05-30-2022, 09:33 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-03-2022, 11:28 PM by obifishkenobi.)
Lots of advice here, that I do not agree with.
I've owned a number of boats in my time, and spend probably 60 days a year trolling in Utah and in Washington on the Columbia:
To advise anything but Max rated horsepower is stupid. Full stop. We live at high elevation, where you lose 3% horsepower for every thousand feet of elevation. At Strawberry, you're only operating with about 75% of your rated horsepower. Plenty of guys who tried to cut corners and cost on the motor, get to strawberry and can't hardly plane with two or three people. Dumb.
As for Midwest style boats, Lund and Crestliner. Tracker is junk, cheap for a reason.
As for professional style boats: Duckworth, North River, Alumaweld, etc. I currently have a 20' Duckworth and love it.
As for motors: I'm partial to Mercury, but it's hard to go wrong these days.
I've owned a number of boats in my time, and spend probably 60 days a year trolling in Utah and in Washington on the Columbia:
To advise anything but Max rated horsepower is stupid. Full stop. We live at high elevation, where you lose 3% horsepower for every thousand feet of elevation. At Strawberry, you're only operating with about 75% of your rated horsepower. Plenty of guys who tried to cut corners and cost on the motor, get to strawberry and can't hardly plane with two or three people. Dumb.
As for Midwest style boats, Lund and Crestliner. Tracker is junk, cheap for a reason.
As for professional style boats: Duckworth, North River, Alumaweld, etc. I currently have a 20' Duckworth and love it.
As for motors: I'm partial to Mercury, but it's hard to go wrong these days.