund deep v 16’ maybe 18’ were very basic but tough and good thick skin. A lot of them out there. Talking about 77 or so
forward.
Alumacraft built some beefy boats then as well but they tended to be narrower.
The power plant is the important part. Size it right and if buying used have it gone thru before you buy.

A 16’ deep v handled right will master about as rough a water as most people want to be in. Bigger isn’t always better.
Good luck!

Osky


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SOunds like you have a very shallow boat. I have a simple Alumacraft V16. It is too small for my walleye fishing now days. I go on a 138,000 ac. , Lake Winebago and I started fishing the north end of Green Bay in Upper Michigan called Bay De Noc. Therefore , I am looking into an 18' with a 70 horse tiller. I am looking for a Starcraft Freedom 18' tiller. It is open with no deck. It will run me about $31,000. Sadly, that is very reasonable now days. A deep 16' would do you well in 90% of your fishing and you will be amazed how much safer they are.


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Originally Posted by ihookem
SOunds like you have a very shallow boat. I have a simple Alumacraft V16. It is too small for my walleye fishing now days. I go on a 138,000 ac. , Lake Winebago and I started fishing the north end of Green Bay in Upper Michigan called Bay De Noc. Therefore , I am looking into an 18' with a 70 horse tiller. I am looking for a Starcraft Freedom 18' tiller. It is open with no deck. It will run me about $31,000. Sadly, that is very reasonable now days. A deep 16' would do you well in 90% of your fishing and you will be amazed how much safer they are.

That is a great price. Things on water have gotten crazy expensive.
I was priced last week from Alumacraft a 205 tiller, no frills, no electronics, no trailer, no motor…
Tiller boat only 26,000.00 before taxes and prep.

Osky


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I think it is absolutely crazy to buy a brand new boat, at those prices, when you can buy one that's hardly been used for a fraction of that.


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I looked at used boats for quite a while before I bought a Lund 1775 Impact a couple years ago. I keep it maintained and stored in the barn. Should last my entire retirement. Wife and I use it a lot during the summer and the 4 stroke 90 hp has been quite good.

Used boat prices were sort of like used truck prices when we were looking. Crazy high.

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