I am tossing around the idea of getting a new duck boat. I currently hunt and fish out of a 1652 Lowe that is massively underpowered with a 25 Merc and new rivet leaks are popping up every time I take it out. My kiddos are starting to come with me more and I am looking to get something a little bigger and more capable. I am pretty sure I want to stick with a tiller and have no interest in having a mud motor (had one in the past and they just dont hold up on the coast). The main capability increase I am looking for is better holeshot performance. I hunt and fish out of west bay in the Galveston Bay Complex and need to be able to get up in shallow water. Budget is 30K or less. The models I have been looing at are below:

- Avid 18 Commander
- Havoc DBST 1756
- Alweld Marsh Invader 1756

Does anyone have any input on any of these tin boats or others they they have experience with and like? I am very hard on my boats and motors during duck season so I need something very well built.

Avid is a very high quality product. Owned by the Faulkners that originally designed and built Nauticstar Boats.
Diamond Sports Marine at Lake Fork is a good dealer for Avid. Talk to the owner Fred Barthold.
Also look at Excel Boats. They are high quality as well.
Fun n Sun Marine in Hurst/Cleburne sell lots of them.
Talk to Monte Reagan at the Fun N Sun Hurst location.

One of my former colleagues is a factory rep for Avid if you need any specific questions on their products.

ETA: Tim Scott (Current owner of Havoc Boats) has kinda moved around a bit. He originally was involved with Excel and Edge Boats and then started Havoc Boats.
Havoc is a regional boat company built in Arkansas.

I want a Prodigy Fwd CC with an outboard jet so bad I can't see straight. I think I just about have the wife talked in to it. Crazy what they want for a souped up jon boat these days.

Downside of outboard jets is they can be loud.

I was hoping you would respond. Why dont any of these manufacturers make their boats with a tunnel hull? Or is that what the hunt deck on the back is there to do?

Grew up running outboard jets, guess I'm just used to the noise. Jet is the only thing we can get up and down the Pecos/Rio Grande on in SW Texas or the Concho around Angelo unless you just want to stay in deep holes and not run up and down the river.

If I had all the scratch in the world I'd have an inboard from Jet Boats of Texas but I can't afford an 80k river toy. Maybe I should just ask for forgiveness instead of permission.

Avid makes a tunnel hull in 21'. Avid 21 FST or Avid Recon ST.

Could have swore at one time I saw something about an Alweld Marsh invader that had a tunnel hull as well.

I can't speak to the boats...you're getting good advice already above

what I can speak to is buying a boat from Diamond Marine and Fred Barthold that Gunny recommended. I bought from Fred before I knew who Gunny was. Great experience with the sale and even after the sale. Great dude.

and I live down in Humble but it was just like dealing with someone local

Last I knew…Avid, Excel, G3, SeaArk…..all build tunnel hulls.
Havoc builds a different type of hull configuration that is made more specifically for surface drive mud motors like the Gator Tail.
There are pros and cons to tunnel hulls as far as handling and performance though.

I guide duck hunts and fishing trips out of my 21ft Lund Alaskan tiller.

Absolutely the most versatile and capable boat I have been in. Very stable. Very safe and confident crossing bays when they get big. I had a bay house in Rockport for 30 years and built this boat to cross Aransas Bay when it gets nasty. Live in Alvin so now mostly Galveston and West Bay.

They make an 18 foot Alaskan tiller as well as that is the size you are looking at. Dont let the lack of tunnel shy you away. I have a jackplate and float pods and this thing shocks me how shallow it will run. I can run all the way to the back of carancua Bayou to their bridge (which is impassable). I can jack up and tilt up and still move in 6" to 8" of water. Get out and pull it into duck hunting position in high ankle deep water. Ive duck hunted it from Sabine to Baffin. Fished the jetties and beachfront up to about 10 miles offshore. Fished creeks and bayous and bass Fished every bass lake in Texas. It is my travel boat, do-all boat, duck boat, bass boat, backup bay boat. I am always impressed with it.

Get on my calendar and we can do a trip in it. Being that it has no console and just seats right down the middle i can duck hunt 6 plus me and fish 4 plus me. Handles the load just fine with a 90hp.

So in the size you are looking at i cant recomend the 18ft Lund Alaskan tiller enough. Absolutely wouldnt be lacking in anything you wanted to do. Set up right would run as shallow as you need with much more big bay capability.

I have a SeaArk tunnel jet with an Evinrude 60 hp jet outboard. Fun boat to drive up and down the river. I honestly don't think it's louder than a regular outboard?

