Sneak Box set up opinions

Will M

Will M

Active member
With a hectic schedule for me and my usual group of hunting companions i find myself having to hunt alone more and more. I dont prefer to do this as i enjoy the social aspect of duck hunting but life gets in the way of that. I often hunt from the shore using layout blinds and ditch the garvey around the corner but i feel hunting by myself a BBSB would be much easier to manage. I hunt almost exclusively in the tidal marshes and bay fronts of the jersey shore and deleware bay region. Im looking for opinions on different sizes, styles, hull, materials and layouts of the various sneak boxes out there. Please elaborate on the pros and cons you have encountered as that will help me make my desicion.
 
Also it maybe important to know i need something that can get shallow and wont be hard to push off the mud but also want to be able to handle some relatively rough water
 
Will, sounds like a sneak box would be right for you. I wouldnt buy anything that wasnt all fiberglass in this day and age. The low maintenace aspect goes a long way. The question you need to ask yourself is do you need a displacement hull or a planning hull? Displacement hull would handle rougher water but be slower. Planning hull faster and draft less water but may not take rougher water as good. I would look at Marty Kristiansen's boats he builds both a planning hull and displacement hull boat in all fiberglass. Check out KMT Boats if you need his phone number let me know. Hope that helps
 
Go all glass if you can. Opens up a lot more storage options than having to worry about glass over wood boats. Marty's highlands box is in my opinion the best traditional style sneakbox that you could have built new in terms of a blend of speed and traditional looks.

If you want to go a more non-traditional route there are some options from the Delaware bay area that are quite popular as well.
 
Larry how much of a difference in draft am I looking at for a displacement compared to a planing hull? speed isnt that big of a deal to me as i dont mind waking up a few minutes earlier and would prefer to have the ability to get through some rougher water. Also i have heard that all glass is considerably heavier than a glass over cedar boat. Any truth to that?
 
a few inches in draft is the differnce. All glass is much lighter than Glass over cedar. My Highlands Box weighs in at 195lbs hull alone. The Kristiansen classic hull only weighs in at about 210-220. The build of my boat was documented on this site during this past summer, lots of good pics of the process. Either boat is great just tradeoffs on what you are looking to do with it. I was looking for something to hunt puddle ducks exclusively in mainly creeks and back bays so I went with the planning hull. If I was looking for something to cross big water in then I may have looked at the Classic (displacement hull) instead. Will if you want I know Marty will let you test drive both and then make up your mind which you prefer. The cost is the same so it just comes down to what suits your needs best and what you like.
 
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I would like to test a few out when i can get the time. Any performance difference in the all glass vs glass over cedar?
 
Whats best for covering my body. Ive seen clapper boards that come over the body, fabric sheets to cover the body and just open cock pits. opinions???
 
You want to have some sort of cockpit cover otherwise it just looks like a black hole to the ducks. It also helps keep the heat in on cold days. I use a roll up wood slat blind as a cockpit cover, but custom fabric is usually the standard.

All glass vs. glass over cedar is personal preference. I have an all glass boat and a glass over cedar boat. I feel the cedar boat is warmer, but I have more concerns about using it in the ice vs an all glass boat. Also there's the maintenance factor. I have to touch up things on my cedar boat every season and I keep it inside year round out of the weather.

Regardless it sounds like a visit to the Tuckerton show next year would serve you well so you can see many different sneakboxes up close and personal and talk to the builders.
 
Will The highlands box runs like raped date.. w a 9-9 or 15 hp the kristensen box is a displacement hull. It's rounded aft w less planning surface. So she squats bow high and plows thru. Think of it as a lobster boat 15kts thru anything

Phil
 
I have Ipe ice runners on my fiberglass over cedar BBSB. I break ice up to a couple inches thick. Thicker than that the boat is not heavy enough and it rides up on the ice.
 
I have ice runners on the bottom of my sneakbox as well with aluminum strips covering them. You can break pretty decent ice with a sneakbox just by rocking back and forth, but you do need to be mindful of how thick it gets.

As Dave said once it gets too think the boat will just ride up on top. We had a fun hunt last year and had to push the boats on top of the ice for the last 400 yards to the ramp...

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Then again there is welded aluminum for the true carefree sneak boat. Since you are in the Southern Jersey area I'd recommend checking in with John Kuhn to see if he's still welding up sneak boats. This post is what convinced me that I needed one of his sneaks. John was great to work with as I requested and received a number of features and customization, like light mounts, grass rails, folding oarlocks, added room under decks for my size 12 wader boots. For ease of welding most of the boat is made from 1/8" aluminum and with the double floor she's solid as can be, although at only 12 ft she's not the most stable ice beaker.

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Scott
 
Then again there is welded aluminum for the true carefree sneak boat. Since you are in the Southern Jersey area I'd recommend checking in with John Kuhn to see if he's still welding up sneak boats. This post is what convinced me that I needed one of his sneaks. John was great to work with as I requested and received a number of features and customization, like light mounts, grass rails, folding oarlocks, added room under decks for my size 12 wader boots. For ease of welding most of the boat is made from 1/8" aluminum and with the double floor she's solid as can be, although at only 12 ft she's not the most stable ice beaker.

ScottI believe the sneakbox Chris has in the Classifieds is one of John's builds? Good deal there with the motor and all.....
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I would talk to Dave Clark about his Estuary. It is an awesome boat and probably one of the safest boats on the market.
 
ive seen those estuarys down at tuckerton, definately a nice looking boat but i think its a little bigger than i would like. I want something small and lightweight that i can handle myself
 
ive seen those estuarys down at tuckerton, definately a nice looking boat but i think its a little bigger than i would like. I want something small and lightweight that i can handle myself
sounds like a Highlands Box more and more is what you are looking for.
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