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[Spawn Sack]

I realize Hoop71 just posted a very similar thread, but I'm looking for something a bit different. So we currently fish lakes one of two ways: if we go into a remote, 4x4 access lake, we put our canoue on the roof racks of our 4Runner and fish out of that. We have it decked out quite nicely...comfy back support seats, fly and gear rod holders, clamp on mount for our 40lb thrust electric motor, etc. It's a big, heavy, but quite stable. We have fished out of it a t-o-n. The only things that sucks are the loading and unloading. Time consuming, a general pain in the arse, and the weight is a bit much for the misses. Also not much room in it and can't stand and fly fish.

We also have a 12 foot V-hull aluminum on a trailer. We tow this into "easy access" lakes like Roche, Chilliack Lake, and so on. It's an old boat (about 20 years) but no leaks and it suits us fine. It's too tippy to stand up and fly fish out of. I do it by myself which is a tad dodgey, but there is no way 2 ppl can try that. It's fine for trolling around which is what we use it most for.

Down the road we'd like to get rid of the canoe and the boat and trailer, and get a boat that that goes on the roof of a truck (would buy truck down the road too, right now just 4Runner and car). The boat would need to be suitable for anchoring and 2 ppl fly fishing out of it, and also for trolling with gear rods. I have heard of modified v-hull boats which I think would be good for my purposes.

Whichever boat I buy, I think I a good system to carry, load, and unload it would be with an easy loader boat rack. I have never used one, but I've heard a lot of ppl use and like them. I like the idea of not having to lift/heave the boat on and off the truck. The "roads" into many remote lakes we fish are just way too rough for any trailer/boat (you care about).

If anyone has any tips on boats and/or easy loader racks I'd love to hear it. And also where to shop for this? I'm hoping to come away with some good info at the Outdoors show this year. For boat size I'm thinking 12 or 14 foot. Aside form that I'd want the most spacious + stable boat that I could fit on the rack. I'm not sure if the racks are one size fits all and are sized to the truck, or if I'd need a full size truck to fit the rack I ned for the boat I want.

Plan I have brewing up in my mind is find boat I want first, then find out what size rack it needs to fit, then find out what size truck I need to accomodate the rack. I would like to buy a Tacoma (my fav truck) but if I need to go fullsize to fit the rack/boat combo so be it. I've seen a company called Load It advertised in BC Outdoors Magazine, I think they're in Surrey. I live in The Wack.

[Rodney]

Plan I have brewing up in my mind is find boat I want first, then find out what size rack it needs to fit, then find out what size truck I need to accomodate the rack. I would like to buy a Tacoma (my fav truck) but if I need to go fullsize to fit the rack/boat combo so be it. I've seen a company called Load It advertised in BC Outdoors Magazine, I think they're in Surrey. I live in The Wack.

http://www.4boysmfg.com/

You can get this installed at Abbotsford Cap-it. I'm getting mine done next month, looking forward to it...

[Spawn Sack]

I was at the Outdoors show on Friday and had a good chat with the guy from 4boys. I was very impressed with their product to say the least. Down the road I'm 100% sure I want one. We fish a lot of off-road acces lakes and towing a trailer in is just not an option. We've been doing the roof rack thing with our canoe for years with no issues, but sooner than later I want something bigger and more comfortable.

Rodney, what size rack did you get? On what type of truck did you get it installed on?

And what type of boat are you using with it?

The only real issue I can see myself running into is the motor needs to come off/on the boat each time it is loaded/unloaded. I'm thinking if, say, I got a wide 14foot boat a 5hp outboard would be a real dog trying to move a beefier boat. I don't think I would want to be hauling a 10+hp motor off and on the boat repeatedly. It would be nice to stick with a lighter motor in the 5hp range.

We fish mainly smaller lakes like Roche etc where we never need to be moving THAT fast. I guess I'll need to strike a balance between a nice comfy wide boat and not going too big/heavy and having to upgarde to a motor that is too big/heavy!

