Princecraft Amarok DLX WS Review

The 16-foot aluminum fishing boat remains the undisputed champ across much of the northern States and Canada, and for good reason. It’s large enough to handle choppy waters on all but the largest lakes, yet compact enough to tow easily behind a moderately-sized vehicle. Most importantly, the 16-foot aluminum is light enough to make launching and recovery easy – even on poorly maintained ramps, or on lakes where there are no ramps at all.

That’s the basic framework that Canadian manufacturer Princecraft followed when the company designed its new Amarok DLX WS. By focusing on versatility and the ability to handle a variety of different fishing situations with equal capability, the company has come up with a pleasing boat in the Amarok DLX WS, one which runs and fishes very well.

Stretching 16 feet, 6 inches in overall length and with a healthy 88-inch beam, the Amarok rides on a high performance hull with a full 71-inch chine width. This design not only preserves interior space in the boat’s cockpit, it provides an unusually wide running surface, allowing the Amarok to plane easily and stay on plane at comparatively low speeds. This allows the boat to perform surprisingly well with less than maximum power, addressing Princecraft’s other major design imperative – do everything they can to keep the boat affordable. Designing a boat that dealers can sell with smaller engines achieves this goal.

The desire to keep costs in check also explains why the Amarok DLX WS uses a portable fuel tank, which stores in its rear casting deck, rather than the traditional built-in permanent fuel tank. Taking this approach allows the boat to side-step expensive EPA design features that relate to permanent fuel tanks, but don’t apply to removable ones. Removing the permanent in-floor fuel tank also frees up interior space for a large in-floor rod locker, that holds up to five rods, each of up to 7.5 feet in length (a second rod storage rack in the port side handles rods of up to 8 feet).

The Amarok’s removable fuel tank – concealed beneath the rear deck – is one of several features designed to reduce the boat’s overall price.

With its raised front casting deck, full walk-through windshield and spacious open cockpit, the Amarok DLX WS follows a proven floor plan that lets this boat cast, troll or drive with equal effectiveness. The carpeted front deck contains a large storage compartment and 31-inch long, 60.5L live well in its floor, plus an aluminum receptacle for a removable pedestal-mount fishing chair. There’s also a pre-wired plug for 12/24-volt trolling motor.

Rod storage in the gunnels accepts rods to eight feet in length.

It’s possible for two anglers to fish side-by-side on the front deck, but it is a tight squeeze, so Princecraft thoughtfully added a second raised platform across the stern to give everyone more elbow room. This second deck also accommodates a removable pedestal-mount chair, with storage in one side and the removable fuel tank in the other.

The walk-through windshield provides good protection from the wind while underway, something that will be appreciated by anglers fishing early or late in the season. It also provides a passenger console with a large glove box and additional storage options. The helm console is neatly designed, with plenty of space for installing aftermarket electronics.

The helm console is simple but spacious, with plenty of space for aftermarket electronics.

The main cockpit floor is vinyl, a sensible choice given that this area will receive the lion’s share of the foot traffic. Vinyl floors not only dry much faster than carpet, but also tend to last longer – especially if anglers occasionally drag bits of sand into the boat on their feet.

The Amarok DLX WS is rated to handle outboards of up to 75 horsepower. But thanks to its wide hull and efficient hull design, this is a boat that will deliver surprisingly good performance with smaller engines – on small protected lakes, a 40 or 50 will work quite well. With the maximum 75 horsepower, the Amarok will reach speeds of 40 mph, which is plenty fast for a boat of this size.

The spacious rear deck offers storage in its base.

Built for rugged use with its thick 0.87-gauge bottom plate and beefy 0.72-gauge sides, Princecraft’s Amarok DLX WS is a capable and efficient 16 footer that will easily tow behind a mid-sized vehicle, launch easily from even poor ramps, fit in a standard garage, and not require a second mortgage to buy. Little wonder it’s becoming such a popular model.

Princecraft Amarok DLX WS

• Length: 16’ 6”
• Beam: 88”
• Chine width: 71”
• Transom height: 20”
• Maximum depth: 33”
• Approximate draft: 28”
• Dry weight: 1,040 lbs
• Deadrise: 13 degrees
• Fuel capacity: portable
• Passenger capacity: 5
• Maximum power: 75 hp