Hello All.

Avid hunter and fisherman since I could walk. Do most of my hunting on the Eastern Shore of Maryland/ Virginia as well as on the other side of the Chesapeake bay for those who are familiar with that area of the country.

Been around inboards/outboards most of my life however my recent hunting has me wanting to get up in some areas that an outboard wont allow. Have been researching boat/motor combos for the past few months and have it narrowed down to an 1854 Prodigy w/ 24" sides and a 44 hdr mudbuddy on the back. My question is how will a boat like this hold up/perform in highly concentrated salt water(near assateague island and surrounding areas) as well as in choppy waters when the wind kicks up real good. Boat will be used in everything from salty bays with some choop to muddy marsh to calm back rivers with zero obstruction.

Was deciding between an excel over a prodigy but made my decision, plus i saw how yall reacted to the last guy who posted that question on here lol

All help is much appreciated!

Bumping this for you. But many in and out of the salt say to spray that motor well before, you go out in it with like a WD40 type, then spray it all off when finished, and then spray it when it is dry. Not the expert in this. Just remember what some of the advice was.

I used to hunt up there. There is a reason everyone runs bigger skiffs. I don't think you will get the value out of a mud boat that you think. Those waters aren't conducive to it. Just get a tunnel hull and jack plate.


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Those waters aren't but Louisiana, mississippi and Texas coastal waters are? I would bet the reason so many up there run big skiffs has just as much to do with because it's the way it's been done for a long time as it does some of them are only recently discovering mudmotors (you'd be surprised how many people I talk to that duck hunt that didn't know about these things 3 years ago). The fact that they don't do the job as well as a big skiff probably applies to some cases, but not all. Salt damage can be mitigated with various tricks, but not completely. Sacrificial annodes, keep paint touched up, consistent washing with fresh water and spray with corrosion inhibitor. There's a good thread somewhere in the bowels of mmt discussing it, with good info.

#CFFITR
#TheGhostBoat
#whoneedsphysicsihaveamudmotor

Russ, it's not a salt issue, look on a map at those waters. It is running big waters on dangerous bays to then sometimes get to small waters. The last year I was up there 3 boats in one day capsized because they were trying to run 18ft aluminum hulls out there. Most guys run 20ft jones brothers bateaus or something along that size with a 150 on it to duck hunt. Even up in the shallows it's not black mud or vegetation in the same. It's sandy mud that a SD doesn't really offer much benefit to.

I knew a handful of guys that tried running some bigger SDs up there and the last I spoke to them they all sold them because it just wasn't safe running water where the winds kick up so uncontrollably and get violent. On some backwaters you may be able to ride around, but the SD wouldn't really offer any advantage that couldn't easily be had with a jack plate.


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There's the post I was trying to dig out of you. There's an actual reason. Thanks for that. So what about a 2072 with duals or a hoss? Lol

#CFFITR
#TheGhostBoat
#whoneedsphysicsihaveamudmotor