I'm just curious about trolling with a drift boat

[Nemoduck]

I'm looking to get a boat. I want to troll, and was curious the good, the bad, and the ugly of trolling with a drift boat over say a 16' Smoker craft Vee bottom Alum? Just curious, can't afford to make a mistake.
Thanks in advance,
Jeff

 

[Hooked Up]

I use my 17x54 Willies to troll with because I can't afford 2 boats. Really the main drawback for me is boat speed, if I'm trolling with a tide for instance and want to go back to do another pass it is slow going. No matter how much throttle you give it the boat is not going any faster.

 

[Nemoduck]

I use my 17x54 Willies to troll with because I can't afford 2 boats. Really the main drawback for me is boat speed, if I'm trolling with a tide for instance and want to go back to do another pass it is slow going. No matter how much throttle you give it the boat is not going any faster.

Thanks so much for the response. That is what I've been hearing too. Still not sure, I have about $2500 to spend and want to make sure.

 

[Lerwickj]

I trolled with my 15' alumaweld drift boat for years and crabbed with it too. Worked fine but like said before you're not going to make any speed records. And it's tough to fish any more than 3 rods while trolling. The one nice thing about a drift boat is if you're on the lake with a little wind turn the boat side ways and let the wind push you works really well

 

[BrandonBeach]

I trolled, crabbed and duck hunted for a decade with a "McKenzie" style drift boat. I agree with all of the above, plus with the flat bottom they tend to be more wind affected and may mot track as well as a v hulled boat, I always hung a couple of buckets (sea anchors) when trolling. My friend had an older drift boat with a mother well, it trolled better then mine. The drift boats with a lot of rocker motor less well, but will still work, get a good extension for the motor control to help balance the weight forward.

All in all, I had good times in that boat, good times.

 

[Nemoduck]

Thanks for all your responses. Just got a good deal on a 17' Sylvan, so the drift boat is out...... For now!!!

 

[4labs]

Fished with a friend at Diamond a couple of times Launching and loading is great but the ride when the wind kicks up is pretty bad compared to a v-hull and putting downriggers on it would be a challenge.