Trapping boats

Looking for a boat what your opinion on best size for trapping? Lakes rivers both.thinking Jon boat or modified Jon style. Thanks

Depends on the size of the water, water conditions, weight you'll be carrying, type of access you have for launching, etc.

Small calm waters you can probably get by with a 14' jonboat, bigger waters 16 and up....unless your in a protected pond, small river, I consider anything smaller than 16 a toy...but that's me, YMMV...

This is what I use. 17 ish feet, 70 hp yamaha. Can haul a dozen beaver or more and trapping gear without issue. 3/16" plate welded aluminum, and a modified v hull for our rougher water here on the bay.


Yes, it's small for a georgian bay boat, but it's tough as nails and will last a lifetime.

It is also incredibly cheap to run, and I spend 400 ish hours a year on the water hunting fishing and trapping, so that's important.

Awesome Rig

Thanks. The storage box and seat are removable and it gives you the full floor to haul stuff. I can drop a lift of plywood in it and float it put if need be.

And there's a livewell in the front compartment

It all depends.

When I was trapping, I ran a mud boat with a surface drive. Normal outboards were no good in the conditions I trapped.

I have the mud boat sitting out in the shop...hopefully it's worthwhile pulling it out one of these years.

that is a thing of beauty , I have boat envy now , that is precisly what I would build

it won't be the best on skinny little very shallow rivers but so much versatility and little boats for little rivers are a dime a dozen , big water capability is what sets boats apart in class for me , because things can blow up so fast on even a mile wide lake you get to 3-4 miles wide or wider more boat is more better.

ok maybe a walkthrough to the front would be nice but I can see where that gives it a ton of strength for a small loss in maneuverability inside

It's perfect for here so long as the waves are less than 3 feet. Any bigger and I'm not going out lol.

It's not perfect everywhere, but I can musky fish, walleye fish, duck hunt and trap, and it's perfect. Great for two people. Three gets tough for anything but trolling, but we did a duck hunt this morning with three people and it worked great despite it blowing 35mph.

It was designed to do big boat things in a tough small efficient package. Only change I have planned is lithium batteries for the 24v terrova. Will take 100 lbs out of the back of it.

I like a steering wheel and a cubby to get behind to get out of the weather Downfall is space.

I have a valco 14 ft skinny water boat that does well in big water.
Use it in the river and the salt.

I cut the transom and made a plate to run a pump or a prop.
It is a lip wiggler with a prop

I ujse a little 10 foot John Boat and waders. I just pull the John Boat loaded with Traps through the marshes.

If shallow water, go all out an buy mud motor an speacil boat made for shallow water with reinforced hull. It cost some money though

What animals in the Wisconsin River to trap.

Here is my rat rig, good for one guy and about a 100 rats and gear...

If shallow water, u don't wanna be use a big motor lots power an screw up an ruin transmission in motor or underwater obstacles an destroy aluimuin Prop. I should never sold that trailer an boat an motor yrs ago. Had trailer new Tires an bearings. Lites fix an motor fix, 18 HP. Brass blade

14’ Jon with a 15 hp short shaft outboard. I have hauled as many as 24 beaver in it and with no console I can get under a lot of river brush to get to a bank I want to set. I can cruise at about 20 mph and go all day on 4-5 gallons of gas.
I wouldn’t get anything bigger as it would put a serious crimp in how I trap.

That looks like fun. Yet dangerous in pic of deep water. What u set half submerge 330s at lures sets or what kinda set in river pic ?

Hey Beaverpeeler is that a 14-36 or 14-48 ?

like said, we need a Lot more information to help you out.

Payload (beaver vs rats) and how many. Water and bottom conditions...Ice or no ice (some boats break ice a LOT better than others. Will you be pushing/pulling it anywhere (the HD welded boats aren't real easy to get unstuck). And access to your water (concrete launch or shoving it down a bank).

There's no one best boat, IMO. I ended up with 3. A 14 ft riveted jon boat with a surface drive/mud motor in 15 hp for rats. A 16 ft riveted jon with a 30 hp surface drive/mud motor for beaver (you'll sink a 14 ft without much issue if you put many beaver in it) and a welded 16 ft jon with an outboard if I'm not worried about beaching it or shallow water. That said, I rarely use my outboard anymore. burn one up or tear the bottom off one and you'll think twice about using an outboard for trapping (I've done both).

That older V style boat Les has will break ice a lot better than about any Jon boat will. The old HD lunds were great ice breakers.

Where good site online to checkout mud motors ? Anyone heard someone get hurt bad with mud motor ? Heard story of one hit log in water an prop catch on it an swing tail shaft up in boat by operater

River & lake trapping, I started with a 16' smoker craft. Beat the rivets out of it a few times on the lake sunk it twice. The semi v was better than flat. Then I traded up to an 18' Alumaweld sled, rough on the lake and heavy when the river got low for winter. Started running a 14' Monarch w/20hp for shallow water. Then bought an 18' Almar with semi v, and a soft top for the lake. That was comfy at -20, and on the rough days. It's been many years now since I trapped those places, but sure enjoy the memories the pics bring back.

