Anyone fished out of one of these?

[jitterbug127]

Has anyone fished out of a utility boat like this? How well did it work? I like the idea in theory, but the more i've sat in it the more skeptical I am. We fish for small mouth mostly on a river. 

 

I sold the jon boat i restored in a previous thread and bought a new boat. My new boat is a Lowe angler 1667. I got the boat for what I believe is a decent price ($2000). No motor. Just boat and trailer off a friend of mine. Prices on marketplace with motor were going around $4000 (with a motor), so I'm not worried about taking too much of a loss. 

 

I take my son 3 years old out with me often. I have a motor and bow mount trolley motor I can install on this boat.  

[MN Fisher]

Some angle aluminum, some Spar Urethaned wood covered in carpet, some design plans and lots of elbow grease and you can turn that into a real fishing boat....I know cause I did it to my Alumacraft F-9 which isn't much different than that Lowe

Before:

 

After:

[VolFan]

@Skunked again and I both have the same Lowe boat. It fishes great. I put a small aluminum plate deck up front for a Powedrive. I also had a deck on mine across the seats, but I took it out and just use stall mats over the floor. There’s more space that way. It tows super easy,  drafts shallow and is low maintenance with a 20 hp on the back. 

[Junk Fisherman]

I was going to recommend what MNFisher suggested but I don't think I'd do that if I intended to take my 3-year old with me.  I had a boat built like in MN's picture but the deck did make the boat less stable and there was no walking on the deck.  Granted, mine was a 14'er so yours might be a little better.   But for my solo fishing I would definitely build a deck.  I caught a ton of bass in little lakes in my 14'er.  

[VolFan]

With the deck across the seats there really weren’t any stability issues. I put a 30 lb sandbag in the nose to balance the boat some since you sit in the back with the tiller. I take my son and occasionally my wife along and it was hard to fish three with the deck in. With the deck out and the mats down, everybody gets their own well. 

[jitterbug127]

1 hour ago, VolFan said:

@Skunked again and I both have the same Lowe boat. It fishes great. I put a small aluminum plate deck up front for a Powedrive. I also had a deck on mine across the seats, but I took it out and just use stall mats over the floor. There’s more space that way. It tows super easy,  drafts shallow and is low maintenance with a 20 hp on the back. 

How comfortable is that back split bench seat? I normally would sit on the Starboard side and drive the tiller with my left hand, but on this one im thinking i might have to sit on port and drive with my right hand. Its pretty tight compared to the open jon I had before. 

 

Thank you very much for responding!

[VolFan]

I started with a clamp-on seat but now have a set of cushions from Oceansouth for the split and the full benches. Having no seats makes it much easier to move around and no seat backs make it much easier to fish around. I sit to starboard and drive lefty, but that’ll be a personal choice. I have a 6 gallon fuel tank that I keep thinking I’ll change to a 3 but haven’t gotten that motivated yet. 

[jitterbug127]

I thought about ocean south cushions or some eva flooring on top of the seats. I know a 3 gallon tank would fit in that slot much easier. 

 

How well does your 20 HP push? I've got a 15 HP 83 johnson, a 1975 Johnson 25 Hp and a 35 HP 77 Johnson. I saw the boat was rated up to 20 HP max. I was gonna try some of them out. 

[VolFan]

I get mid-20s out of it. It’s not fast, but it’s fast enough and super maneuverable.

[MN Fisher]

Mine with the 25hp can hit 25mph WOT, I usually cruise to fishing points at about 20mph.

[jitterbug127]

Sounds like a fun ride! I'm probably gonna take her for the maiden voyage tomorrow. 59* here in Hoosier land. Strike while the iron is hot. 

[jitterbug127]

Is the boat pretty  stable standing and fishing with the stall mats on the floor? I know won’t be tons of space but wanted to ask all the questions I can think of while I’m at it. This has been super helpful so far, 

[MN Fisher]

I dunno about the lower floor, but Bass Trek is pretty stable standing on the raised casting deck...only times I sit are

A: My old legs get tired (I'm 65)

B; Wake boat passes by close and there's a heck of a set of wake-waves heading my way.

[Motoboss]

44 minutes ago, jitterbug127 said:

Sounds like a fun ride! I'm probably gonna take her for the maiden voyage tomorrow. 59* here in Hoosier land. Strike while the iron is hot. 

Where you fishing tomorrow? All the small waters around me are hard, but then there’s the river.

 I had a ‘98 Lund 14’, very similar design, with a 9.9 and it was ok. It was a bit tippy so sitting most of the time was the only comfortable way to fish it. Great river boat though.

[jitterbug127]

10 minutes ago, Motoboss said:

Where you fishing tomorrow? All the small waters around me are hard, but then there’s the river.

 I had a ‘98 Lund 14’, very similar design, with a 9.9 and it was ok. It was a bit tippy so sitting most of the time was the only comfortable way to fish it. Great river boat though.

I probably just take boat out for a cruise more than fishing tomorrow. More than likely try the river or Geist. I was gonna drive by river today to see if it’s way up or not. 

[Motoboss]

River’s up enough down here in Martintucky area. Geist oughta be doable. Should be nice enough for a jerk bait,,,,,just say’n.

 

Have fun

[jitterbug127]

6 minutes ago, Motoboss said:

River’s up enough down here in Martintucky area. Geist oughta be doable. Should be nice enough for a jerk bait,,,,,just say’n.

 

Have fun

Well I might just have to bring a rod for good measure. I don’t have a way to mount a trolley (trolling) motor yet, so I probably won’t get super ambitious 

[VolFan]

It’s super stable with the matts in the floor.

[jitterbug127]

Got boat out Monday. Some things i really liked a a few i was less than impressed with. I loved how roomy the bench seats felt. Tons of room there. I loved the deep side walls. Boat tracks beautifully. I can see it being a really nice fishing boat. I love how simple and low maintenance the boat is. Just show up to the water and fish. Same as my jon was. 

 

Things I'm going to have to figure out. Getting in and out of the boat. I had a casting deck on my last jon so we could just step in and out on that. I got my foot stuck trying to come in from the nose first time. Boat is a little tippy compared to what i thought it might be. I know this is probably mostly perception coming from a 16x54 flat bottom. I will more than likely keep boat into spring to try out a few more time. I bought a bass tracker this week as well, so I've got some options. Thanks for all the replies. 

I also have to get some weight up front. It was really bad the first time out trying to keep bow down. 

[VolFan]

30 lb sandbag from Lowe’s or Home Depot works great, put it all the way up in the nose on the slant. With a wood deck up there I didn’t need it but without it, by myself, it helps a ton. 

[The Rooster]

It’s been a long time, but my first boat was just like that back in the 90’s. A 68 model 14’ V-hull, about 5’ wide in the middle. Had a 15HP outboard. I put a deck on the front part and could stand on it and fish. It was tipsy but was doable. Had to stay centered when standing on it. We mostly just stayed seated to fish, or stood down on the “floor”. I also occasionally would sit on a cooler on the front deck and fish. Tried a seat on a pedestal but it was impossible to get out of without nearly falling out of the boat. So I removed it and opted for the cooler instead.