re: Duck/fish Boat opinions

No matter what boat you get, get the absolute largest motor you can put on it. Putting a 25hp motor on a 16' boat loaded down for duck hunting will make your runs in the morning (and your scouting, for that matter) very, very time consuming unless you're hunting small private marsh and don't need to cover much ground.

Personally I'd rather have a smaller boat that can hump it than have a bigger boat that's more comfortable but takes an hour to get anywhere.

That being said, since your budget is limited, mud boats are pretty much out. I would personally go with an aluminum flat that can carry a couple of pirogues and two people. So minimum 16'. And just get the biggest motor that the hull is rated for.

If you had a little more money I'd go for a CC 18' alum hull and put a removable rack on it for pirogues. And again put the biggest motor you can on it, hopefully 115 or something like that.