Draft of Walleye Boats

[Wilson]

I have been looking at 17-19' aluminum fishing boats, including those made by Lund, Crestliner, Monark, and Starcraft. All of these boats, expecially the ones with a deadrise of 17 degrees, seem to have a draft of 24-30". Are these listings accurate? Is this a problem for any one, especially when launching?

I plan to fish mostly smaller inland lakes, with the occaional foray into big water, but did not expect to need almost 3 feet to move around in a 17-19 foot aluminum rig.

[REW]

Your posting is a bit confusing.
Is your concern - that the boat is too big? i.e. too tall - or is your concern that it is too short - i.e. not tall enough??

At any rate - the numbers mentioned are correct and seem to work out for all of the boats mentioned - in use on 40 acre lakes or 4000 acre lakes.

Also,with the use of good trailers, and decent launching facilities - all of these boats can be launced and retreived by a single fisherperson.

Take care
REW

[T-Mac]

The draft you mention would be at dead rest with the motor all the way down and plenty of weight in the back. That would be a "worst case" scenario.
In actual use, you would not launch the boat with the motor all the way down, nor would you navigate extremely shallow water with it tilted all the way down either.
I have run my Lund Pro-Vs (Including a 2025) up shallow creeks in the spring with the the motor tilted up, using my electric bow mount to get to where "hopeful" male walleyes were stacked. This meant going through water much shallower than you mentioned.
To float highest, get the boat that is widest on the bottom, back at the transom. (The widest chines)

[woods]

REW,

Sorry for any consufion. My concern is that the large (24"+) draft on these boats would make it difficult to launch at a less than an ideal facility or would make it difficult to manuever in and around say 2 feet of water. Maybe put another way, do people have a problem getting their walleye boats stuck in shallow weedy flats that are around 1 or 2 feet deep, or must they avoid such areas at all cost?

[Netminder]

"Wilson", what listings were you able to find that show the draft of a boat? I think it would be nice to see but with all the variables I didn't think it was possible. You said "All of these boats, especially the ones with a deadrise of 17 degrees, seem to have a draft of 24-30". Are these listings accurate?” I have a ProV 1900 with a 200hp Merc. & a 9.9 4-stroke kicker and my boat only drafts 14 inches from keel to waterline. This is with 2 guys in it. Now I wouldn't try to run WOT in that much water with the engine trimmed all the way down, but I have fished for bass in water as shallow as 18 inches using the electric. I have also idled around in that much water with the main trimmed out. I can't speak for the others brands other than to say my brother has a Starcraft 196 superfisherman and I know he fishes some shallow ramped lakes. I think some of the info you got may not be entirely accurate. I think you are asking the right people for input though. There are a lot of guys out there with many of the boats you mentioned and if anybody can get you the facts it's the fine people here.

Good Luck, Netminder

[Box]

I agree Netminder - my alumacraft TP 175 is not as wide as your boat and only has 150 and no kicker, but I am sure it can float in about 13 inches of water. I will measure this summer, but that 12 inches to 18 (on the deep side) inches sure seems more on track, for the 16-18' tin boats anyway.

-Box

[Al]

I think they draft less than you think, especially with the motor up. I had a couple different center consoles that were nearly 22 feet long. With the motor up, I could push pole on sand bars in just over a foot of water. These were 20 deg. deadrise boats. The figure you have must be with the motor down and like others mentioned, quite a bit of weight in the back. In regard to launching, of course each ramp is different, but from what I've seen, up to 20foot aluminum boats are pretty easy with just one person. I've done it for years and don't think twice about it.

[ETT]

We floated my 620 Ranger with 225 Optimax and 9.9 kicker in an 18" deep pool at the Cleveland boat show. With engines tilted up the hull at the pad was 14" below the water. Hope this helps. No gas and ballast in front compartment to counter-balance the kicker.

[Wilson]

Sorry, I hit woods on my auto answer instead of wilson.

My numbers come straight from the 2002 catalogs. Here are some examples of the 17' boats I have seen:

Starcraft SuperF 176 - Draft 26"
Starcraft FM 176 DC - Draft 28"
Monark King 170 DC - Draft 28"
Legend GEN-X 185 DC - Draft 27"

My Lund info was supplied by a dealer, who said they all draft around 24" (according to the tech specs from LUND). The dealer admitted his LUND floats in much less water than that, and was not quite sure what the numbers meant. That is why I posted.

I think T-Mac and Al have probably answered my question. The draft as stated by the MFG is probably standard power with the motor DOWN. With the motor up, the draft is significantly less. The confusion with this number is probably why LUND does not publish this information in their catalog.

[REW]

IO think that I understand my confusion now.
You are reading the brocures and they are giving you a draft specification as to XX or yy.

In most instances - I do agree that draft means the amount of water - required to float a boat.

However, when I have taken these measurements "draft" as listed in their broceures - it seems that the things that they are measuring - is the height of the boat - from the bottom of the keel to the highest part of the bow.

i.e. - a 30 inch measurement - indicates that the boat -- from the bottom of the keep to the gunnel is 30 inches. If you look at a few different boats - take your tape measure, and their brocure, and eye ball the tape measure to get this distance - I think that I am correct.

