Your Ideal Alaskan Boat

[bigbassfish]

As much as I would love a jet boat, in my current situation I couldn’t think to give up the ability to take it on the bigger lakes. Maybe less so of an issue in Alaska? What would I be giving up to run an 18ft jet up there? In my mind I’m picture jet outboard but is there reason to go one way or the other?

 

[wyosam]

Your budget will get you Decent used boat. Next question will be capacity you need, and water you want to run. Kenai means 50hp or less at the power head. The conundrum I ran into was wanting a jet for shallow water, a sturdy welded boat big enough to haul moose camp + moose. 50hp head with a jet doesn’t push a very big loaded boat upriver very well. My 16x55 roughneck has a factory 65hp jet (85 or 90 at the power head). I wouldn’t want less, certainly not 30% less. I kinda wish I had a Kenai legal boat, too. Also wish I had a boat for the salt.


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[bigbassfish]

What is fishing the Kenai like? Mostly drifting for trout I would guess? Is the HP limit due to the popularity or what?

I would think if moving to the peninsula, it would be a big draw to have a Kenai legal boat considering it looks to be a decent drive to fishing grounds otherwise.

 

[HungryNomad]

As others have alluded to, figure out what kind of water you want to boat in and go from there and your budget will be a limiting factor. I have an 1872 sea ark, MVJT, center console with a 115/80 jet in Northwest AK. It’s great for the slower, shallower rivers we have here but has it’s drawbacks. I spend a lot of time with my father in laws 16’ narrower GT with a 60/40 on it. That boat is a tiller and although it doesn’t have near the payload capacity that thing is great for getting into slightly smaller sloughs and channels that I have a little more trouble getting my boat into. Primarily because of the tiller, I’ve taken my boat into some real skinny stuff, it’s just harder to steer quickly. I also have a square stern grumman canoe with a kicker (and a bunch of human powered inflatables). The canoe is Great for lots of stuff and they have been used in AK on a variety of different rivers for years. I have taken them up the Susitna and Talkeetna rivers. Although there are obvious drawbacks, namely speed and draft when loaded. As others have said, given your budget the Solar Inflatable might be a good compromise. I’ve never been in one but know a number of people that have them and use them for many different things. Best of luck with the decision.


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[kwackkillncrew]

if it was me, i wouldnt bring that boat up here. The gunnels are pretty low and it would be pretty sketchy standing on the deck fishing (atleast for me). Also i think that boat would sell for much more down in the L48 then it would up here. I see boats like that on some of the lakes up here, but havent seen to many of those bass style boats on the rivers or in the ocean. you might be able to rip around whittier in that thing but the days to do it would be very limited. The crabbing season are in the winter and thats typically when the worst weather is out of homer. Like its been said, larger john boats with tillers are used much more often. Until you get into the bigger ocean boats, most of the other boats i see/have been in are much more utilitarian without many fancy things on them.

 

[Snowwolfe]

OP,
I mean no disrespect. But you really need to live here for a year or two before you decide what boat to purchase. There is a reason most of us end up with either several types of boats or we share experiences with buddies who have what we don't.
Do you want to chase salmon in the ocean?
Silvers, reds, and pinks in the rivers?
Use the boat for hunting?
Fish small lakes for trout and pike?
Or stay in the Kenai?

 

[TaperPin]

A friend wanted to move up - took an entire month to travel around and get to know the towns on the road system, landed a good job, sold their house in Atlanta, moved up. 10 months later moved back to Atlanta. If you love the bass boat, maybe keep it with a friend for a year before selling it.

 

[KChunter71]

Tiller steer like @thinhorn_AK talks about is what you will see a lot of people using. @bigbassfish it looks like your current boat is a two-stroke. I’d be careful about what bodies of water you’re on if you do take it up there. Most are going to four stroke requirement on the boat. What ever you get you will have epic trips!

