Lund SSVs and Smokercraft 15 Alaskan DLX

[CarlF]

Still got new boat fever. I've been compiling images, specs & stats, going over them all and basically making my self stir-crazy with boat fever. Sorta like some form of self-torture.

Any way, I am leaning heavily toward the Lund SSV hulls.

https://www.lundboats.com/2009_ssv_18_16_14.html




My reasons for Lund: great reputation, wide & deep, transome splash well, 15" & 20" transom options, relatively light weight for their size and have a walk-thru design (a must). Like the optional drop in vinyl floors and storage under back seats for battery & fuel tank too.


Another hull I am looking at is the Smokercraft Alaskan 15 dlx, which is 14'11", nice little boat too. Weighs the same as most of the 14's with a foot more room. Since it is only 70 more pounds than my 1440mv, I could probably run my Nissan 18 on this one.



Does anyone have any thoughts on these hulls? I still have not decided between a 14, 15 & a 16. Leaning towards 16 so I have the option of duck hunting 3 guys, me, the boy & a guest. Kinda like the 15, splits the difference.

Any insight will be greatly appreciated as it will add even more fuel to my boat fever.
Also, if anyone knows of a bargain on a used one of these hulls, let me know. I may be able to talk the wife into purchasing early if I can get a steal.
Thanks!

 

[Lunkerville]

Hey Carlf

I actually own the smokercraft that you have in the pic. I cant really speak about the Lund but I can tell you that I am very pleased with the Smokercrafts performance. I run it with a 00 25hp Johnson however it is rated for a 35hp motor. It really moves out. I am located in Canada and have used this boat on the great lakes (Georgian Bay) with ease. For a smaller boat, it was crafted for big water. It is very stable and the built in floor is a nice touch to provide further stability when fishing. I am currently working on a mod to include a casting deck as well as hollowing out the split bench boxes for more storage. I have had 4 200lb men in the boat at one time and it didnt even bat an eye. The nice think about this boat is the hull design as well. No spray and comes on to plane very easiely. It is also a very deep boat. I dont think you can go wrong for the money...

 

[ben2go]

I prefer Lund but I don't own either boat.I would take Lunkerville's experience with his boat into consideration, since he is in the Canada/Great Lakes area.It gets really rough up there,really quick.

 

[CarlF]

Lunkerville,
Thanks for the insight on the Smokercraft.
My first thought on storage was to do what you said, hollow out part of each side bench for a sealed storage hatches: one horizontal one w/insert for tackle boxes, another vertical one for other gear. Is the top of the benches aluminum or wood?
Do you have an idea on draft of your rig, motor up, with a load? I do a lot of duck hunting in shallow water (6-8") but have to cross some big water to get to the spots. So draft is as important as rough water handling.
Do you think my 18 would plane it off with a load?
Thanks!

 

[CAVE]

My buddy and I run a 13' Smoker Alaskan. These boats are really popular on the West Coast. They are used a lot in the bays for crabbing and Salmon Fishing. We live on a very large, shallow lake and the wind can get scary big. We run a Honda 20hp and it flat gets after it. Takes on big water with ease and as Lunker stated, you can easily give this boat some more storage. The side pods are wood topped with foam inside. It is really easy to make them into lids. There are already some aluminum trim rings around the edges. You just take out those screws and replace with some slightly shorter ones that done go down into the pods. Add a hinge and your done. No cutting or anything. We are also adding a fish box under the rear seat that pulls out like a drawer. I don't know about by you, but since these boats are made nearby (actually have a plant next to my inlaws house) they really hold their value. Smoker makes a few different smaller deep V fishing boats and the Alaskan seems to be the most popular by far. The Big Fisherman is a nice boat too, but not quite as good for big waves due to a straighter bow design instead of the swoop up like the Alaskan. Good luck, I'm sure both will serve your needs, but my vote is for the smoker. Oh, we also run a smoker 1644mv jon and it is a great boat too. They just make solid boats.

This may help with the draft questions??? One guy, gas, large 29series battery, electric motor, honda 20, some fishing gear. We are electric motoring up a small creek in this pic.

 

[ben2go]

That boat is way to heavy in the stern.The bow is out of the water when it's setting still.

 

[CarlF]

Cave,
Thanks! That is exactly the kind of input I need!
Nice side picture, but it does look like you need to redistribute some weight forward!
The hull looks a lot deeper than it does the picture on the website.

There is a Smokercraft dealer 1.5 hours away, the Lund dealer is over 500 miles away. Given the feedback I am getting on the Smokercraft, I may go with it.

 

[CAVE]

I appreciate the concerns on weight distribution, but you all overlooked one small detail. I kept writing "we". The other half of "we" is sitting on the bank taking pictures. You'll notice from the pics that there are seats on the side boxes. That is where I was sitting which made for a more balanced ride. In fact the day this picture was taken we had been out in some pretty rough swells at full throttle playing with different weight biases to figure out what worked best for planing out in rough water for our specific uses. Again thanks for the advice and all, but in addition to that, when taking on big water in a smaller boat the slight stern bias keeps you from taking water over the bow. If there is too much weight in the bow, it will try to cut into the wave too much instead of having a little rise with the swell. Also, the smoker alaskan is designed to split waves and rise out of them, not strictly cut through them. This is what makes a better hull design for bigger water and the reason for a slight stern bias. I know you can't tell all this from the picture, but this small creek flows into the very large shallow lake that had been fishing all afternoon. Anyways, back to picking out a hull.

You'll be happy with the smoker, but I haven't heard many complaints from the Lund guys either. Good luck.

 

[CarlF]

I was really just givng you a hard time!
Like you said, Riding a little bow high is a good idea in rough seas.
Thanks again for the information!

 

[CarlF]

Lunkerville & Cave,

Can you post some pics of the inside of your boats? Looking for some close ups of the side seats, overall layout from different views, etc..
Thanks!

 

[Lunkerville]

Hey Carl,

Working on getting you some pics. Will try for this weekend.

 

[fishnnorthwest]

i maybe a little late to get in on this discussion but i am currently doing pretty much the same thing i was wondering if you had considered a duroboat the 16s have a 20 inch transom and a full width splash well and a 76 inch beam

 

[CarlF]

I looked at Duraboat. NIce boat but they are heavy.

In the walkthrough version, it weighs 340 pounds vs 270 for the Smokercraft 15 Alaskan DLX (which is also a walkthrough).
The Lund 16 SSV weighs about 320, the Duroboat 16 walkthrough model weighs 400.

I hunt a lot of shallow water and weight is important to me. An extra 70 pounds can make the difference between me floating the boat out or being stuck on the sand for 5 hours.