Let's face it, it is simply not comfortable running or fishing from ANY boat on a summer weekend afternoon on LOZ. That out of the way, a boat that can handle bigger water and the significant wind chop that develops on the channel is a must for safety reasons if you are going to travel any distance. If money were no object I would probably go with a 20-21 ft. deep v glass boat like the Ranger or one of the other walleye boats; alas, money IS an object for me so currently I fish from an 1850 Fish Hawk (Crestliner). I LOVE this boat, but to be fair most solid 18-19 foot aluminum deep v's rigged properly will do a good job on LOZ. I cast a fair amount, so I chose the Fish Hawk as it is a little more casting friendly than some of the other makes but there are a number of good hulls out there.
Maybe more important for me is rigging; lots of storage, live well space, solid platforms for rod holders, etc. and the ability to control the boat from the front or the rear(or at times both) as I need to. A kicker and a wireless up front in addition to the main engine allows this as well as fishing "dark to dark", or the reverse as conditions and my mood (or biting fish) might dictate. I DO NOT like to stop when the fish are "on" due to run down batteries, and I don't have to. Been there, done that.
It IS LOZ, so when it gets tough out there I just match my speed to the water conditions and no worries. I mainly fish the east end of the lake(Dam -20MM, Gravois, Glaize) so I see a lot of knuckleheads and big water; as long as I keep my head on a swivel we do just fine - even in summertime.
The bottom line is LOZ is great fishery, we just need to be prepared and take more care as boating density doesn't get much higher. I think it's worth the extra effort.
