Hey guys...Im fairly new to the site. I have been a member for a while but I just cruise and read mostly. I have a question as to what motor I should be running on my boat. I have always been interested in running a surface drive for duck hunting. I had a 16x48 fanboat for bowfishing, and I recently sold it. This past weekend I drove up to Michigan, about 3 hours for me, and bought a Triton 1756 Duck Special. I bought it off of an older retiree who used it to fish for perch and walleye in the Detroit River. It has a 97 40hp Johnson tiller and a 91 6hp Johnson kicker on it. I am selling the kicker because I dont have a need for it, and will apply those funds toward a 24v troller for the front. I live in SW Ohio. I am going to keep the 40 for general fishing and deep water duck hunting, but I am debating grabbing a mud motor for later in the season when the water levels get dropped to winter pool. When that happens, there is general only a few inches of water on most of the flats that I hunt.

Im not looking for speed or the ability to weave in/out of trees/stumps. Mostly these are just large open flats. I would like to be able to put the boat on step and run across these flats without worrying about getting stuck to badly.

I chose this hull because it has good deeper water performance in terms of handling and taking chop/waves. It seems to be a good all around hull for bowfishing, duck hunting, and the occassional panfishing.

Is anyone running a similar hull design? Should a mid 20's hp surface drive do what I need it to or should I be looking into a bigger motor? Like I said, I dont care how fast it goes, as I am not running for 6 miles and I generally tend to be sitting still while I am shooting birds. Most of a typical run to the blind is in 5-6 feet of water, with the occasional 100 yard stretch of 3-8 inches over mud. Without a mud motor of some sort, I can't make those runs at all unless I use a canoe, which sucks.

Sell the 40 outboard put those funds in and get you a good surface drive with neutral and a reverse. You will never need a outboard again nor will you want one.

What size we talking here? If I were to run a mud motor only, then I would like to get decent speed, some of my bowfishing spots are a run from the ramp!

Just get a motor with reverse!!!! Only 2 company's have reverse. Pd at gt, both are great motors. Test drive a few motors before you buy

Go with Pro-Drive! The rest are wannabees! lol

^i know that was a joke! but seriously, dont buy mud buddies reverse yet. we wont get in to why or why not, thats been thoroughly covered in other threads which im sure you have seen if you have spent at least 5 minutes looking around

like everyone else has said sell the outboard, get a MM. if i were in your shoes, i would prefer a 35 GTR and then mod it as you see fit. but definately test it out along with PD and get what you like and what works for you where you're running the best.

yeah, what of it? lol. if its gonna be a fishing boat and hes used to runnin an outboard, he'll be lost without reverse. my fishing boat has reverse too, it just happens to come in the form of an outboard

if he decides to dedicate that boat to fishing and then get him a true mud hull, then most definitely rig it with a MB 7000

I have kind of started to notice that there are a few issues with the MB's. It's a bit tough for me to test drive the motors being that I am in Ohio. There arent many around up here.

Ill be in LA for a week coming up in about a week and a half to shoot fish, so I may try to look around and see what I can find.

Do mods on the motors make much of a performance difference in them? I have also read a few things about cold weather running issues with some of them, and on alot of mornings here, it can be 12-18 degrees on the river.

Shit set a trip up with me. You can shoot fish and do a demo same night lol

The wife and I went out last night and clocked 32 mph in slight chop with the outboard! I was friggin shocked! Three guys in the boat on Sunday got 28, but I didnt think it come up so high with just two of us. I am curious to see what a mud motor would do. I would love to be able to just buy the frame and everything minus the motor, so I could build my own motor for it.

Delta - Im headed to Lafitte this year. We were planning on Venice, but a few buddies down there are saying the river is still high, so we moved it to Lafitte. Might be a little tougher to find big gar, but other than that, we should be alright. 9 days and counting till we go!! Im about tired of shooting shit that I can't eat. In Ohio, nothing tasty is legal for us to shoot. I have to go to the Kentucky portion of the Ohio River to shoot catfish or paddles. This is my first trip down there with the guys I am going with. They go every year. I have been bowfishing for a good while, just havent made the trip yet.

If you get a surface drive you will not need a outboard. The 35 or 36 HP surface drives will push that boat fast enough. Outboards handicap you. Surface Drives are diverse. You can do whatever you want. I am not going to begin to tell you which one to choose. Just choose the one right for you and enjoy. One time owning a mud motor and you will not be wanting a normal outboard again.

On our own. The three guys I am going with have been doing this every year for a long time, so they know the area and water fairly well. The guy who organizes the trip for us has a few friends down there who have been checking out the areas we plan to fish, so we arent going blind. We are going for reds, gar, drum and the occasional flounder.