First boat and first post.

[Jbennett]

I recently gotten way into fly fishing with my daughter and want to get a boat. We will likely do a lot of trout fishing on the little red river in Arkansas but since that's a drive from Memphis we will likely do a lot of fishing in local lakes. All the guides up there use these locally built flat bottom fiberglass Supreme and Shawnee boats that are basically 20+' John boats. I considered getting one because they are just so spacious and stable for walking but 20' is a huge boat to store in the back yard so I started thinking a normal aluminum John boat would be better. I rented one today maybe a 10 or 12x36 or something and it was not pleasant. Not much better than a canoe and felt like I could tip it at any minute. I know nothing about boats. What makes a flat bottom stable? Length , width, both? Where do I need to be size wise to be comfortable walking and casting? Those supremes are like being on a dock. Would a 1648 give me the stability I'm looking for?

 

[Ranchero50]

Bottom hull width is the basis for stability. Throw in keeping a very low CG and you well on your way to being comfortable fishing. I'd think fly fishing tandem off a smaller hull is going to be messy.

 

[Captain Ahab]

Look into something like a 1550 and you will do better with stability

 

[strander100]

After being a wading fly fisherman for thirty years, I bought my first boat a couple of months ago Alumacraft 1650 MV with NCS. If you look under Grab Bar in the Boathouse section, you can see it for yourself.

I started fly casting from the middle of the boat, but quickly moved to standing on the front or back deck to get closer to the action. Stability in this setup is extremely good, but I can't compare it to a 48 inch. I just know that I was pleasantly surprised at how "balanced" my boat is when moving or standing.

One piece of advice, if you are going to fly fish out of your boat, be careful what you attach to the top of your gunwale and decks, because the fly line catches on anything and everything, especially cleats.

Good luck with your quest.

 

[Jbennett]

Thanks. We like to wade too. Just nice to have a boat to get us up and down rivers where so much land is privately owned. Wish I hade more friends with boats so I could see what different styles felt like stability wise. Those boats the guides use are awesome but they are enormous.

 

[Jbennett]

My other question is do some John boats have built in flotation making them less likely to sink if you swamp them. Not as big an issue whith low water on the little red most of the time but if you swamp it on a big lake its gone I guess.

 

[Jbennett]

Just answered that myself with a search. I guess they are all supposed to. Those river boats over 20' are exempt. Why is that? Because they are harder to swamp?

 

[pjcalla]

I am currently in the process of modifying a 1648 for fly fishing. My build thread is on here (1648 Monark Fly Fishing build), and I need to update it, as I got the chance to use it last week on a lake in MI. I used the boat how the previous owner had it set up, with a few modifications. Here some brief thoughts:

1. The boat is plenty stable, never did I think it was going to tip. I stood on the rails, way up front, etc. and the boat was solid. The only time I about fell off was when I was messing with the trolling motor...level 5 really moves the boat. :LOL2:

2. The fly line WILL get tangled on EVERYTHING! No matter what you think, it will. My line got tangled on my cleats, fire extinguisher, battery box, foot pedal of my trolling motor...you name it.

3. The 15 hp 1979 Johnson moved the boat pretty well. I got 18-19 mph average, don't know if I would want more on the rivers I will be fishing.

I will be modifying my build to address these points, especially #2. I'm even thinking about selling my foot controlled tm and buying a hand controlled, just to avoid the line tangles.

I will update my thread with some pics and more in-depth discussion later this week.

 

[Ranchero50]

Jbennett » Today, 09:49[/url]"]Just answered that myself with a search. I guess they are all supposed to. Those river boats over 20' are exempt. Why is that? Because they are harder to swamp?

They are probably running under commercial regulations. Different rules for different fools, the Gov expects the recreational guys to do dumb stuff so we need protected from ourselves. The idea of flotation isn't to keep you high and dry so much as give any survivors a safe haven. They want the hull to stay upright so the foam is high in the hull.


For moving through shallow water, anything lightweight and wide will work fine. Speed isn't super important, portage over / through the rough stuff is.

 

[Jbennett]

Yeah. If I was going to exclusively do those Arkansas rivers I wouldn't worry about flotation. When they aren't generating there's not much over 5" on the areas we fish. I was just thinking about reservoirs like arkabutla and Sardis that are close to home and I bet that's some very deep water.

 

[Zum]

I fly fish out of a 1652,never a problem with stability.
With 2 people, I don't think I'd go any smaller than a 15'.
Someone mentioned a hand controlled trolling motor....that's what I did.
I had a power drive(still do) but decided on buying a hand controll(traxxis).The light foot pedal on the power drive was a pain and the line would always get caught up.It still gets caught on the hand control but its way better than the foot pedal....personal preference.

 

[Scott1298]

Of course bigger always seams better, but IMHO this is your bare minimum; a Tracker 1542LW is a light, stable, affordable choice to get started with. You can't take it out to sea, but you won't break the bank on it... or pimping it out :twisted:. A deck at the front and back should keep two flyfisherpeople far enough apart.

 

[thudpucker]

Good for you, taking your daughter fishing.
We used to drive up from Louisiana to fly fish the 'Little Red'!
It's great. Every kind of Trout.
But....Arkansas has some funny laws. :roll:
Among them is the landowner holds the right to the land under the creek. :evil:
You cannot wade without the land owners permission. :evil:
Also you cannot stop your boat on his land. :evil:

Other than that, Fishing in the Cool Arkansas waters is good for Fly Fishing. :LOL2:

 

[Jbennett]

Are there any particular brands I should look for or others I should stay away from?

 

[thudpucker]

Scott's got a good setup there.
I just got this one. It has a "Rolling Rowing Seat" :wink: that I invented which gives me almost three feet more of a stroke when Rowing. And I can roll to the front or back without standing up.
Good deal for an older guy! :x

 

[Jbennett]

Not a metal boat but this look interesting.
https://www.hogislandboatworks.com/skiff_specifications.php