Best Aluminum fishing Boat??
 

Hi Guys,
I am looking for a 14' fishing boat to take to Oregon this year on the top of my truck. What is the best boat for taking on calm lakes, and be able to take them off shore in the ocean. (not too far offshore though). I have 3 kids and need something very stable in the water, preferably with high sides, and light enough to lift it onto the ladder rack. if you have any suggestions or boats for sale that i may want, please let me know, thanks,
Mike

The Lund SSV is a very stable boat.

Can't go wrong a Misty River
gramps

i was looking on the internet and noticed several alaskan smokey's. Are they good, and what is the best hull shape?

Lite 14ft boat and ocean should not be used in a same sentence .

Back home (NS) I had a 14 ft Lowe lite aluminum and I would take it out to Tancook Island 5 miles off shore. Only running a 5 evinrude motor, no problems. With that said, you have to be carefull the wind doesn't come up.

If you use it in the ocean, I would suggest flushing the motor out in fresh water after your finished. I used a 45 gallon drum full of water, small piece of 2x4 to fill in the gap and fasten it to the barrell. Start the motor up for a few minutes and flush. It might be a good idea to hose down the boat, inside and out to get the salt off.

G'luck, I'm looking for one too!

Probably the Lund WC14. Nice and wide and stable. Good on rivers and lakes.

I know some people do it, but there is no way I'd go offshore in anything less than a good 20 footer.

I had a SSV-14 for 10 years...was very happy with it, lots of freeboard for a small boat. Had it out in some big waves at Fawcett/Slave (use common sense, especially with kids in the boat) and it handled them well. The SSV-14 and WC-14 w/15" transom weigh in at around 285lbs, would be tough to load on a truck, so they are usually on a trailer.

It is true the WC14 is not the lightest boat around, but the poster says he may go out on the ocean.

I carried my WC14 on a truck rack for years and never had any problem loading or unloading. Is it heavy for 1 person - yes, but you are only lifting 1 end at a time. Just need to take your time.

I thought the weight might be an issue... I used to hang mine from the rafters in my garage in the off season. It was a bit of a chore getting it up there but I was lifting the entire boat at once. Always good to hear from someone who has "been there, done that". I suppose he could always use a small winch as well to load it.

I am looking for a kargo master for the summer, and have a small winch that i can mount onto it, and rig something to help me get the boat up. I'll have a look at the different boats on the internet, thanks for the help.
Mike

Duroboat
 

You should look into a duroboat. I picked up a 12 foot deep transom( they come in 2 depths) and used it in the fraser river- big fast water- to get onto the sand bars and also out onto the salt water I had a 9.9 on mine and I rigged up a carrying cradle in the back of my toyota . You can pick them up in various boat dealers on the coast here and they hold there resale value very well , as well if you pick one up in oregon you should be able to bring it back to canada duty free if they are made in the USA (I did that with my Northriver):wave:

i was just looking at Naden boats sold out of edmonton, 160lbs and 14' in length, does anyone know about these. They also seem very reasonably priced for a new boat, $1500 for a 12', waiting for a price on the 14'. If anyone has heard about these please let me know, thanks,
Mike

If youve ever been on the Ocean you would know not to even suggest something as silly as a 14 footer car topper with your family LOL.

That being said, those Naden boats are strong as hell. I used them at an outpost camp in Northern Ontario and Im not sure you could split the sucker if you wanted to.

Your best bet is to spend a little more money and buy a bigger inflateable.
Its way more suitable for going on bigger water and its a little easier to transport.

when i say "on the ocean" i'm not doing a trans-atlantic crossing, just poking around inlets and staying close to the shore in calm weather. Good to hear you had good luck with them, they seem very reasonably priced, and even a heavier guage than the alaskan smokercrafts. I hear you about the inflatables, my buddy has a zodiak and loves it, i've looked around a bit, but it looks like it would be 4-5000 to get into a decent one, where i can spend less than $2000 and get a brand new aluminum.