Now - to your real concern - how much water does it take to float your boat.

A typical 16 foot walleye boat - with a 70 hp motor will float in about 5-7 inches of water.

A typical 18 foot walleye boat - with a 150 hp motor on it will float in about 10-12 inches of water.

A typical 20 foot walleye boat - with a 225 motor on it will float in about 15-18 inches of water.

Take care
REW

[Craig]

I have a Ranger 681VS with a 115 Evinrude. With a full tank of gas, three batteries and the engine raised I was told by the salesman it would draw 13 inches of water. After three full fishing seasons I'd say the guy was right on. If I put the engine down all the way that's a totally different story. I'd be surprised if I could get by with 24 inches. But then I wouldn't be taking it into that kind of water with the motor down either.

[JMC]

Draft is the lowest part of the boat underwater (usually the tip of the prop or skeg) to the water line, with running gear lowered all the way down & a normal load. This is a extreme measurement, so when you launch your boat with the outdrive up it will be considerably less.

Joe

[Thanks REW But a question]

Are the catalogs then not using the word Draft correctly? It seems to me what the catalogs refer to is the overall hull depth, or in simple English as you stated, basically, how tall the boat would be ifin it was setting upright on the floor. If I am correct, once again someone went to college for 4 to 5 years to mangle the English language and get paid 5 or 6 figures a year to do so. Draft is exactly as stated, the amount of water it will take to float your boat. A draft of 15 inches means you'll be a scraping bottom in 15 inches of water. And please do not dive on my grammar and mis-spellings above, it was literary license, and mi speling sklis am what they is on perpus. LOL!

[Wilson]

Thanks to everyone for your help. I think T-Mac, Al, and JMC all hit the nail on the head ... when Starcraft/Lund lists draft, it must mean the distance from the waterline to the lowest point with the MOTOR DOWN. Thanks REW for the measurements.

I agree with poster #12 though ... I always thought Draft meant how much water will it take for your boat to float?

It is interesting, but flats boat and skiff boat MFGs list drafts in the 6-15 inch range. Obviously with the motor DOWN, these drafts would NOT be realistic without a jackplate or some device lifting the motor above the bottom of the hull. In those cases, they refer to draft to mean how little water the boat will float in.

This is why I have been so confused by the use of the word Draft, it would seem to have two possible meanings.

[REW]

I tend to stand with my original post.
Yes, I do agree that the dictionary meaning of the word draft - refers to the amount of depth below the water line - that a boat will sink in order to dispalce the amount of water - required to float the weight of the hull and its load.

However, I respectfully disagree with the posters who indicate that this is a measurement - of "that item" with the motor in a fully downward postion. If you read the catalogs - the numbers simply don't make sense.

I still think that many boat manufacturers are simply refering to the height of the boat - as measured from the bottom of the keel to the gunnel of the boat.

Perhaps - one of us should call a couple of the companies and ask for "thier" definition.

Take care
REW

p.s.
Suffice to say - the typical 16-20 foot boats - designed to be used in inland lakes of 5-50000 acres - will typically float in a foot or less of water - without scraping bottom -- this of course implies that the motor is tilted up and not dragging bottom.

[Al]

I can't speak for all walleye boats, but with bass boats, some of the bigger boats in the 20 ft range draw less water than a narrower shorter 17.5 footer. I worked for a dealer for awhile and won a few bets on this one. A lot of small lake fisherman always claimed that their smaller boats wouldn't draw as much water as that "20 foot hog". It's bought me a few beers in bets. A 20 footer with a wide beam has more surface area and in the right combination, could draw less water.

The same goes for flat bottom john type boats. Loaded up 14 foot flat bottoms compared to 18-20 footers....the 20 will draw less water. It will run in less too.

[Water Dog]

Throw out the catalogues and get in some actual boat dealer ride and drive time .
Catalogues can be misleading , your butt on the boat seat never lies .

[JMC]

REW,
"However, I respectfully disagree with the posters who indicate that this is a measurement - of "that item" with the motor in a fully downward postion. If you read the catalogs - the numbers simply don't make sense. "
I think the confusion comes from the source being catalogs. Catalogs are written by marketing people, draft is a technical term. Your definition is a combination of draft + freeboard (from the waterline to the gunwale). If you have access to a copy of Chapman Piloting check page #25 & the Glossary " draft: The vertical distance from the waterline to the lowest point of the hull or attachments such as propellers and rudders."
When looking into a boat you should try to get the technical specifications, many will give you the draft measurement with the motor down & up. Marketing people take a lot of liberties to get the sale. Draft is a very important term to the buyer, it tells you how deep you need the water to be to avoid very costly repairs. It's not important to sales people because it's not flashy.

I did speak with several "companies" & manufactures about this because the boats I was looking at had somewhat deeper drafts. My boat draws 38" so I have to watch myself around some of the reefs on Erie when fishing them.

Joe