This is great swamp boat

Mine is an SPS (Mudmotorkit. Com)

Mostly those 330’s are mostly out of the water guarding castor mounds. Btw, I take that Jon out in lakes with 2.5 foot whitecaps sometimes. No issue other that it gets bumpy. Never feel it’s too dangerous

14-48

Looks like I am not the only one that likes this kind of boat. Been a lot of fish caught with it also

The sloped up front lets you get right up on the bank. step from the boat onto dry land. Running a tiller leaves a lot of room in the middle for dead stuff and traps. toss in a couple folding chairs to sit in the middle for drift fishing.

Hutch,
Sorry for my ignorance.
Is the georgian bay boat a company or is that a style?
Nice looking boar.
Mac

Alumacraft T16-XL. Only made for a stretch in the 80s. Rated 40 horse. Won't find that horsepower rating today in a new similar boat. Lightweight, yet strong.

35 horse longtail Go Devil. Very versatile. You can really load up the front end and the 35 will kick it up on plane quickly.

Found a 3500 pound Shorelander trailer, used, that I can slip under it at the boat landing and haul everything back no problem.

V-bows are good to go in river trapping. Whenever you tie up at the bank, the boat always swings parallel to the shore anyway.

My second trapping rig is an Alumacraft T-14 V-bow with a 9 horse longtail Go Devil. Good rig for early ice/late ice situations on the river, or when the landing is suddenly shut down with snow and you can skid this rig across and into the drink.

BP . . . port side dimple there. Must've been drifting downstream sideways with a load in the boat, eh?

Mines similar to Danny's. Crestliner 16.5 Retriever with a 40 hp Mercury. If you go with a Jon boat , get a modified v. Takes a chop better.

Nah, was pulling the trailer and drove into a ditch. Trailer flew off and came down on its side.
(Don’t text and drive). Lol

Looks like I’m buying a Tracker Grizzly 1448, with a Suzuki 20. Engine is a 2016 electric start with 12 hours on it from the dealer putting the computer on it. Dealer is not the one selling it. Be a lot different than the McKenzie style drift boat I have trapped out of. No more trying to hitch hike back up river with a gun.

Good one! Almost the same location in the fishing/hunting boat. Had a couple of lard arses in the boat drifting a small river bow hunting and got hung up on some timber. Was touch and go there for a minute or two. Current really had us pinned. Look along that port side a little further back and you can see the dimple.

Yup. I see it. I’ve had a few hair raising episodes myself over the years

BP is your a 36 or 48 wide? Have not seen you for a while.

Muskrat that one with the lady up front, is that boat an alumacraft?

18' Lowe

an excellent fishing boat, drafts very little, and very stable

If I lived in a rocky area I'd go welded, but see no need for that down here on the Wisconsin River or in the Mississippi.

We have several companies in the area that make similar boats. Stanley boats are the most well known.

Plate welded aluminum boats that will literally last several lifetimes.

Google stanley predator . That would be my next boat if I needed one

Mine is a 14-48 riveted. Got a bunch of fatigued aluminum welded up and a few holes here and there. It’s watertight to start the season anyway.

Very Nice

I’m not gentle with boats….. LOL

I've always wanted one of those stable Marsh rat boats Dave

Thanks

mac

Fourteen foot john boat with a six horse it works for me.

Fourteen foot john boat with a six horse it works for me.

[video:youtube]https://youtu.be/1hXlg1VBirg?si=Bt1qyLCmVQFxMPlv[/video]

I need a motion sickness pill

I need to learn how to post!

Trapper les is that your boat? I went with the tracker 1448, our rivers are not huge. Thinking the V nose will help the ride, hope I’m not giving up too much room. Almost went with a 1648. Did want all welded. Wish it had a 25 instead of the 20 but price was right.

Other than the safety stuff any tips on things you can’t leave behind while trapping? Potato fork or things like that? Thinking of welding two drags together to make a four prong grapple.

I have a 12 foot semi v I put a 5 hp mercury on. Use it in farm ponds, a small river most would call creek. In big water like the Missouri river it just wont work. Type of boat depends on the water. My first trapping boat was one of those little tippy made out of riveted beercan aluminum jon boats. I used a trolling motor. Bought an old sixties model semi v with a 35 horse 2 stroke for bigger water. Learned a lot about breakdowns with that thing. Got the semi v I use in small water now by trading a 22 pistol for it. I guess you just keep learning what works for you and accumulating.

Hey wws, guess one of my pics proved my memory is bad. Mine is a 1436.

As far as things I find useful on the line is a grub hoe. It does double duty both to grapple with, and to dig out banks for trap placement. Also handy to swing at the bank and hold the boat against the current while you position yourself.

I use my fish gaff a lot

Yes it is my rat rig and it is very agile before you put anything in it. Tater rake, hatchet, extra gallon of gas, small tool kit if you need to replace rewind rope or look at the carburetor bowl, and duckbill pole for maneuvering around from time to time . 14’ boat with 6 1/2 up SPS mud motor on it .