Looking for a lightweight Jon rated for 4 people

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1cjk

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My wife and I have two small children and like to camp in our bumper pull travel trailer. We live in northwest panhandle of Florida and always camp at parks that have some kind of lake or river that is either fresh or saltwater. The other day we were fishing from the bank and my oldest one (8) said I wish we had a boat we could bring with us to fish from. That's all it took and the hunt was on. I have been trying to find a boat light enough to put on my ladder rack and rated for 4 people. I'm not looking for a serious bass/redfish rig just something we all could do a little light fishing from and putt around in. I really would like something aluminum and not plastic, fiberglass or inflatable. I did come across a Lowe utility 1457 that weighs 147 dry. The two biggest issues are the dry hull weight since I will have to put it on a ladder rack and person capacity. We also weight about 520 altogether. I was wanting to see if anybody knew of any other boats that would meet these requirements. Thanks
 
For that crew I would not recommend anything under 16'. but that is just me. a 1648 would be fine, a wider one would be slightly more stable but, the 48 is pretty solid too.
 
You probably could do something like this to load the boat.

https://youtu.be/19Q_8lliuv0
 
I have a 1648MV and I will not allow anymore than 3 adults on board at a time. 2 adults and 2 kids would probably be OK room wise, but as the kids grow you will want a bigger boat. Fishing 3 adults off my boat is fine, but fairly tight.
 
I know it's not a Jon boat but have you considered 2 dual person kayaks? That was the best alternative for myself and my granddaughter since she was 2 yrs old. Depending on the model they can be VERY easy to roof top load. Just my 2 cents.
 
1cjk said:
My wife and I have two small children and like to camp in our bumper pull travel trailer. We live in northwest panhandle of Florida and always camp at parks that have some kind of lake or river that is either fresh or saltwater. The other day we were fishing from the bank and my oldest one (8) said I wish we had a boat we could bring with us to fish from. That's all it took and the hunt was on. I have been trying to find a boat light enough to put on my ladder rack and rated for 4 people. I'm not looking for a serious bass/redfish rig just something we all could do a little light fishing from and putt around in. I really would like something aluminum and not plastic, fiberglass or inflatable. I did come across a Lowe utility 1457 that weighs 147 dry. The two biggest issues are the dry hull weight since I will have to put it on a ladder rack and person capacity. We also weight about 520 altogether. I was wanting to see if anybody knew of any other boats that would meet these requirements. Thanks


look into the tracker topper series of jons .. i have a topper 14 i use when our river is to shallow for my 16, my topper 14 is only about 120lbs and can be put on the top of a car or in a truck bed easily .. the 14 is 14x36 and they also have a topper 15, it is 15x42 but its about 170lbs
 
This is the widest, light jon I know of. Here is a link to the 12'... I have a 10'. Made in Canada, but if you can find a local dealer they should be cheap with the weak Canadian Dollar.

https://www.marlonproducts.com/jon-boat-specs.asp?JonID=3
 
Thank you all for the suggestions. I came across a G3 V14XT the other bay and from what I see on the web I'm pretty impressed. I like that it is all welded accept the support ribs are rivited in. My local dealer doesn't carry them in stock so he said I'd be looking around 2300.00 to get one in and before tax and all fees. That was a more than I was hoping to spend but I think its a boat that will give us plenty enough capacity for quite a few years. It does weight about 210 but I think with some careful planning I can come up with a system in order to load it on my rack by my self.
 
1cjk said:
Thank you all for the suggestions. I came across a G3 V14XT the other bay and from what I see on the web I'm pretty impressed. I like that it is all welded accept the support ribs are rivited in. My local dealer doesn't carry them in stock so he said I'd be looking around 2300.00 to get one in and before tax and all fees. That was a more than I was hoping to spend but I think its a boat that will give us plenty enough capacity for quite a few years. It does weight about 210 but I think with some careful planning I can come up with a system in order to load it on my rack by my self.

Just a thought:
This is the VERY BEST time to buy a used boat. Folks are looking at storage space and how little they have used their boats and classifieds/Craig's List listings are full of "please take it" prices and BEST OFFERS. You have a good idea of what you want now, why not go investigate?

Since you have no deadline, might be worth your while to investigate. $2300 is a lot of money to some of us. :mrgreen:

Best wishes, which ever way you go.
 
we like to camp in our bumper pull travel trailer
We don't know how big your van and camper is.
Just take into consideration that if you get something that fits on top of your van,
all the boating stuff - motor, gas can, batteries, troller, paddles, life jackets,
anchor, ropes, cooler, fishing tackle, yada yada yada has to go somewhere.
and THEN - all that stuff has to be transferred from your van/camper to the boat
then to the water for a day of fun in the sun. . . . . . . then back again.

Just something for your thought process

and X2 for the Best Wishes, which ever way you go.
 

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