Northwest Fishing Reports

Same questions as the smoker craft thread. What can anyone tell me about the River Hawk Pro V 16 or 18? Heavier aluminum(.125 gauge) , open design. Just not all the bells and whistles of the lodge. And not as heavy as the Lodge (300 pounds lighter!) I am thinking maybe 30 hp would do well? Any one have any experience?

Very good boat. The technology is there, very strong for the weight because of the design. I've chatted with a few guys on a jet boat forum that have the larger ones, cabin, inboards and they just love them. I've had my eye on them for a while, if I decide to sell the big boat. One of the sales guys at Cabela's in Lacy has one, He knows I already have two boats and couldn't say enough about the boat. His previous boat was a Lund and in his opinion there's no comparison, the River Hawk is a better boat hands down. 90 or 100hp jet (what ever you can get away with, more is always better) and you have a river monster that will go anywhere.

Thats good to hear. I am/was looking at the lodge, but they are priced pretty high new. I dont have a huge budget, but want to get a propped outboard that is big enough to make me happy. Dont need a speed boat by any means, but thinking maybe 30 hp? These sell with 25 hp's and are only about 100 lbs heavier than my lowe which has a 25 and pulls about 26 mph with two guys and gear. I cannot find anyone or any reviews on the pro v's at all. Nor can I find anything on power specs. I am looking for a do all kind of boat. Deeper rivers, lakes, puget sound and seiku/in shore neah stuff.

They have some very active dealers in OR and one in BC. Very popular up North.

any recommendations?

ResQ wrote:any recommendations?

The only folks I know selling them locally is Cabelas. I know they've been pushing them hard at the guide market in OR. It used to be sewn up by Willy and Alumaweld. What I like is they're painted all over, no polishing aluminum. I've seen them on the guides web sites. Give out your email address to one vendor at the sportsmans show and guess what? Email from a million guides.

When I was looking for a new boat a few months ago, I was interested in the River Hawks also. I liked the open floor plan, affordable price tag and wide beam. The thing that was a deal breaker for me was the weld quality. I work at an aluminum fab shop that does work for Boeing, so I know a quality weld when I see one. The welds on most of the River Hawk boats were just put down too hot, too fast. Anytime you have a concave weld on aluminum especially with 1/2" oscillation like the boats I looked at, the risk of that weld cracking is very high. Most welds were covered with heavy paint (probably for a reason) but the ones that werent were just nasty. The last thing you want on a welded boat is low quality welds. I ended up getting a Lowe Fm160 tiller and couldnt be happier.

What funny is I purchased a new Lowe 1672 welded boat and there is a busted weld that connects the battery tray. :-) I am sure there is a warranty on the River Hawks (although I cannot find anything online about it). They seem pretty heavy duty though?

Guess thats what the Lowe Lifetime warranty is for. I sure hope I don't run into weld issues with mine, but the welds look good to me. The thing I like about the way mine was fabricated is they mig welded majority of it for production speed purposes, but the areas that are highly visible were tig welded. Actually, almost all visible welds on my Lowe were nicely tig welded. The River Hawks at Cabelas I looked at, the first thing you see when walking up to it is the bow plate that is diamond plate which is highly visible. The welds on the one there were horrible. Then you move to the transom and see the same thing. If you look at the pic here: http://www.riverhawkboats.net/photo-tou ... C_0100.JPG" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; you see how they welded the keel by "zapping" weld on, and not welding a continuous bead. You can see all the little holes in the centers of the craters. If you look at an aluminum weld with craters like these, there are tiny cracks. Just something to look for. Anyway, yes the River Hawks do look heavy duty. I think the plate thicknesses used are .100 and .125 which is thicker than alot of other aluminum boats. I really like them, and probably would have settled with one if the quality was a little better.

I went in and checked one out today. Talked to the sales guy who also owns one. I dunno. I dont know a whole lot about welds, but they still look clean to me. And it is done by a person and not a machine. I had a smokercraft that I loved but also had some welds that were starting to crack. These welds actually are thicker and more heavy duty than my Lowe and the smokercraft I had. I asked the salesman and he said River Hawk has a lifetime warranty on the Hull. All welds included. Price point, size and construction, I think I may be sold on the River Hawk. Just have to play the numbers game with different sales people. We'll see!

Well, I put one on order :-) After extensive googling and talking to lots of people about these and different boats, I have come to the conclusion that if there were anything negative about these boats, I would have found at least something. I have found nothing at all actually, except for the concern on the welds (which I am glad it was mentioned as it made me ask more questions). But on the weld aspect, I have had two boats by different manufacturers that had cracked welds (lowe and smokercraft). Honestly, these welds look much larger and more uniform visually. And they are hand done (not pushed through a machine). I have heard very few negative things about the smokercraft lodge too. I really liked the bells and whistles on the lodge though. But the price point really reflects that!! I hopefully pick my boat up this next week or two. I'll post pics! Thanks for the reply's!

I'm really excited for you!!!! I know it'll bring many hours of enjoyment and fish catching fun!!!!!

Thanks! I know it will. I am kind of bummed that we have to get another new boat after purchasing a new boat last July. But we will be much happier in this one and it will allow is to use it more.

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Thanks! I wanted one but the cost was pretty high. Tack a 40 hp on and I was quoted about 17K average. They are sweet though. Just cannot see spending that much on a 16 foot boat! Any time you want to wet a line I am more than down!

Sweet. Let us know how you like it. I know what you mean about prices. I was quoted 19k for a 16' Lund Rebel. For that you can get a nice used Alumawled Stryker, or even Super Vee.

Will do! Hopefully I will find out today when I get it. Yea, for that much, you can get into a 20 foot boat with windshield and cover lol. Not sure why they are priced that high!

Picked her up!

Sweet looking ride. I had to back away from buying one. Wife had finally beat me into buying a house. I was looking at the 18 v pro or the kenai king. Had to shelve that until next year. I notice that you are missing something... my backside in the front to level her out.

Nice!!!! Really like it! It always looks the best at your place.