We currently have a 12 foot Vhull with a 5hp and it moves along quite well for out liking. It would be nice to upgrade the boat and be able to keep the motor.

[Damien]

http://www.loweboats.com/2014/jon-boats/L1440M-Jon/

A modified V will move better with smaller HP than a flat front.  Not as well, as your 12 foot V hull tinny, one would assume.

If you stick to a 2 stroke, you'll save some weight.  A 7.5/8 or 10hp 2 stroke would be better with a 14.  But moving up to a 14ft boat adds a lot of weight, over 200lbs.

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/rds/bod/4317310562.html
Not sure what those Marlon Jons weigh...

I would go zodiac style.

Stable, light, 14ft.  Choose two. 

[canso]

5 hp won't get on plane and are still heavy to move around. I keep eyeing the 2.5 hp.
Get the widest boat that will fit on the rack

[HOOK]

If you fish mostly small lakes you should just use an electric anyhow. 55lb thrust with twin 12V deep cycle batteries. Electrics are nice and light and will give you enough to get around. Roche I would use the gas though but then you can also launch a trailer there.


Only time I plan to use the gas is on the lakes I fish that are long and skinny. Always seems to be the total opposite end where the fishing is best and getting there faster is nice, not necessary but nice

[sandy999]

I realize Hoop71 just posted a very similar thread, but I'm looking for something a bit different. So we currently fish lakes one of two ways: if we go into a remote, 4x4 access lake, we put our canoue on the roof racks of our 4Runner and fish out of that. We have it decked out quite nicely...comfy back support seats, fly and gear rod holders, clamp on mount for our 40lb thrust electric motor, etc. It's a big, heavy, but quite stable. We have fished out of it a t-o-n. The only things that sucks are the loading and unloading. Time consuming, a general pain in the arse, and the weight is a bit much for the misses. Also not much room in it and can't stand and fly fish.

We also have a 12 foot V-hull aluminum on a trailer. We tow this into "easy access" lakes like Roche, Chilliack Lake, and so on. It's an old boat (about 20 years) but no leaks and it suits us fine. It's too tippy to stand up and fly fish out of. I do it by myself which is a tad dodgey, but there is no way 2 ppl can try that. It's fine for trolling around which is what we use it most for.

Down the road we'd like to get rid of the canoe and the boat and trailer, and get a boat that that goes on the roof of a truck (would buy truck down the road too, right now just 4Runner and car). The boat would need to be suitable for anchoring and 2 ppl fly fishing out of it, and also for trolling with gear rods. I have heard of modified v-hull boats which I think would be good for my purposes.

Whichever boat I buy, I think I a good system to carry, load, and unload it would be with an easy loader boat rack. I have never used one, but I've heard a lot of ppl use and like them. I like the idea of not having to lift/heave the boat on and off the truck. The "roads" into many remote lakes we fish are just way too rough for any trailer/boat (you care about).

If anyone has any tips on boats and/or easy loader racks I'd love to hear it. And also where to shop for this? I'm hoping to come away with some good info at the Outdoors show this year. For boat size I'm thinking 12 or 14 foot. Aside form that I'd want the most spacious + stable boat that I could fit on the rack. I'm not sure if the racks are one size fits all and are sized to the truck, or if I'd need a full size truck to fit the rack I ned for the boat I want.

Plan I have brewing up in my mind is find boat I want first, then find out what size rack it needs to fit, then find out what size truck I need to accomodate the rack. I would like to buy a Tacoma (my fav truck) but if I need to go fullsize to fit the rack/boat combo so be it. I've seen a company called Load It advertised in BC Outdoors Magazine, I think they're in Surrey. I live in The Wack.

