# Aluminum Flats boat/skiff?



## rcmay

I've been thinking about buying an aluminum tiller steer boat, in the 17ft range, a rigging for fishing shallow water. I would like to rig it out with a with a grab bar/passenger seat combo of some sort, casting platform, and possibly a poling platform. 

Does anyone here have a good picture of some nicely rigged out aluminum boats rigged for fishing shallow water? Id really like to see some, if you got em!


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## oysterbreath

I often think about the Jon boat option. I'm tough on my gear. The only thing that stopped me in the past and continues to stop me is noise. Those freaking things can be so loud. I go to BPS often to keep an eye on there prices. I saw a camo Tracker 1548 with a 40hp Merc tiller for something around 8.5K. 

Anyway, for pics take a look at the Gator Trax web site. My personal favorite is the Mud buddy.

http://www.gatortraxboats.com/home.htm



There are a few pics here too:
http://www.redchaser.com/flatsboatonbudget.htm



Other random stuff...


























http://www.duckhuntingchat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=101211

Nice one from another site:


> _Originally posted by Happy Bob_
> [br]I finally remembered my Photobucket password.
> Here are some pics of the platform I made for a 17' Triton.
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> Bob Van Gundy
> Marine Designs,Inc.
> Custom Aluminum Fabrication
> 803-727-4069


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## Brett

Or you can find an old hull for cheap and modify to your hearts content...

http://www.microskiff.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1285046864

http://www.microskiff.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1269654834

http://www.microskiff.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1254784403

http://www.microskiff.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1275082387

http://www.microskiff.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1274182853

http://www.microskiff.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1294094980

http://www.microskiff.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1286555980

http://www.microskiff.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1229306298

http://www.microskiff.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1269211031


Let me put on my shill hat here... 

I've been looking at utility vees while model building
and have to admit I'm very tempted to just purchase a hull.
Cost would end up about the same for a tough, durable, lightweight
and easy to maintain hull. In a place where the waters are
loaded with oyster bars, barnacles and submerged rocks,
not worrying about chewing up fiberglass is a strong selling point.

I'm giving serious thought to the Lowe 1457

http://www.loweboats.com/showroom/utility-v/angler/a1457.php

the Alumacraft T14V

http://www.alumacraft.com/2011-models/vs-and-ts/v-16-20/

and Starcraft 14 SF

http://www.starcraftmarine.com/Showroom/Series.aspx?TypeId=39&SeriesId=174&Type=Utility%20Boats&Series=SF

All hulls under 15 feet long, weigh less than 200 lbs
float shallow, and with the foam filled benches won't sink.
Those same benches provide structural support
for all sorts of deck and storage possibilities....
They've polished those designs over the last 70 years,
not much room for improvement.
I have to admit, I can't improve on the efficiency
or functionality of the basic utility vee...dang...
I think I just talked myself out of building another wood/epoxy/glass hull. Can you say "Next?"


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## oysterbreath

My favorite tinny is the 16'-0" Gator Trax Rouge!
Only issue, they cost a bit much for an Aluminum skiff! About 3800 WITHOUT trailer!














































There is great appeal to having a boat that doesn't make me sick to my stomach when some evil oyster lays it's filthy mits on my hull!

Check this one out:
http://www.marksqualitymarine.com/new_galleria.asp?pov=1153630


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## oysterbreath

on second though....price ain't that bad...


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## TidewateR

here's a tunnel boat...Nice setup, but I really want that 40 tiller!


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## WhiteDog70810

The mud boats are hell-for-stout. They are generally made from heavier gauge aluminum. The majority of the hull is often made of one sheet of aluminum that is cut and then wrapped into shape prior to welding. Due to this, the chine is "soft" and there is no weld. In addition to a fairly soft chine, they usually have a perfectly flat bottom (no runners, skegs, strakes) for sliding around on mudflats. Due to that they also pushpole across mud easily. They will slide more in a turn under power than hulls made for regular outboards.

I'd definitely lean toward one of the mud boats if I was in the market. Gator Track, Beaver Tail and Go-Devil hulls are awesome. I still drool when I see them in person. However, they are overbuilt if you don't need them to bounce off stumps at 18 MPH. They are generally more expensive than a regular jon boat. I like "over-built" and would being willing to pay for it, but there are other options that are very good when you don't require your boat to be a battering ram. Xpress makes a very high quality hull that is reasonably priced and more than tough enough. The Grizzly hulls look promising also. Any simple, all welded jon boat will do well. I like to avoid rivets if possible, but sometimes the price is too good to pass up, i.e. free. 

Nate


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## rcmay

Yeah, the mudboat are very nice and have a very cool design if that is your intended purpose. I am going to buy a 1754 Grizzly, with a 40 2 stroke Yamaha Tiller outboard. I like the idea of a bigger aluminum boat for making longer runs, and a better ride in a chop. 

What I am unsure of is the interior setup I am going to go with. I need a place for a passenger to sit, and a place to put a cooler. I am thinking of going with a lodge style setup with 2 folding seats attached to some sort of aluminum frame which will also encompass a cooler. I'd also like to attach some sort of grab bar that has a console between the two aluminum tubes to have a place to mount a GPS, trim and tilt switch, and a switch panel for working the bilge etc. 

I am hopefully going to pick the boat up in a few weeks, and I will post some pictures of it up then.


