Layout boat suggestions

benp

benp

Well-known member
hello everyone. I have searched through some of the posts and see some plans that have been discussed such as the Kara layout and the waterfowl-works layout boats.

It will be awhile until I have time and money to build a layout boat but want to go ahead and start the planning and dreaming process.

One thing is I would like to see if there is one out there that I could mount a small motor onto. The places I'll be using it will not require long dinstance traveling and I don't have another boat to haul a layout, so I want a model that I could use by itself.

The area I'll hunt is a river that is about a mile wide but I wont be driving it that far. Maybe a half mile.
The winds do get up to 20mph on the regular but average around 10-15mph.

So what are some designs out there and what size outboard would y'all recommend?
 
I am quite partial to the "Sneakbox" type of boat. They come in slight variations, but will do everything you desire. Comfortably and safely.

Jon
 
Are you wanting a real layout.. like open water pumpkin seed or more of a sneakboat? ( I think this is what you are wanting)

I would recommend a Devlin Bluebill 13 or a Devlin BBIII The BBIII will be safer and be able to carry more decoys. It will hide, well enough... the Bluebill is much lower profile.. more layout like. Many on here have the BBIII, Rick Kyte has the Bluebill.
 
Last edited:
Good morning, Ben~


I have learned that "layout boat" means different things to different gunners.



Question: Will you be using it in open water - as for divers? (This is the Great South Bay - Great Lakes sense of "layout boat")



Or, are you going to hunt next to the shoreline (marsh) and want a low-lying vessel where you would lie on your back to hide and sit up to shoot? (I refer to this category as "grassboats" - and it includes Barnegat Bay Sneakboxes, Great South Bay Scooters, Seaford Skiffs - and a host of skiffs and punties throughout the world of duck shooting.)


All the best,


SJS

 
Last edited:
Thanks for the responses everyone.

I was wanting something for open water for divers. There are no marshes directly in my area but I do hunt some about a 1-2 hour away so I would probably use it there too but mainly just open water.

So I guess that would put it in the tradition category of "layout" and not the "grassboat"
 
Okay - next question:


Can you row the distances involved? It's lots easier to hide in the open bay if you do not need to hide a motor. Being a Long Island boy, I'm partial to Scooters for open bay gunning.



Here's a Great South Bay Scooter. Painted a flat medium grey would hide nicely on your waters.


View attachment sm Skidmore 1 Sea Trials 6.jpg



Note how fantail stern presents nicely to incoming birds.


View attachment sm Skidmore 3 Sea Trials 8.jpg



Full story at: https://stevenjaysanford.com/skidmore-scooter-a-plywood-whaleback/





Here's a converted Sunfish - done up in tiger stripes.


View attachment IMG_4426.JPG



It rows very nicely. Toss some grass over it in a marsh and it'll hide easily there, too.



View attachment sm McDuffie Gunboat 3.JPG



Full story at: https://stevenjaysanford.com/gilgo-gunboat-sunfish-conversion-to-layout-boat/



Happy Planning (and Dreaming) !

 
Thanks for the info Steve,

I am not opposed to rowing at all. Currently I paddle a Jon boat to my hunting destinations and have gone a mile both ways with it, just means I have to wake up earlier. And I had planned on having oars as a backup.

The reason behind wanting a motor is my wife's cousin died December 23, 2013 in an unsure canoe flipping. No one has figured out what happened since all the evidence doesn't line up but since then you can imagine the fear the whole family has whenever I go out duck hunting.
The motor is a way to tell my wife that it would provide a safe and quick means to get in to the ramp in case the weather became disagreeable.

Does anyone think that a trolling motor would suffice as well? Just looking at all the options and a trolling motor would be lighter, smaller and easier to hide than a gas outboard.
 
benp, What you need is a Barnegat Bay Sneak Box, rows, takes a motor and is safe. But also can be used as a layout and a grass boat. But not having much money to buy or build a boat I would watch craigslist in NJ, NY, Del. and Md. eastern shore under Duck Boats/ sneak box. Find a $200 to 600. old boat and take apart what needs fixing and rebuild it. Wooden boats if really old are easy to do because they are not all epoxied together, just screws and ring nails. Maybe some polyester glass on the bottom but that is easy to take off by filling the boat with water and letting it sit out side for a month. O but it needs to be a CEDAR PLANKED boat to do that.
Phil
 
I would not want to have to row or use a trolling motor for 1/2 mile in 20 mph winds... and retrieving birds and decoys.

A BBSB would work, but in the application that you describe, removing a motor in open water would be one if the more foolish things to do.

I maintain a BBIII, would give you great sea worthiness , the ability to carry ample decoys, and a low enough profile to be effective a layout. You could easily do a few mods to get rid of the shadow lines if you felt it was necessary.
 
Well I never planned to take the motor off. Either make it look like a post with maybe a cornarant on it since there is a lot of that in this river, or maybe make a swan decoy that would go around it when hunting.

I'm open to all ideas so if you think the BBIII will work as a layout then I'll look into it. I do like the style of the brant boats but it does seem to ride high compared to open water layout boats.

I am a small guy only 140# and 5'4" so I don't need a large boat to be comfortable but want one that is stable in the open water. Could the BBIII be made not as tall or deep, however you want to say it to make a lower profile?
 
Last edited:
benp,
I'll agree with the others that a Barnegat Bay Sneakbox is probably the best fit for your described purpose. Stay away from boats like the Kara you mentioned. Boats like that can be wonderful in the marshes, ponds, and other closely sheltered water, but they have no place on open water. Because you have mentioned a trolling motor, I assume you aren't concerned with going fast. I, too, have little concern with going fast in small boats, and therefore I am drawn to old-time displacement hulls for duck hunting. A good displacement boat can be very seaworthy and can be quite comfortable in a heavy chop at low speed. Small boats are greatly affected by weight, especially weight at the ends of the boat. Keeping weight off the transom of a small displacement boat is a major concern of mine. I don't have a BBSB, but if I had one in its original displacement-hulled, feather-edge configuration, I'd put a 2hp two-stroke on the back to power it. No, it won't go fast, but it will ride happily on its lines and remain buoyant in its ends, which is what makes it safe. My 2hp Evinrude two-stroke weighs just 24 pounds, almost certainly less than a trolling motor with its battery. Most of my open-water hunting is done in old traditionally-built double-ended Great Lakes sneak boats. When hunting alone or with my son, I use the 2hp Eninrude on an 18' Fox sneak boat. We almost always hunt within 2 miles of the launch site, and frequently we get back after a day's hunt without having refilled the motor's built-in 1 quart fuel tank.
 
Okay learning a lot from all of this and hopefully will continue learning.

Going through all of the boats on Sam Devlin's website I see that the "bluebill" and the "mallard" are probably in the range I was thinking of (and similar to the BBSB). I was looking for something more along the back bay scooter design that Steve posted but I think I could make one of the Devlin boats work.

Now the question of rowing or motoring. Reading some old posts it seems like both boats do well with rowing but obviously the "bluebill" does better with a motor with its planing hull instead of the displacement hull that the "mallard" has.

Any opinion on either boat? How many decoys do you normally carry with either one? Have you used it in open water?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top