Need some advice/opinions from those with experience. Been running a surface drive the last several years but as my boys get older, I find myself doing more fishing than hunting. I’ve been pondering going with a tunnel hull with an outboard, and a jackplate. Anyone have any experience? Pros/cons? Still able to run shallow enough to be viable for duck hunting? Stumps an issue? Builders recommended (aluminum)?

Interesting, never heard of it before, but looks like a good trade off. Gator Trax makes them, call Kent, I’m sure he would tell you all about it.

https://gatortraxboats.com/shop/options-accessories/hull/tunnel-hull/

With my gator trax and the rounded chines, it turns on a time if I’m on the throttle, but low speed it slides like all the rest, that tunnel hull would help a lot with low speed I suspect.

I’ve been looking at their website. Have you been happy with your new boat? How was the design/buying process?

I like the boat a lot, it only has 10 hours on it, so it is not even broke in yet, and I have not gone full throttle yet. The build process when great, but wish designed a few things differently. But there are nightmare boat builder stories out there, so one reason I went with Gator Trax, they been around.

It’s my second Gator Trax, but my other one I bought used.

Having owned lots of boats and styles, I would say a heavy hull center consoole aluminum boat with a tunnel/JP combo being pushed with a decent HP motor is the way to go. Be it one boat will not do it all, that combo will get you really close. I was a mud motor freak but after the new wore off the longtail, I sought bigger better badder for a long time. Mud motors leave a whole lot to be desired. I used to ride 10 miles of bad water to get to my spot. It would wear my arse out today if I had to do the long tail thing again. I gave up mud motors and never looked back, dang sure don't miss them. I can get a lot of places in the boat you mentioned in a lot less time than a rinky dinked slow mud motors. My opinion is you would be very content in that aforementioned combo.

Wayne if I was making 10 mile runs on the coast I would want a mud motor either, main reason I got a mud motor is for the stumps. I hit several every tip, no way you do that with an outboard.

I've been pretty dang skinny in my mod-v 18' xpress with a jackplate and outboard. I wanted a tunnel but got impatient with the wait time and bought the mod-v to get on the water.

With a good tunnel hull and the right setup, pretty much if it'll float you can run it.

I love my center console, wish every boat I've had was a CC. But I don't hunt from my boat either. I imagine the console eats up some valuable real estate for a hunter.

Is getting an outboard an option? And just switch out the motors? Put the outboard on during fishing season and the surface drive during duck season?

There are a good many down on the coast. A good friend of mine has an aluminum 16’ tunnel with a 60HP tiller and an electric Jack plate. Great rig to fish and hunt the flats out of. It will run on plane in something like 4”-6” of water and it is pretty fast. Have to be careful where you come off plane as well as pay more attention to falling tides. Needs at least a foot of water under the boat to get back on plane. Make a tight circle and jump it up on plane on the wake. Stumps aren’t much of an issue where we knock around down there though. Outboards and stumps are a recipe for a new lower unit if you get in a hurry.

I’m not one to get in a hurry in a minefield of stumps. Typically idle speed or a shade over. Ive got no problem going through them with the surface drive, just old and wise enough to know I don’t wanna end up in the water at dark thirty in 40 degree water. Never ran stumps like that with an outboard, at least intentionally. Had a 20’ Nitro years ago, occasionally bump one that was hiding a few inches below the surface but nothing major. I suppose that’s my biggest concern, I tend to take it really slow in unknown areas or in shallow water.

My Dads river boat has a tunnel hull paired with a 90hp jet outboard. In 6” of crystal clear Arkansas water, it looks like you’re running on dry ground at 40mph

You need a center console tunnel hull with a Jet outboard. You will be able to run in a couple of inches of water to your duck spot as well as safely run out past the jetties in the Gulf. I believe you can get a jet lower unit on any size outboard you select. If you go with a jet, and the boat is rated for 90hp, then you would need a 125hp engine. You lose 30% of the engines's hp to the water pump and water jet system. Alumaweld makes the thickest hull aluminum. I have always run Yamahas, but Mercury is just as reliable. Both companies offer jet outboards.

Most fish outboard boats run very shallow water on plane. But how shallow will it run just idling, or getting back up on plane, and with vegetation…

I spoke with the sales and builds guy at Gatortrax, Brian I think it was. He said personally he is not a fan of them. He said they draft a little more than a monohull, due to a catamaran type effect. He said they’re popular along the coast for in shore fishing but he doesn’t see them used as much for duck hunting. He said they can run very shallow on step but idling it may draft 6” vs 4” for a monohull, spitball numbers. He said an outboard is an outboard, regarding running mud and vegetation, tunnel hull or not. He also said handling is not as good vs a monohull. Although, I don’t suspect it would be all that much worse than the straight flat bottom I am running currently. Still not sold on the idea and not gonna rush into anything as my current boat still works fine. I don’t think a jet drive would be advantageous, at least in the water I hunt. Sucking up silt and vegetation would destroy that impeller pretty quick, I’d think. It seems like the only way I could get accurate experience is to find someone that runs one in the area, which seems to be unlikely. The shallow water capabilities is less of a concern than what stump would do to an outboard on a jackplate. Current setup, no big deal but 99.9% of the time I am idling through them, or just a hair over idle speed.

Kent is the main guy, he has done most of the videos and been there forever, but Brian knows them boats, I talk to Brian a lot. Kent on the left and Brian on right.

I like the storage hatches you have on the front deck.

As I said before, I would have done the design differently if I had a do over, the big one are those hatches... There is a gun/rod box on the right, if I had a do over, it would have gone on the left, and those hatch doors shift right. As it is, with trolling motor installed, I cannot open the front hatch without deploying trolling motor. Not that big of a deal, I put stuff in that front hatch I don't need to get to frequently.