Here is my 16 foot 2003 Smokercraft Lodge SS, basically the same thing UM has but a tiller model without the windshield or steering. This thing is set up to fish hard (I put in 100 trips a year or so), with a 25 4 stroke Yami, Penn downriggers, Humminbird dual transducer depth sounder with sidescan, Garmin Map 76 GPS, two 6 gallon tanks, 128 quart cooler, bow anchor release, 4 rod holders plus net holder, and dry storage for 4 sets of raingear, 5 life jackets, 200 feet of anchor line and anchor, fish cleaner, spare prop, tools, spare downrigger balls, and deep cycle battery (all this heavy stuff is in the bow to keep the nose down). I also have plug in running lights and a bilge pump on it. My setup is a bit unusual as I have a manual start motor with no charging system - to charge the battery I plug it into the towing vehicle occasionally through the lighter plug and it charges it up while I drive! The Yami also never takes more than 2 pulls to start, so why bother with a starter? And I use manual downriggers - nobody wants them anymore so you can get used ones cheap and I for one don't mind the exercise. All my battery does is run the depth sounder and the lights and bilge occasionally. The best thing about having a minimal electrical system is that I have no voltage problems to correct with a black box.

I wish it had a 40 on it at times, but the 25 will get it up to 24 mph and troll down to 1 mph, less with a bucket hung off the back. It is almost 7 feet wide and all floor space, so I can fish 4 comfortably. This boat is also light enough to tow easily with a minivan and launch easily just about anywhere. My trailer also has UHMW bunks so it launches and loads real easily. Like UM said, these are not an ocean boat, but work real well in most areas of the Sound and on the Columbia. I can even run the thing on tilt with a prop saver on it down to Blue Creek and back in 5000 or more cfs.

This is my third Smokercraft in 4 years, I started with an Alaskan Lite, which developed hull leaks in a couple years of use, so I traded it in for a regular Alaskan, which also leaked after about a year of hard fishing. Smokercraft is real good about standing behind their boats and so they credited me full retail on a trade in for the Lodge, which is heavier aluminum than the Alaskan and so far has held up real well. It has a lifetime hull warranty so if I have problems on down the line I just get a new one. I got a real deal on my original purchase and through trading up for a larger boat I have about $3500 in the boat and trailer, even though the Lodge retails for $5995 and the trailer is over a grand. I got the Yami in Canada when the exchange rate was 52 cents to the Canadian dollar, and saved $800 over the best price I could get down here. The motor I've had for 3 years and all I've done to it is change the oil and fluids and rinse it out after each saltwater use. The Yami comes with a hose fitting that make rinsing a snap.

There are two real advantages of a light boat. The first is in it's ease of use, I can launch it easily by myself, fish for an hour or two at the perfect tide as it is so easy to deal with, and don't feel obligated to stick it out on a tough day or stay in an unproductive area because it was such a hassle to get the boat there and launched, and can use unimproved boat launches that most boats can't handle. I hardly have to get my trailer axle wet it loads so easily. The second advantage is fuel economy - I get 16 hours or more of running and fishing on 6 gallons of gas!

As hard as I fish I sometimes wish for an 18 foot Silverstreak with a 3/16" welded 18 degree deadrise hull and a Yami 115 on it with a Yami 8 horse high thrust trolling motor, but I already catch way more fish than is polite to talk about with this rig, so I guess it's good enough for now.