hewescraft vs northriver vs smokercraft

[Anonymous]

Hummmmmm... Bodocrash??? Coming from "Stay to the right, I'm getting my camera" Swede. Edited for good taste.
Sorry just too pissed to talk.

[SPARKY101]

Holy*****What in the heck do we got goin on here...Round 1 Swede Vs. BODO....hmm quite interesting i see:-k How did a simple post turn to the ring#-o You should take it to the off topic section:cheers:

[swedefish4life1]

I will do mine as well with grace do the same just answer the phones really simple Girly to Girly:colors:
pissed never won a fight in fact gets you killed and fast will keep to the facts yours and mine and I have 5 others and 2 who watched the entire show.


The boats listed buy the most HP and width/hardtop if they have it and lots of progressive VEEEEEEEEE:cheers: if were talking salt water duties only= and here it is fish with me and the correct time, weather and tides I get skunked I will strip down in area 9 and swim for 5 full minutes:brilsmurf :bigsmurf: pretty simple and I dont care the tub if its got power pro, coated balls were in! Girly talk is biting! and I have a team backing and filming

[saltyseadog]

the kingfisher preflex man i aint got 80 grand about 30 tops

[swedefish4life1]

$50,000 and barely used but what will $30,000 buy new??? and HP??
I would press the used market $30,000 will but much:bball:

[SPARKY101]

The not so good taste post were better:cheers: O"well it is a family site so keep the ring clean.Round 1 Bodo:cheers: :bball:

[bassmasterderek]

The boat in the rear of the picture= floating Junk and with Pride named the Floating (cork)=too short, to narrow , to high and way lean on power needed in the big blue:bball:

Hey I happen to like my floating cork! Yeah it was kinda slow that day full of all da fish and all! I musta hooked up with bout 30 fish all in that hour it took you to take those 20 different pictures of the same fish!

Dang man I cant even understand your posts!:-& Peace I'm out!:batman:

[swedefish4life1]

Sorry the 1st fish 16lbs the heavyweight then the 2nd but I do have over 30 from Area 9 this summer alone not one under 20lbs in 7 tubs and your correct fish and own what you like if you want better and much= its out there and tons of product in the norm.
Choices one is great for him and thats grand and will be junk to another but a barely 18ft by 64 inches in width and tall even Glass in the sound is junk, unsafe and a terrible working platform.
It always goes back to simple math length, width, side height, bottom design and HP nothing more or less:cheers:

[G-Man]

Saltyseadog don't sweat the highend stuff. For what it's worth, my opinion on what makes a good fishing boat is its ability to store your gear out of the way until it is needed. Of course sea worthiness is important but many manufacturers make their boat to almost the exact same specs, there aren't any secret designs that make one hull better than the other. Stick to your budget, there are plenty of boat setups out there that will get the job done that don't run past 30K. Don't pass up a good used boat if it meets your needs. Many times it will come with a bunch of extras that you would end up spending several thousands of dollars on anyway. If you are good with your hands in anyway, you can "finish" your boat to the type of fishing you prefer without spending an arm and a leg. Always keep your camera handy and take pictures of things you find interesting or useful so that you can reproduce them yourself. A good fish finder is key as well as a reliable kicker. Any kicker can be tweeked and turned into a "high thrust" unit by purchasing a shallow pitched 4 bladed prop made by Solas, save the $$ for good electronics. My downriggers are second hand as well as my kicker motor and all have worked flawlessly. Swede, I'm not knocking your taste in boats but unless one has the $$ to burn, they should leave the highend, custom outfitted boats to the pros. These folks use them a heck of a lot more than your average fisherman and get use them as a tax deduction to boot!

[sickbayer]

I agree with g-man here. Used boat is the best way to go unless you have to have new...the poor guy whom i had my boat from was into it 45k with all the extras and tax and within 4 years had lost 20k. so IMO for 30k you can get an absoluty baddass like new boat. Oh and i agree with another poster, if you sound fish often you do not want a sled out there. I have good legs but even with suspension seats my back can hurt after a while. And i love the blue roguejet boat with the tower.