 

[diamond10x]

OP,
I mean no disrespect. But you really need to live here for a year or two before you decide what boat to purchase. There is a reason most of us end up with either several types of boats or we share experiences with buddies who have what we don't.
Do you want to chase salmon in the ocean?
Silvers, reds, and pinks in the rivers?
Use the boat for hunting?
Fish small lakes for trout and pike?
Or stay in the Kenai?

This ^ really needs to be emphasized.

I bought a 1860 g3 outfitter w/ a console and a 30hp when I first moved here. Great boat, loved it but I couldn't do a lot of the things I wanted because of how it was set up. Last year I sold it and bought another 1860 g3 outfitter but this time a 50hp tiller w/ hydraulic jack plate. The issue with my first boat is it was very tough to drift for trout and cast to silver's when I was alone and I couldn't run that late into the season for waterfowl once it started getting cold. With my new boat I can fish all summer and fall, and run well into November for waterfowl hunting and trout fishing. I'm also still looking to get another boat to get into some other restricted areas that I can't take my g3. Like stated earlier, there is no perfect boat up here. Every area has a preferred style and set up and each body of water has specific regulations on what is legal to use.

Also, there are lots of boat that get put up for sale every summer that are set up for the area. If you do move, sell your boat and just buy used up here.

 

[Gravel Road]

Some really good advice above. You really can't do it all with one boat.
I had these in interior Ak: (not at the same time)
1.. 24 ft Hewscraft, 460 inbd jet-didn't like it but it would run shallow and fast. If you get it stuck on a gravel bar be prepared for hell.
2. 17 ft heavy aluminum with 90/60 Yamaha jet-okay, but pretty gutless motor so wouldn't carry much weight
3. 14ft Zodiak with 40 Yamaha with both jet and prop, full canopy and console steer-very versatile. Used it on North Slope for caribou, Yukon River for pike, lakes and shallow rivers. Would be ok for bay fishing.
4. 14ft jon with 30? hp with a long mud runner type motor-slow and hard to turn sharp. No reverse. ok for duck hunting
5. Grumman Freighter aluminum canoe with 15hp Yamaha with lift-didn't like the tipsiness when motor was lifted to run shallow

A friend had a 16ft jon with a 60/40 Honda jet 4 stroke-great little boat for running rivers-it easily came up on step with 3 guys, a LOT of bear bait and camping gear.

I think a 16-18 ft Rigid inflatable (RIB) with aluminum bottom and canopy would get you on a lot of adventures, even on the ocean. Otherwise a 16/18 ft Jon with a jet would be a decent entry to learn how to run shallow water. I would love to try a new Mokai, which is like a big jet kayak.
Whatever you decide, have fun! I'd never live in Alaska without a boat or two.

 

[ATC LLC]

When I lived up in Alaska I worked in south East for a while with a guy who had a couple of Alumaski’s. That was probably the funnest hunting I did up there. We could run from island to island and jet up the tiniest rivers and streams to get way up in the middle of nowhere. There was plenty of hull space for a couple deer or a bear with gear.

 

[kwackkillncrew]

the first thing you will have to decide is if you want to be able to run the kenai or not. 50 hp motors or less, unless you are below warran armes bridge dip netting. I enjoy the kenai, but we typically just shore fish and now days we rent a house on one of the rivers down there and fish off the docks for our reds. thats why we ended up getting an ocean boat. Atleast for us, the ocean boat opens up alot more opportunities for the things we enjoy.

 

[william schmaltz]

The type of fishing you’re describing is my favorite. I miss it dearly. Fishing walleye/pike/bass using light tackle and your boat to work structure or a shoreline and casting gear or pulling light gear suspended or on bottom. There is nothing here that translates to walleye/bass and slim options for good pike fishing. The only place I’ve seen the type of boat you currently have is big lake.

It would be worth hauling up a jet tiller in the 25-35 hp range if you can find one on a steep lower 48 discount. Then put it on an inflatable or hard bottom while you experiment with what you want. As others said, Kenai has a 50 hp restriction and no 2-stroke engines. If I lived in the Kenai, I’d have an inflatable Zodiak to use on rivers and ocean trips and then you can find plenty of decent drift boats or self bailing rafts for under $3k to add.

