Looking for a boat what your opinion on best size for trapping? Lakes rivers both.thinking Jon boat or modified Jon style. Thanks

Depends on the size of the water, water conditions, weight you'll be carrying, type of access you have for launching, etc.

Small calm waters you can probably get by with a 14' jonboat, bigger waters 16 and up....unless your in a protected pond, small river, I consider anything smaller than 16 a toy...but that's me, YMMV...

This is what I use. 17 ish feet, 70 hp yamaha. Can haul a dozen beaver or more and trapping gear without issue. 3/16" plate welded aluminum, and a modified v hull for our rougher water here on the bay.


Yes, it's small for a georgian bay boat, but it's tough as nails and will last a lifetime.

It is also incredibly cheap to run, and I spend 400 ish hours a year on the water hunting fishing and trapping, so that's important.

Awesome Rig

Thanks. The storage box and seat are removable and it gives you the full floor to haul stuff. I can drop a lift of plywood in it and float it put if need be.

And there's a livewell in the front compartment

It all depends.

When I was trapping, I ran a mud boat with a surface drive. Normal outboards were no good in the conditions I trapped.

I have the mud boat sitting out in the shop...hopefully it's worthwhile pulling it out one of these years.

that is a thing of beauty , I have boat envy now , that is precisly what I would build

it won't be the best on skinny little very shallow rivers but so much versatility and little boats for little rivers are a dime a dozen , big water capability is what sets boats apart in class for me , because things can blow up so fast on even a mile wide lake you get to 3-4 miles wide or wider more boat is more better.

ok maybe a walkthrough to the front would be nice but I can see where that gives it a ton of strength for a small loss in maneuverability inside

It's perfect for here so long as the waves are less than 3 feet. Any bigger and I'm not going out lol.

It's not perfect everywhere, but I can musky fish, walleye fish, duck hunt and trap, and it's perfect. Great for two people. Three gets tough for anything but trolling, but we did a duck hunt this morning with three people and it worked great despite it blowing 35mph.

It was designed to do big boat things in a tough small efficient package. Only change I have planned is lithium batteries for the 24v terrova. Will take 100 lbs out of the back of it.

I like a steering wheel and a cubby to get behind to get out of the weather Downfall is space.

I have a valco 14 ft skinny water boat that does well in big water.
Use it in the river and the salt.

I cut the transom and made a plate to run a pump or a prop.
It is a lip wiggler with a prop

I ujse a little 10 foot John Boat and waders. I just pull the John Boat loaded with Traps through the marshes.

If shallow water, go all out an buy mud motor an speacil boat made for shallow water with reinforced hull. It cost some money though

What animals in the Wisconsin River to trap.

Here is my rat rig, good for one guy and about a 100 rats and gear...

If shallow water, u don't wanna be use a big motor lots power an screw up an ruin transmission in motor or underwater obstacles an destroy aluimuin Prop. I should never sold that trailer an boat an motor yrs ago. Had trailer new Tires an bearings. Lites fix an motor fix, 18 HP. Brass blade

14’ Jon with a 15 hp short shaft outboard. I have hauled as many as 24 beaver in it and with no console I can get under a lot of river brush to get to a bank I want to set. I can cruise at about 20 mph and go all day on 4-5 gallons of gas.
I wouldn’t get anything bigger as it would put a serious crimp in how I trap.

That looks like fun. Yet dangerous in pic of deep water. What u set half submerge 330s at lures sets or what kinda set in river pic ?

Hey Beaverpeeler is that a 14-36 or 14-48 ?

like said, we need a Lot more information to help you out.

Payload (beaver vs rats) and how many. Water and bottom conditions...Ice or no ice (some boats break ice a LOT better than others. Will you be pushing/pulling it anywhere (the HD welded boats aren't real easy to get unstuck). And access to your water (concrete launch or shoving it down a bank).

There's no one best boat, IMO. I ended up with 3. A 14 ft riveted jon boat with a surface drive/mud motor in 15 hp for rats. A 16 ft riveted jon with a 30 hp surface drive/mud motor for beaver (you'll sink a 14 ft without much issue if you put many beaver in it) and a welded 16 ft jon with an outboard if I'm not worried about beaching it or shallow water. That said, I rarely use my outboard anymore. burn one up or tear the bottom off one and you'll think twice about using an outboard for trapping (I've done both).

That older V style boat Les has will break ice a lot better than about any Jon boat will. The old HD lunds were great ice breakers.

Where good site online to checkout mud motors ? Anyone heard someone get hurt bad with mud motor ? Heard story of one hit log in water an prop catch on it an swing tail shaft up in boat by operater

River & lake trapping, I started with a 16' smoker craft. Beat the rivets out of it a few times on the lake sunk it twice. The semi v was better than flat. Then I traded up to an 18' Alumaweld sled, rough on the lake and heavy when the river got low for winter. Started running a 14' Monarch w/20hp for shallow water. Then bought an 18' Almar with semi v, and a soft top for the lake. That was comfy at -20, and on the rough days. It's been many years now since I trapped those places, but sure enjoy the memories the pics bring back.