Lol I've spent some time on the ocean and on slave in my 16 foot canoe, its sometimes impossible to fish though while your buisy keeping the boat upright. I think you could get away with a 14 footer on the vancouver coast but oregon is a different animal, not as many islands sheltering that coast deffinatly USE CARE. I envy you though, Oregon is the most GREEN place I have ever seen and one of my favorite states to be sure. If you can, cross the border at Creston and be sure to drive down the Columbia river gorge, do not miss that drive!

I have spent a lot of time both fishing and working out of all sizes of boats on the ocean.

Unless you are experienced I would not go out on a 14 footer. If you do go out plan an itinerary and stick exactly to it and leave the route etc. with someone who will check on you later to make sure you go back.

Many people take into account the waves when you leave but on the ocean the wave can get nasty quick and compounded with swells, rocks and tides can really ruin your day fast. Sometimes the worst waves are in the calm sheltered inlets do to rushing tide changes.

I saw a seasoned guy driving a 14 foot Lund sink it in 200 feet of water in 5 seconds. He was motoring home riding the swells and cut his speed too quickly. The wake and the swell caught up to the back of the boat at the same time and the boat was gone in a flash. No time even for grabbing a life jacket. Fortunately we knew exactly what, where and when he should be during the day and when he did not show up we back tracked his route and found him on a small rocky island. Very, very cold and very, very lucky. He was area not unlike where you think you want to go.

Take your GPS with you as well as a compass and ocean maps for bottom issues.

Any deadheads in the water will sink you really fast in a boat that size so take it easy when throttling up.

Also if you go swimming...don't swim behind the boat while barking like a seal...to many Whites down there.:D

I owned a 12' Harbercraft circa 1975 that I carried around on the roof of my truck everywhere I went. It has seen waves and weather that caused my sphinter to clench in absolute terror and it has never let me down. Wide, deep and tippy it always remained upright. My buddy has it now and he loves it. Great little boats, Canadian made.
However; taking such a boat even into the saltchuck would have been a fool's folly, never mind into open seas. If you have ever seen a rip tide you would likely not want to go into the ocean in anything less than a 40' iron hull. A fellow I fish with and admire in BC showed me sequential photos of a log "swirling down the drain" like a dropped pencil in the ripper, only to emerge moments later like a trident missile less than 20' from his own 18' welded hull. I could imagine that a small boat would do the same thing as the log except that the boat would blast off with me hanging onto the tiller and my wife and daughter still swirling, down the drain. Please consider that when you enter the danger zone.

LUND SSV or WC 14 all the way!

I don't think they (Naden boats) are not as durable as Lund or Alumarine the reason they are only 160lbs is because of thin aluminum .If you don't over power , take it easy in the waves and be gentle with it it should be O.K.:) IMHO Naden boat is for occasional fisherman .

Lund stands the test of time... The higher the sides the better for any waves.

Definitely what ever size boat you pick be very careful not to put too big a motor on.

Tough as a 2 bit steak
 

For many years I owned/used a 12' Mirrocraft. We beat the snot out of that boat and couldn't make it leak. Never did make it into the salt but some fairly big water in Alberta. I haven't seen one of these around for many years so I don't know if you can get them new any more but this boat was unreal. Very deep and wide (wider than some 14'ers) and good for 25 hp (per the DOT plate).

The tradeoff of weight and toughness is obvious. I wouldn't recommend buying a light boat unless you are good at swimming. Heavy gauge metal, double rivetted or welded hulls, lotsa crossmember ribs and high sides are all high on the list.

Zeke

my experience with Naden Boats
 

Hey all. Im new to the forum and the reason i found it was because i did a google search for " naden boats for sale".

So i saw your post on the Nadens and I have lots of experience with them.
One poster on this thread said he used them at a fishing camp. yes, they are used at fishing camps all across the country. (I'm sure there are other brands used at fishing camps too).

My family bought an old fishing camp in North Western ontario in 1980. It was a dive when we bought it and, we just meet there as a family in the summers (as in we don't run it commercially). Anyway, there is another camp right beside us that has been operating since the 20's, and they only use Naden Boats. We asked in '80 my dad asked why and he said because they are low price and tough as nails and my renters beat the heck out of them. While our use was not commercial, we figured we'd go ahead and find one used. so we did, and Im proud to say that 18 years later, this boat (that was a few years old when we got it) is still in operation, with no leaks. the boats are riveted, not welded.