 

[kwackkillncrew]

If I lived in the Kenai, I’d have an inflatable Zodiak to use on rivers and ocean trips and then you can find plenty of decent drift boats or self bailing rafts for under $3k to add.

a dude can get into some pretty decent ocean fishing with a 16' zodiak out of a couple of the ports. once went out 26 miles to pony cove in a ridged hull zodiak. just have the helly hansons on because its gunna be a wet ride during the afternoon wind chop.

 

[cowdisciple]

What everyone else has said. If your objective is to run rivers for hunting access, you'll want an aluminum jet boat. If you want to fish in the ocean, the biggest trailerable boat you can deal with.

Here in SEAK, there are many aluminum deep V hull boats in the 20-24 foot range with 115-150hp outboards (See Alumaweld Stryker, for example). That's probably as close as you're going to get to an all around boat, but it is not an interior hunting boat, and it's marginal for fall ocean conditions deer hunting. There just isn't a lot of inland lake fishing.

 

[ColeyG]

You need at least 4 boats to cover most of what you will likely find yourself wanting to do up here. Shallow water is measured in inches, not feet A prop is going to severely limit your options.

There is no market for your bass boat up here and very little practical application for it. I think you'd be way better off selling it down there and putting the $ into a more practical setup for Alaska.

As others have mentioned, a 16-18' john boat with a jet on it is going to be your most versatile option to get started.

After getting to know the place a bit, you will likely find yourself wanting a 20' forward helm with inboard jet and top, raft with fishing or drift boat, and saltwater boat. A canoe and packrafts are nice additions.

Plenty of folks fish from the boat, pulling plugs, running bait and divers, etc. but it is a very different game than the one you are used to. Electronics, for the most part, don't really have a place other than gps/aids to navigation.

 

[mtnbiker208]

my buddy has the same basic boat as shown above. Works well.

 

[Mojave]

I am not an expert (on anything, let alone this subject).

Lived in Barrow, Anchorage, Fairbanks and Sitka.

Every single one of those places my boat choices would be different.

Barrow, medium trawler in the 22-25 feet range. My second boat would be big enough hovercraft to haul 2 snowgo

Sitka , big trawler in the 40-50 feet range. With a good skiff and a 18-20 foot jet boat I could drag for the rivers when I could get to them.

Anchorage medium trawler in the 22-25 feet range a jet boat or air boat.

Fairbanks 18-20 foot jetboat, maybe a hovercraft to haul snow go

 

[Jbuck]

I grew up in Dutch Harbor and the lund ssv's ruled. I don't live up there anymore, but still think the Lund SSV is a pretty versatile skiff. I had a 1640 Jon with a 60/40 jet that we used for river running for ducks and it was great until we got caught in a storm and we're too close to the mouth of the river. We were taking waves over the sides and listed it that day. As soon as it sold I picked up a new Lund SSV 18 and threw a 40hp outboard on it. That boat has been trouble free for 9 years now, except it gets a new prop ever couple of years from sand bars and trees, and never felt unsafe when caught in similar storms.

The rivers we run in WA have ever changing sand bars that might leave you wading and dragging it back to deep water. A heavier boat would suck ass.

 

[chinook907]

If you live on the Kenai, you'll want to focus on a boat for the Kenai. So as has been said, regulatory wise you essentially are limited to a 50hp 4 stroke, with a prop. Welded hull is best due to boat wakes in river and chop in the salt.

All the talk on jets etc is more relative to shallower rivers off the K-Penn.

I lived on the Kenai for 23 years, and live north of there now. I went all over the Kenai & the 3 big lakes (Kenai, Skilak, & Tustumena) and Resurrection Bay, Cook Inlet, and Kachemak Bay (and continue to do so) in a 18.5' Willie Asaltor with a 50 4 stroke, remote steering. Only scared myself real bad a couple times ha ha.

My 17' aluminum drift boat is handy too, on the Kasilof & Upper Kenai.

But yeah leave that bass boat down south.