[swedefish4life1]

Agree with G-man and the last post as well= if it fits your needs slam it if you want better the changes are mayor and lasting and the best is salt in the air and downriggers sailing but safety should never be undercut or over looked in the big Blue:-$

[wolverine]

Ok, lets get this thread back on its original track. I just got home from a realllllly slow day at the boat show. So-so foot traffic, 2nd floor parts and accessory sales far busier than the boat sales floor. A lot of sticker shock on boat sales floor. It looks like the sales position is "We haven't sold squat for the past year and this year doesn't look any better so we might as well try for the biggest margin on the folks that are going to buy regardless of cost". Sour economy = sour boat sales. People need jobs, shelter, food, car, education, etc far more than a big discretionary dollar spend right now.
In today's real world new boat pricing is really over the top. Fine if you have serious bucks or plan on making the purchase last forever. Manufacturing costs are going higher, but aluminum sheet is nearly 1/2 the price that it was a year ago. Boats are like cars in that they are depreciating assets. The late model used market is flooded with product that, if the owner really is motivated to sell, will have to be marked off 40% or more of the new cost. All that negative stuff aside if one does their due diligence on what they really want and need, and don't get buyers remorse in a couple of years, a boat purchase will work out well. 30 grand will buy a lot of boat in the used late model low hour market. Once a small boat gets beyond 5 years old you really are buying the engine. paying 20 grand for a used boat can turn into 35 grand if you have to replace the engine in a year or two. If you look at used make sure that the boat has verified low hours and was properly maintained, or buy it a cheap enough price that you can replace the power and still end up at the price that you want. As I said in an earlier post "buy the boat for your primary fishery". If you fish 100 days a tear and only 5 days are off shore at Westport, Neah Bay, Etc it doesn't really make financial sense in having a big heavy boat. For a few days fishing off shore either trade fishing with a friend who has a big boat or hire a charter. Same with boats that are designed for running the Snake river. Heavy, very high horsepower, and expensive. If you only are going to fish the salt then buy a well built fiberglass boat. Lastly remember that its your money and you make the final call on what you end up owning. We all have opinions and like human exhaust pipes we all have one.
Enjoy the boat buying process.

[Anonymous]

Excellent points Wolverine! Right on the money. Be true to yourself pick out a bunch you can afford, make a chart, pros and cons Try and make a passionate decision/purchase a logical one. Hahahaha a non pasionate boat purchase, now that's funny!!!!! Figure out what you can afford and what you want to do and go for gusto. Don't forget the operating costs. I have seen a lot of folks leave the boat at home because it's too expensive to run. Where's the value in that? There's a lot of boats on this forum and I'll bet if there was some asking just about anyone would love to share a ride or a fish trip for educational purposes of course. =) Lots of trying is how you find what will suit you. Don't be shy. Check out the share your boat thread and ask away.

[Gisteppo]

Im going to throw a different angle into this.

I have several boats in my possession right now, and can say that going with the max hp isn't always the best idea.

A boat is designed to do XYZ from the designer's table. What typically happens is that he shows a max displacement and does a weight study in the boat to figure out where everything goes. After the study, he adds human factors (people, coolers, fish, live load, etc) and puts her on a load displacement. Once all of these numbers are crunched and a specified top speed is estimated, a set of calculations occur based on some guys from the '60s research on planing craft. Savitsky and Lord are the big dogs. These equations puke out a number that shows required horsepower for the optimal speed.

Often we overpower our boats with much heavier engines than necessary to achieve an extra 6mph top speed, which is a very strong selling point, but utterly pointless unless we are tournament bass fishing.

A good example is my 1979 hewescraft. It is designed for 70hp, and MANY people have put 90hp on the back of it. As a result, they complain about horrible porpoising and transom issues because they are hanging motors which are 100+ lbs overweight. For their efforts, they get an extra few mph, far worse fuel economy, and mediocre handling.

I currently have a Yam F50TLRC on it. This motor weighs the same as the old 70hp E-rude with a jet pump. I get an improvement of 40% in fuel economy, better balance in the boat, fantastic handling, and the ability to trim a full 20 degrees to change the attitude of the boat. I can run at 25 all day long and burn a whopping 6 gallons of gas.

