After my feedback on the use of a Rigiflex CAP 360 for fishing for 6 years, the article is to be found HERE in this section, I offer you a new experience feedback, the one of the second boat I use very often: the Alumacraft FF 1236 R type Jon Boat.
A lightness appreciable in many situations
With its military design and paint, the Alumacraft announces its color: we are in the presence of a product of American conception where efficiency is privileged above all else. The handle on the bow and the two others on the transom are also a reminder.
These handles quickly prove to be very practical because with its light weight of 56 kg, the Alumacraft 1236 is very easily transportable by two anglers. Launching is now possible in most cases. There is no need for a slipway or even a parking lot to park the car and trailer because it is also possible to transport this boat on the roof of your car!
Designed as a barge
The Alumacraft 1236 is characterized by a welded 1.4 mm aluminum hull with a flat bottom, 3.66 m long and 1.40 m wide (92 cm wide at the bottom). The lightness of the hull combined with the flat bottom, which results in a very shallow draught, make it a boat capable of slipping in everywhere, even in the most inextricable places. And I speak from experience, having put it to the test a number of times in sailing conditions where only this type of boat could get around. And if you add to these difficulties of progression the fact of having to go up on the bank to cross an obstacle, then it supplants any fishing boat. It is a must for maneuverability on water and on land!
Maximum usable surface
As for the space on board, nothing to complain about, each fisherman can leave with 3 rods (and more) arranged in the length and his equipment without anyone stepping on them. A rear compartment is provided to receive either the battery of an electric motor or the 12L feeder of a combustion engine. Note that the Alumacraft 1236 can accommodate a 15 HP short shaft engine. I don't even dare to imagine the reactivity of the whole when I know the performance of this boat associated with a 6 ch engine¦
Stability, the black spot
Given the narrowness of the hull, stability is not its strong point. Beware of winter sessions and frost making the aluminum extremely slippery and moving around on board sometimes hazardousâeuros¦
The big influence of the wind on the daggerboards
The shallow draught added to the only 56 kg of the hull induce a great influence of the wind on the behavior of the boat at rest. The addition of a front electric motor to ensure effective drifting on edge fishing is almost essential. Not having added one yet, in these conditions I often maneuver the boat in reverse for a better control and by having my hand on the handle of the electric motor very regularly in order to be as reactive as possible.
Spending a lot of time maneuvering has the disadvantage of both subtracting fishing time and, when your lure is in the water, losing a number of fishâeuros¦ but that's the game.
Also, the second bench is particularly badly placed with respect to the tiller of the motor (thermal or electric) when you are in the fishing position, standing up, forcing the angler to lean forward and down to correct a drift for example.
In summary
To conclude I would say that it is a formidable tool, almost like an alternative to the float-tube for those who do not wish to spend the day with their feet in the water, whose use responds to real environmental constraints. The Alumacraft 1236 expresses itself fully in small environments, which are moreover crowded, and I would advise, in order to navigate safely, to limit the use of this boat to the latter. I would not risk going out on a lake in strong winds or on a river, except on backwaters. An Alumacraft 1236, a casting rod and a rubber jig and you are almost invincible!
Alumacraft 1236
- Length : 3,66 m
- Width (overall): 1.40 m
- Width (at the bottom) : 92 cm
- Weight: 56 kg
- Hull thickness: 1.4 mm
- Motorization max 15 HP short shaft
- Category D: 3 persons
- Flat Font
- Selling price : about 1 800 euros