Our lake is located in the Canadian Shield (not far from where the boats are made, which is Vermillion Bay, Ontario) and we now own 3 of them. They are all 16 foot, and red. many of the 'camp' boats are blue or green. I can tell you from personal experience, these boats are indestructable, and they can be dragged up on the rock outcrops, run up on beaches, and they withstand everything.

I am now 32 and Im looking to add another 16 footer to our families 'fleet' (we have about 14 boats total, 4 of them are tiller fishing boats, and all 3 of 4 are 16 foot nadens.). I thought I'd do a little research into the boats to see if there was something better (seeing as it's me and my wifes money now not my dads money...you know I'm going to research it right?). What I found was that Nadens are actually thicker aluminum, and they use harder alumnum than the same boat in the lund. www.nadenboats.ca Check out the thickness, and the hardness vs a lund. (not sure about lunds bigger boats, they probably use thicker and harder grades for the bigger boats). Also I looked at Alumarines, they are also canadian boats, very bombproof, heavy as hell, and I have been told they are welded. I didn't want a welded boat because if the weld ever cracks it has to be taken to a welder to fix it, whereas if a rivet goes or starts to leak i can just turn the boat over and my brother and tap it from both sides and close the gap. we have done this with our 1975 12 foot starcraft.

Anyway, I know this is waaaaaay more info that you wanted, but thought I'd give you an experience based opinion. I'm looking to buy a used 16 foot naden if you know anybody with one for sale. i already have a motor. cheers.

Ryan.

I have a Naden and it's just as strong as anything out there. The price is right, too. I am seeing a lot more of them around now. I was on Jackson Lake last summer and there were 3 of them on the lake at once.

I totally agree with the comments of Ryanmitton. Naden builds strong boats that outlast the competition. As an avid tournament fisherman myself, I recall hauling many winning entries over the Naden's wide gunwale. My only complaint is that my wife has trouble hoisting the big one's over the high sides especially when the net is too small for the size of the fish she's hauling over. The handling of a Naden on the big water, whether flat or turbulent or on a meanering river, is second to none. My choice when fishing for the lunkers is definitely a Naden.

Al

Boat
 

Springbok if you can find one.. the aluminium seems to be thicker than most

You are correct Alumarine boats very bombproof and they are very heavy, that is because aluminum is thicker then any other boat that I had to fix.

They are head and shoulder above of any other aluminum boat out there.Simply put they are the best.

Unless something changed in last year I have never seen a welded Alumarine boat.

As for Naden , they are :)good boats :) if you want lite duty , lite weight lite use boat .

Alumarine *not* welded
 

Yes sorry I did confirm that Alumarine are *not* welded.

I was told about Alumarine by a guy who uses it for his construction buiness. he hauls a lot of stuff back and forth from the cabins he works on, tools, material, parts, generators...etc etc. If I needed a boat like that, I'd go with them.

Otherwise, for fishing and touring lakes, a 16 foot naden (never been in the 14 or 12 foot) are perfect. I learned on them from 6 years old.

Cheers, Ryan.

Incedently since my last post I found 2 16 foot Nadens for 1000 each and we bought them both. They did have 2 more I believe. if you want them I found them at Nestor Falls Marine in Ontario. Google them. Contact name Don Foster.

Al I seem to recall that you make a great netter. Thnx again on netting my 26 lbs lake trout when our own net was too small.

thicknesses and hardness
 

for fun I thought I would check the lunds against the nadens for hardness and thickness.

i found nadens were 5052 H36 and lunds was 5052 H34. so this is the same grade, but naden uses slightly harder aluminum.

also for thickness naden was .077 " vs lunds .072.

I have not 100% confirmed the lunds thickness because for 2009 they have taken hull thickness off the specs. this is from my memory of when i was looking for boats in the fall.

Crikie the snow is melting!