All that said, you can best find the right boat by listing out your intended use and needs instead of pros and cons. Use a list like this:

Length
Beam
fishing grounds
how far will it be trailered
what is pulling it
what type of fishing
what activities will is also need to do (tubing, family boat, etc)
Where will it do the MAJORITY of boating
What are the WORST CONDITIONS you will encounter
must have items

Fill this list out, post it, and you will have an objective baseline to seek out the ideal boat.

Don't forget that used boats are a bargain. I traded a motorcycle that was worth $1500 for my Hewes, then did a little horse trading with motors and such, and now have a whopping $200 invested in this boat:





Crabbing in Oregon:

[saltyseadog]

can you see why its time for a new boat

[Gisteppo]

Does it float?

Do fish die when they get close?

Are you dry?

Does it start every day?

Looks like a fish machine to me!

If you don't like the beautiful mustard/baby poo/dorito vomit color, you can always sand a tooth into the gelcoat and paint her for cheap.

E

[saltyseadog]

really the fact that it is 30 years old somthin is bound to go wrong .never had a prob but never know how much to paint you think the color is nasty bought it from my dad

[Dave]

yeah for sure dont want a pump i never thought of longer rods and booms but thats no biggie would like to find a used but you just dont see many used hewes i like how every thing is welded like all the cleats on a smokercraft are screwed on...where we fish area 8-1 8-2 and 7 i think a twenty foot sea runner could just about take anything out there?

SSD,

Sounds like you might be considering a Hewescraft so here is a little more info about my experience buying my Hewescraft. I bought my Hewescraft 163 Sea Runner new in 2003 from Jerry of (Tom & Jerry's) now located on the way to Anacortes, and Jerry treated me great. It was the last 2003 model on their lot and had a new 2002 Honda 75 4 stroke on it, and sat on a new EZ Loader trailer. Sticker price was 20K, I paid 15K and felt like I got a good deal. You mentioned that you rarely see a used Hewescraft for sale. I agree, and there is a good reason for that. They are a very well built dependable boat and you can't go wrong with a Honda 4 stroke. I bought my 163 Sea runner because I wanted to be able to launch it by myself. If I had it to do over again, I would have bought a 20’ sea runner with the extended transom which wasn’t available when I bought my boat. I looked at allot of boats before I bought my Hewescraft. I really liked the wide rail all the way around the boat which made mounting my Scotty electric downriggers a snap. You also mentioned the welded cleats on the Hewescraft. It’s just a quality built boat all around. They come with a nylon top, sides and back with sipper door and have a lifetime warranty on the hull and floor. You will be able to go anywhere in a 20 footer which would be nice when fishing the San Juan Island areas. I've had my Hewescraft out at Deception Pass and it was absolutely fine. I have also unintentionally had my 16’ 3” Hewes out in 4 to 5 foot swells which came out of nowhere one late morning in area 8-2 and it handled the rough water very well. Here is Tom and Jerry's info.

Address: 11071 Josh Green Lane Mount Vernon, Wa. 98273. 360-466-9955

FROM I-5: Take I-5 Exit 230 and head west on Hwy 20 towards Anacortes. Go approximately 7.5 miles to the Twin Bridges Marina. Take a right on Josh Green Lane, before going over the bridge. Located in the first big blue and grey building on your right. You will also see several Hewes boats lined up along the road. If you go over the bridge you've gone too far.

My boat at Lake Goodwin. Registration numbers edited from photo.

[hewesfisher]

I'll echo Dave's comments regarding Hewescraft boats even though mine's a Sportsman. There's no salt here in the Inland NW, so didn't think a deeper V was necessary. I had an equally pleasant buying experience with our boat from Skipper Bill's in Spokane. I've been thoroughly pleased with it, and only regrets are not stepping up to an 18' or 20' footer with an extended transom. An ET means a Searunner, as they're not available in the Sportsman lineup.

Still, the Sportsman is an outstanding value, and we love it. The only used Hewes I've seen listed are those from owners usually upgrading to another Hewes, something my wife and I are starting to consider doing as well.

Good luck in your search, the best part is doing all the shopping to find just the right one for you.

[Anonymous]

You want a rough water, tough boat, check the specs on this one. heavy duty tough boats click on the RW series. They're not small boats, 20' is the smallest I think they make. Heavy Aluminum bottoms and bows. I've always wanted one, but don't need that kind of heavy boat. Check them out though.