16′ boat w/25 HP possible?

I am interesting in looking into a boat with a 25hp tiller that would be a good boat for backwater areas of Canada. I am unsure if the following requirements can be found. Here is what I would like: Easy to tow, Stable, Casting Deck, and gets decent speed. I have looked at the Crestliner Kodiak, Lund Outfitter and a few others. I am aware that there is a give and take, but is there a boat out there that offers all of these items? Many of the boats appear that a 40HP would be more appropriate, but i would like to keep it at 25HP without being a “dog”.

You should look at a modified V Jon boat. The flat bottom will be super stable to fish out of. The 25hp will get the boat on plane no problem. You will sacrifice some wave cutting ability, but should handle small to medium lakes no problem.

-J.

This one now has a white 30 on it. What Jon said. google Xpress boats. This boat has seen 4 footers on Mendota (I’ll never do that again). Supposedly they float even full of water but probably not with 3 batteries on board. I don’t want to test it.

Lund rebel is a perfect boat. I had one fro year with 25hp for canada and boundry waters. stable decent speed. I may have a buddy with an older used but in good condition pm me I can get the info. I have a rebel for duck hunting with a 25 yammi. perfect.

I’ve got a 1648 lowe mod Jonboat with a 25hp yamaha and LOVE it. It tows well it’s stable to cast out of clips along at 25-29mph. I do get beat up a little on lotw and tonka in more than 2 footers but I’ve caught some GIANT Muskies and sturgon from it.

Hope that helps.

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You should look at a modified V Jon boat. The flat bottom will be super stable to fish out of. The 25hp will get the boat on plane no problem. You will sacrifice some wave cutting ability, but should handle small to medium lakes no problem.

-J.

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x2

Although I currently have a 16′ Lund Adventure with a 30 on it and it cruises!

the secret to decent speed with a 25hp on a 16′ boat will be to keep the hull as light as possible, so look closely at the specs. The Lund Outfitter is a 17’7″ 805# hull, rated for a 60 as a tiller, so I expect you’ll need to look smaller and lighter. Here’s a video of a new Lund, the 1650 Renegade, shown with a 25 on it.
http://walleye.outdoorsfirst.com/watch.asp?id=2068

HRG

I have an Alumacraft MV1648 with a Merc 25 EFI 4 stroke. I built an awesome deck on it’s super stable. I can get up to 30mph gps downstream by myself. With 2 guys I get 22-24mph on average upstream in normal Mississippi River flow conditions.

It’s not a speed demon, but moves pretty well. I added Ram 2000 rod holders, a Motorguide Wireless trolling motor, X67C up front,334C in back on a ram mount, drift sock to troll down to .5mph with leadcore or 3 ways, and I can do pretty much anything I want with it.

I do take the bigger boat out on big water though, but this is perfect for smaller lakes and for fishing rivers. I was never a front deck guy until I put the deck on this boat. I have about an 8′ deck on it and love fishing from it. I downsized from an 18′ Fiberglass Deep V and haven’t looked back. My fuel mileage is unbelievable. I have to measure how much I used in cups instead of gallons (it really does take a lot of running to burn through 6-1/2 gallons).

All that said, I’d love to have an all welded model that’s completely open so I could build a big deck again, but also ad in-floor rod storage. You can get aftermarket livewells to mount to the side of the boat. My current boat has a big livewell in the center bench (which is part of my deck), but I would gladly trade it for in-floor rod storage.

I have a 16′ Crestliner shallow V that i use for small lake fishing and duck hunting.
I have had a 25hp Merc on it and it screamed around the lake. Send me an email address and i can forward you some pics of the one i have for sale if you are interested.

My email address is: [email protected]

I am amazed how many people run a rig like mine here. I decided to make mine as heavy as possible. I added a gun box so I have two, one is half a livewell 45 inches of livewell, the other is waterproof tackle storage. Then I put a 65lb power drive on the bow. I have trolled at 2.25 for 10 plus hours just on the bow mount. I have a hard time using 3 gallons of gas in a day. I have two sons now who turn 5 next week and we will need a bigger boat soon. Mine also has a home made removable pop up blind for ducks and geese. I have 6 rod holders two on the transom 4 on the sides. Not a big water boat but hard to beat on the river backwaters or small lakes. I’ve launched it on lakes with no ramp many times. I only get about 25 MPH. I just try to launch closer to where I am fishing. I also put snap together rubber matting all over it so it doesn’t get too hot for the dog in summer. No rod storage is the only thing I really don’t care for.

I have a Alumacraft Fisherman 160 with a 25hp Yamaha w/elecric start. It will run 26mph with just me and 22 with two people. I was pleantly surprised at the speed. I love this boat (tiller model), it is wide open, in the floor rod storage and livewell. Don’t even know your pulling something. I leave my truck at home and pull it with my Blazer (6 banger). Can be seen at Alumacraft website.

i also vote for a mod v jon boat. my buddy has a alumacraft 1658 with a 25hp 4st merc on the back and he moves pretty good with 2-4 guys.

the nice thing about the mod v jon’s is that they practically come standard with a big deck on the front.

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the secret to decent speed with a 25hp on a 16′ boat will be to keep the hull as light as possible, so look closely at the specs. The Lund Outfitter is a 17’7″ 805# hull, rated for a 60 as a tiller, so I expect you’ll need to look smaller and lighter. Here’s a video of a new Lund, the 1650 Renegade, shown with a 25 on it.
http://walleye.outdoorsfirst.com/watch.asp?id=2068

HRG

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HRG, That new Renegade looks like a great boat! Thanks for the vidio link!

I have an older 15′ Lund w/ a 25hp 4 stroke, it does just fine w/ two people in the boat. It feels underpowered w/ 3 people.

Thank you to all the responces. I always planned to upgrade to a bassboat, but after the ease of backtrolling for walleyes and the awesome boat control, I’m thinking, “less is more”.