Fishing out of your duck boat?

For those of you who also fish out of your quack rig, hows it going? I really do not fish much any more and when I do its for the eating kind....crappie, catfish and top water sandies. My option is should I sell my bass/fish rig and get a full blown duck rig that I can fish out of when we do go. I currently have a 2001 Xpress21 with 225 yamaha. The few times I take it out duck hunting I just beach it a few hundred yards away and throw a camo tarp over it. Its nice when crossing open water but otherwise a pain when using it for duck hunting.

So for those that use their rigs for dual reasons are the duck boats decent fishing boats also?

If what you're doing for dux is working and you fish a lot, I'd stick with what ya got. I have a 16' Sea Ark jon boat and it can get a lot skinnier than a bass boat. I do the same, fish mainly for cats, crappie, sandy/hybrids. Sometimes bass fish, but not as much. There are a lot of times when I'm out in open water drifting or tied up to a stump and my light weight jon boat really tosses ya around. There's no comparison to the stability of a bass boat with some wind/chop in that regard.

And most folks with duck rigs do NOT hunt from them so the only real thing you're getting is the ability to run skinny and bang around the stumps. If you need to get into shallower spots than a bass boat can go you should consider it, but know the fishing can get pretty bumpy compared to what you're in now.

whats your definition of a duck boat?

any boat can be a "duck" boat. I would keep the xpress, its a heck of a boat.

I have a 18ft Mod V hull Triton side console that I use both for fishing and duck hunting. I have it rigged with LED lights, trolling motor, float pods, and jack plate. So I can run open big water about 30 mph but can also run it in about 1-1 1/2 ft of water. Also has fishing deck and live well.

Keep the bass rig, last thing we need is more "duck" mud motor rigs running around. Outboards will do just fine, just park the boat.
Trolling motors on true flatbottom/slick bottom boats suck bad and will not track well at all. In any wind the tail of the boat will just go side to side and is a PIA.

I fish out of mine, but then again, I'm not a serious duck hunter

You're right. You don't need yours either.

I would like a boat that can get back into skinnier water and take the abuse. Open design as it will be transport only. It would be obviously smaller/lighter than my 21 xpress. easier to haul/park. That 21 with tandem axle is a beast in tight areas. My best friend hates borrowing my boat cause he can never get it backed into my drive way cover. I can but its still tricky. I'm looking at not only hunting but scouting also. I think I would feel better about hooking up to a single axle, lighter boat and heading out than that beast I have now.... just to scout.

sounds like your mind is made up, get you the smaller boat

This seems like a +1 for keeping the big boat...

Love my Gator Trax 1862 w/140 hp and jackplate, I've been getting in some pretty skinny water (12"-18"). It will dang sure take some abuse, although I haven't torn it up too bad yet. It does allow me to hit big water w/a pretty stiff breeze and waves. You will get wet if the wind is quartering to ya.

I use mine for fishing more than I have for hunting. I fish for everything. It's crazy some of the places I have had the boat.

After season I will be spending more money on fishing stuff for the boat.

One boat can't do it all, but that boat right there can do a whole lot!

Fish in water... boat float.. put boat in water and go fishing... fancy don't like being labeled




[img]https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/pics/...7_5163082391076[/img]

My 16' Sea Ark CC is a good hybrid, jackplate allows it to run shallow enough when needed. Just put the blind back on it, usually I don't use it but its pretty much a necessity now.

Got a trolling motor on my gatortrax, but I won't even bother fishing out of it unless there is very little wind, or I'm in a wind protected cove, because of the comments above...

When is someone going to put power poles on the duck boat?!

Get txtroghy85 to post up a pic of his rig

I've seen several and even some of the micros.

Here are mine:






Stowed...





Deployed:

I am going to try. Just picked up a G3 today. Should run in 12 to 18 if not I will add a jack plate.

The boat I ride along in is a 10 year old bass pro boat that has a removable pop up blind. Hands down the best blind I have seen for daily use but quickly removed for fishing in the off season. It's an aluminum boat so it sucks in the waves but works great for shallow waters