16 vs 20 foot trout boat

[snagged in outlet 3]

Ditch the oars and get spot lock

[Terrierman]

4 hours ago, marcusearlt said:

I got the 16 because it would fit in a small garage but would love to have a 20 someday. The 16 works out decently from a space perspective for fishing 2 people, especially when both anglers are familiar with the best practices of boat fishing, but you get a dog or a person not so familiar with boating in there and it gets small quick... 3 people and gear and you gotta basically act like you're in a canoe or raft almost... but overall I enjoy it and it gets the job done. I can carry 8 rods, fly or conventional and a decent amount of gear. Definitely not a speed boat and you'll be basically plowing through the water with 3 people... 

I don't how those guys row those 20's... I have oars too and good grief it's a total PITA so I barley use them (probably need to sell). 

Best upgrade I have done so far was adding the foam decking to the whole boat. Didn't make the boat any bigger but a lot more comfortable. 

They're only rowing to keep the boat where and how its oriented to how they want it on the river.  More or less a manual drag chain if you ask me.

[Jdecoudres]

any of you guys know how the topwater and xtreme boats compare to a supreme?

[Ham]

5 hours ago, Jdecoudres said:

any of you guys know how the topwater and xtreme boats compare to a supreme?

Even a pretty spartan garage made boat will do the job. So it starts to be individual preference. Supreme used to be the Gold Standard with Shawnee favored by some. 

It was my intention to replace my Supreme with a top of the line Top Water AND I would have if I had stayed with a fiberglass boat. I opted to go with a metal boat because of my desire to use it some bumpier places than the White River.

 

[sfiser]

11 hours ago, Jdecoudres said:

any of you guys know how the topwater and xtreme boats compare to a supreme?

I have had 2 top waters and 2 supreme 207xp's.Both nice boats(I did have some cracking issues with my top water that were fixed) but the supreme is a better boat. It's more stable and fishes better in my opinion, it's easier to row, and it doesn't cause my jet to cavitate in the bumpy shoals like my top water did and it handles bumpy water on the lake better than the topwater did (had some days that the topwater shook so bad in a small chop I thought it was going to fall apart before I made it to the ramp) Supreme customer service is also 2nd to none.  I think the topwater is a better looking rig but fish ability and durability go to the supreme easily.

I have no experience with xtreme but I just can't handle the way they look.  Too clunky and boxy for me

[Engr5]

Is the lack of required flotation for 20 ft + a concern? The 1648 includes flotation.  Thank you.

[Ham]

The 20 footers sink in seconds if an edge goes under. Doesn’t worry me much. 

[sfiser]

My supreme 207 has some floatation in it.  I wouldn't worry too much though, you really have to try to sink those boats and most sink because someone did something they shouldn't have done to make them sink. 

[Fishfighter]

Btw, I did buy a supreme L48XP back in the spring.  I love it, it fishes great. I'm glad I went with the 20 foot version for sure. 

[dgilchrist]

On 2/20/2019 at 7:12 AM, Ham said:

There was a thread about this previously, but I’ll give you the abbreviated version of my opinion.

I have zero interest in a 16 foot boat. The 20 foot boat will out perform the 16 footer and can comfortably fish 3 or 4 (if you’re careful) ppl. The 20 footer will run faster and shallower. Not many spots where the 20 foot length is going to put you in a bind.

 There is no significant difference in weight as far as trailering.

There is a reason that the 20 footer is standard.

The only “advantage” of a 16 foot boat would be easier to store in a garage. 

A 20'  boat is significantly more difficult to row than a 16 ft boat. For fishing one or two people, a 16 ft boat makes way more sense for maneuverability and drifting.