Hey, I recently decided to switch my trapping style up to let me play closer to home. We've got a number of small shallow rivers loaded with beaver as well as a major river just a few miles away but have never had the idea of hitting them. I have permission on about 20 quarter section of land along this stretch so it's just a matter of setting a boat up.

I have a 14 foot runabout and bought a long tail mud motor to put on it that I will play with this fall. I think it will be pretty much perfect for the small creeks and rivers but I'm looking to upgrade for the NSR if this plan works out. My question is what boats are any of you guys running for beaver trapping mostly, and what storage or organization are you using? Any special tools or home made holder to make things easier?

Because I'm in Canada my selection of john boats is limited, but I'm looking at the Lowe Roughneck series in the 16 or 18 foot model with the open style and will put either a mud motor or a long tail on it for shallow water. Anyone have a review on the durability of the lowe boats?

I've got a 30 year old Lowe canoe and a Lowe jon boat that I think is older than that. Both have been used hard and have been very durable. I see newer Lowe boats all the time, so I assume the newer ones are just as good.

is your boat a wide one 14 foot doesn't seem big enough, jmo

Yeah is a very narrow boat, I'm a little concerned about weight ill see if it's OK if not ill downsize to a gx200. I wanted enough power that I can go up current with 25 -30 beavers in the boat.

That's one of the reasons I'm looking to build a bigger boat, but this small one will be perfect for the creeks, I hope anyway.

What brand mud motor is that? How narrow is your boat on the bottom?

I'm not sure if Lowe makes one, but if you can find a boat with a hunt deck transom it will make your life much easier

Getting in and out of the boat from the rear is much easier than climbing over a pile of 20 beavers and traps to hop off the front

A hunt deck is basically a stepped rear transom that makes it very easy to climb in and out. If it's deep just pull up parallel to the bank and hop out. If it's shallow pull the boat up on the bank with the nose of the boat in the mud and hop out the back

watch the placard on any boat

the problem is weight in all the smaller boats

25 , twenty pound beaver is 500 pounds , add your self then start weighing traps and stakes and such

https://www.loweboats.com/hunt-fish/jon/tiller/l1652mt-jon.html

on the 16x52 the max cargo weight is 715 pounds that includes everything you put in the boat you , beaver , gear

if you jump up to the 18x52 then you get 815 pounds cargo weight

now if you found a place to launce and rand down river first and worked back to the truck then dropped off at the truck then worked up river then made the run back to the truck and divide you load up that might get more in.

spontoons can help add weight capacity they are water displacement attached to the stern of the boat and the motor sits between them.

I'm not sure on the brand of motor, a father and son are building them out of their garage by Gibbons Albsrta. They are using a kit I belive made by mud skipper and just picking up good condition honda motors to put them on. They've been using them for a few years for duck hunting along the same stretches I plan on setting up and they seem pretty tough. I paid $1300 cad for the motor fully mounted and ready to go.

The lowe roughneck has the option for the float pods on the transom which add capacity and act as your hunt deck so I will definitely add those.

I was kind of thinking how I'd go about setting up, figuring I can work both sides of the river as well as up and down stream. In a lot of stretches the river is near 1/2 mile wide so I'm not double setting the same beavers for the most part. But yes I'll have to be strategic with not overloading the boat.

Good duck tape and Iso board on each side,,,,and ya got it made.....

Well I did a pile of work, turns out you can polish a terd. I've got a lot more confidence in this setup working for the small creeks after going over everything. Decided to build rod and net holders that will second as net, trap setter and stake holders when trapping.

Added a light bar and rigged up a light bar for the front, and mounted a tether kill switch for safety reasons. Depending on how much I want to stand I might build a removable hand bar that pops into the oar locks.

Going to take it out next week for a float test and run up a couple creeks.

I would include a set of oars and a pushpole.