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## Woodie

One boat made in Blountstown is the Scandy White. I had on in a tunnel hull 1654. It has lengthwise stringers and 1/8" hull. One tuff hombre that truly would run in spit.. I am now looking at the Grizzly boats, trying to decide on a 16' or 17'.. They now have the lengthwise stringers too, but only .10 gauge aluminum.
Where I fish, metal all the way!


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## HialeahAngler

easiest, toughest flats boat will always be aluminum. Brett all three of your choices are good. I've had 2 of the three listed.


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## firecat1981

Brett you traitor!!! Don't take the easy way out!

Remember with most people, fiber travels very quickly ;D


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## Brett

It's ok FC, I did what I set out to do when I built the Grass Slipper.
Learn the hows and whys of wood/epoxy/fiberglass construction.
That and build a wood hull for exploring my area of NE Florida.
I knew I was going to chew up the hull from the start and I have.
I explored places that even canoes and kayaks have trouble getting into.
The Slipper has served it's purpose, time for "next".
The half scale models have allowed me to try out more ideas
but you know what? I can't improve on the old designs.
So while playing with my models in the driveway
and researching hulls on line, I figured out that
simple, basic, lightweight, tough and recycle-able
is really the way for me to go. Add a couple of plastic
swivel seats, a fore and aft deck and those utility vees
will go comfortably and inexpensively anywhere I want.
No need for a large outboard. A pushpole or a set of oars
will take me into 6 inches of water, which is where the Slipper
over the last two years, has allowed me to learn where the fish are in my area.
Bumping a few oysters, drag over a few sandbars can be
accomplished just as easy in a small aluminum as it has
been in the Slipper. I'm thinking a utility vee is what I'm getting next.


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## firecat1981

But Brett I thought the purpose for the new design was to run in more open waters and get a smoother ride in the rivers? :-?


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## Brett

FC, back in the early 70's, I used to run Biscayne Bay, Flamingo, and the Gulfstream
in a Sears 12 foot semi-vee aluminum. From glassy conditions
to 25 knot nor'easters that little aluminum with a 7.5 Johnson SeaHorse
took me out and got me back safely. That forward vee
was enough to cut most small chop. When it got rough, I slowed down.
I figure a 14 with a 9.9 on the St. Johns River will do quite well
because you can always find a wind shadow to run in.
It's not like cutting across South Biscayne Bay from Soldiers Key to Matheson,
or making the run from East Cape back to Flamingo marina in a 20 knot headwind.
Been there, done that, more than once... ;D


There's still only two ways to make a boat run smooth and comfortable in rough water.
1) Make it big and 2) Make it heavy.
Running a boat through a wave means you have to beat the waves mass and inertia.
If your boat weighs less than the section of wave you are about to hit, you are going to go thump.
No microskiff will ever be comfortable in a serious chop.
That's why I check the weather forecast before heading out.


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## gheenoeguy

I use to have a 12 foot Mirrocraft when I was a kid with a 9.5 Johnson, I would always take it out in the ocean and catch Dolphin and I'm not talking flat waters, I use to run out of Hulover inlet in Miami in huge waves through the cut, people would look at me like I was crazy as their 25 footers were being tossed around,  best boat I ever owned, I liked that boat way better then my 2 Gheenoes and my 18 Renegade Nomad that I own now, I am thinking about selling my Nomad and getting an aluminum skiff.


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## Capt Dan Medina

Growing up in Miami, I have owned several different boats with varying hull design. I had a 12 ft sears aluminum flat bottom that has been in my family for decades, leaky rivets never replaced... instead just covered with a sheet of fiberglass and resin (the cuban side of the family). I have had a 17 ft sundance tri-hull style boat, a 25 ft dusky, an 18 ft bayliner trophy, a 16 ft tri hull runabout, a 14 ft thick aluminum flat bottom jon, a 14 ft lucraft, a 16 ft sea n sport flatbottom, an 18 ft hewes, etc. 
Of all the boat I have owned, the 14 ft thick jon was my favorite. IT was super economical to run (i bought an 07 15 hp johnson 2 stroke brand new), was simple in design, and was one of my best fish producing boats ever. I would take her all over biscayne bay, up the creeks and channels, all over flamingo, on the reefs and a rare day out in a couple hundred feet of water fishing for monster muttons was not out of the question for me. I eventually beat the boat to death and ended up cracking the aluminum floor about 20" and decided to get the hewes....

When i moved up to my current locale from miami, I traded in my 18 ft hewes for a 15 ft aluminum semi v. I MISS my Hewes like crazy, especially when running in a chop and on longer runs for comfort reasons, however the treacherous rocks and oyster bars in a new area, coupled with a much lighter trailering boat, more economical motor (25 merc vs 115 yam), etc. all made the choice for a cheap aluminum boat easier. Eventually I will get into another hewes or maverick for my longer, extended fishing runs, but the aluminum set up is ideal for my current needs. 

seeing that you will be dragging her over the oyster bars from time to time, a welded hull is probably a better option for you so you wont have to worry about catching a rivet/springing a leak. MY choice for aluminum was the same as yours... scratching and tearing up fiberglass on the o-bars and rocks would just tear my hear to pieces.... Best of luck in your decision. Y


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## 1BadPFS

I know this thread is a little old.. I've caught my fair share of everything from dolphin to shellcrackers out of an aluminum boat, but has anyone noticed that aluminum spooks certain fish? I'm looking into getting a 14 to 16' tiller boat again, and the aluminum ones seem to be a good bit more plentiful. I wish I would have picked up the one HA had for sale a few months back, that would have been perfect.


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