Lund has been a popular boat in the northern states Walleye fishing market. The original company was bought out by the Genmar Corporation ….that then went out of business and then Lund was acquired by the Brunswick Corporation (Mercury).
However, they have never sold many products in the southern states mainly because they do not have a strong dealership network in the south. At present, in Texas, I believe they only have two dealerships with a total of three locations in the entire state. Those dealerships stock few Lund boats and very limited models…..so it's very difficult to go look at their boat model line up. To look at the Alaskan series of Lund, one would more than likely need to travel to the midwest or northern states to see a current new model.
Outboard power choices on Lund boats is basically limited to Mercury Outboards due to ownership. To add Yamaha or Suzuki power options is relatively costly.

Grem. Have you run a 18' Alaskan? To me there is a lot of difference in the ride and handling of your 20'10" Alaskan vs the 18' model.

You are correct. I went to Iowa to get mine.

Mine is a 2007 so it is actually the 20' 1" or whatever it is. I added the large float pods on the back for shallow water operation and the heavy loads of biscuit head duck hunters I always have on board. Also the dog stays on the float pod to retrieve and return easier (cleaner and dryer too so she doesnt get in the boat with us).

I did test run an 18' and was equally shocked how much I liked it for what we do. But that buggy is certainly more sensitive to weight, distribution, and overall stability.

But comparing an Alaskan to an tunnel hull flats aluminum boat is no comparison. Mine is the only one i have seen in Texas. What Gunny says is true about availability and popularity.

But I am generally willing to do things differently and try what I believe will work. Sometimes its a win that I stick with. Sometimes its a lose. Luckily it ain't a marriage and I can change gears easily. With the Alaskan it was a very skeptical, shockingly impressed win!

I tried the tunnel flats boat crossing Aransas and West Bay. Never speared so many swells in my life.....such a rough wet ride we would just not go on windy days.....which is a ton of days during duck season. Now unless it is serious small craft advisories we can go safely and confident in everything but lightning.

Go with me or go try one. You will never go back to a tunnel flats. Starcraft and Crestliner make a similar hull i believe.

Like you, I have never really been a tunnel boat fan. There is just as much negatives as positives in tunnel hulls.
They typically don't turn well and they usually sit lower in the stern because of lack of flotation from the tunnel cut out. So then the boat has to have hull extensions or flotation pods to float level and stable.
Proper boat set up with jack plates, trim tabs and proper surfacing props will oftentimes get you as shallow as you need to go anyway. Tunnels can sometimes do the same thing to you that a 4-wheel drive on a truck can......get you in more trouble than you bargained for.

My big guide boat is a Southshore 26pro. Giant 26ft long tunnel v with a 9'5" beam. Its massive. Runs surprisingly shallow for a 6000 pound boat. It will run in 7"-8" and float about 10.5". But with that heavy battleship you have to really really know where you can shut down and be extremely familiar with tides on the areas you plan to be. Getting stuck in this thing is muy malo. If I wasnt guiding and needing that much space to fish 6 people plus me I wouldnt have this boat. It handles terrible....with the trailer guide ons it is about 11ft wide lane to lane towing up and down the coast....terribly inefficient. Its a handful. But may be one of the best guide boats on the water for Texas.

But when I was looking to build a duck blind boat I was hung up on the tunnel to get into duck waters. Got into a properly setup for shallow water NON tunnel and changed my whole view.

Going with the tunnel we give up A LOT for another inch or two.... I can do without the tunnel.

Interested in this topic as I've recently moved with the family to Arkansas. My oldest son is three and a half and has taken to loving fishing. It won't be long before I could make use of a good boat. I had a Sabine versatile while I lived in Texas. Loved it. Looking for something a little more kid friendly and appropriate for the waters up here. Probably staying away from fast moving / difficult to navigate rivers. I'd put in in Little Rock and probably the lakes to the north and west of here.

I could be convinced eventually to get something appropriate for the white. I fly fish but kids aren't old enough to do that yet so I just wade by myself every now and then or hire a guide.

I have separate accommodations for duck hunting so this would be fishing only.

Welcome to Arkansas fellow Ag! I would suggest reaching out to 87Flyfisher here on the OB. He is in this area and he and his beautiful wife are literally like walking encyclopedias in this area for info on fishing, gear and boats. They really know there stuff and are tremendous folks to boot.

Thanks Gunny. I'm glad to be here. Houston was good to us but this is momma's home and I love the outdoors.