I used to have a 12volt power roof rack on my pickup and I thought that is was great. In all the years that I had it I never any kind of a problem with it. I drove right to the fellow factory that built them in Kelowna and with the same rack that I bought he had a 16ft. lund with wooden floor boards and he said it worked fine. I heard a while back that he had relocated some where on the Merritt Kelowna connector

[sandy999]

5 hp won't get on plane and are still heavy to move around. I keep eyeing the 2.5 hp.
Get the widest boat that will fit on the rack

When I had my boat rack I bought a 9.9-4 Stroke electric start Yamaha short shaft. It weighed around 100lbs. and it was a real pain to load and unload. Now that I sold my truck and travel trailer I bought a little car and I load my 9ft. oucast pontoon boat on top and I use a 55lb. trust MinKota to move it along. I know that it sounds like a big motor for that boat but it isn`t. There is a lot more drag on a pontoon than a tin boat. The motor used to push along my 12ft. Jon Boat alot faster.

[sandy999]

5 hp won't get on plane and are still heavy to move around. I keep eyeing the 2.5 hp.
Get the widest boat that will fit on the rack

Food for thought:
I saw a fellow on Chilliwack Lake that had a 14ft. Modified Hull Jon Boat and all he had for power was a 30lb. thrust MinKota. When we were talking at the ramp he said that was all the power he needed because he did not run from spot to spot. He trolled from spot to spot and he was fly fishing. I saw him again later in the day by the beach at the far end of the lake anchored and casting away. Nice boat. He had it on a trailer.

[Spawn Sack]

Thanks for the responses guys! So let's see here...

Damian: Interesting point that a modified V will move a bit better than a flat front, I never thought of that. I LIKE the looks of that Lowe 1440! Do you think a 5hp outboard would have enough guts to move it along at a reasonable clip?

I know going 2 stroke would save weight, but I'm just not a 2-stroke outboard fan. We have a 5hp Lehr that we just got a week or so ago that has not been used yet. I would be nice when we get rid of the 12-foot v-hull and trailer to keep the same motor. I can handle heaving it on/off the boat, but don't think I would want to do it with a 9.9hp or similar size/weight motor down the road.

HOOK: In past years we have just used a 40lb thrust electric on our 12foot aluminum or canoe. On small lakes we love it and even now with the gas motor we'll likely just leave it (the gas motor) at home when targeting these smaller lakes. Also several are electric only in which case the gas is not an option anyway. On other lakes (Chilliwack,Roche, etc) I'll be GLAD to have the gas power as several times a strong head wind kicked up and the electric could barely move the boat! This year I plan to use just the electric on some lakes, just gas on others (not many) and most of the time I'll likely have BOTH hooked up so I can zoom with the gas then use the electric to cruise in stealth mode scoping out good spots to anchor and fly cast

When I am in the buying phase I'll likely rely a lot on the staff where I'm buying the boat. I would like to go with a 14 foot, but not if that means having to move into motors bigger/heavier than my current motor. If I were trailering the boat I could care less, but having to take it off/on the boat everytime with a boat loader it's very important.

I live in Chilliwack and plan to check out Cascade and Leo and sons. Any other place you guys would reccomend checking/pricing out in the Fraser Valley or LM? I'm in no huge rush to buy. Plan to save up $ and use our current boat for at least another year.

[armytruck]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z3lruMKiC8

[armytruck]

http://www.marineone.ca/inventory/New-2014-Alumacraft-1036/212262

[Damien]

Your 5hp won't put you on plane.  But it will move that modV jon along a heck of a lot better than just an electric on those mid sized interior lakes like Roche.

I use a 5ph 2 stroke merc and am very happy with it on my heavy 12 foot Lund.  Way better than putzing along with just my 50lb electric.

Those 1036's are small.  Decent for solo fishing.  Put two guys, a 5hp and/or an electric with a decent battery and add in all the gear....you're down to about 1" of freeboard board left.

[Sandy]

1036 is even smaller if you move around your 250lbs's too quickly 

dam where's the floaty thingy you're supposed to wear, quit climbing on to me dog , it's just water!

[firstlight]

You need a minimum 9.9 2 stroke or a 15 4 stroke for a 14 footer.
Mod V or not unless your happy to just plow along at slow speed then this would be the minimum horsepower.
I hear you about the weight of the Yamaha as I have that same motor in a 15 hp.
Took it off the boat once and hope to never do it again.