TOPIC:

Looking at deck flooring and don’t want to spend the money and time on flooring that does not clean easily for fishing. 

I do not want to go carpet again. 

anyone have opinions? What to stay away from? Positive feed backs, negative feedback? 

is your boat more of a walleye boat with carpet currently?  From pictures that is what it looks like. Alot of it will come down to budget.  Seadek or alternative would be good.  AquaTraction has been good to guys around the lake.  Seems to perform very well.  Its all expensive, but long lasting and likely worth it over the long haul.  Else you can buy some DIY materials off amazon etc and surely make it work well with a lil elbow grease and it would be decent.

There's an ouffit out of Texas called Safe Floor that has a franchised dealer in Michigan. When I used them they were from Kalamazoo.  Check them out at www.safe-floor.com. I had a Safe Floor put in my boat in 2010. It still looks like new, both from dirt/stains as well as from wear and tear. Basically, it looks and feels like one of those rubberized indoor/outdoor track surface. Nearly unlimited colors. I chose a blend of black, grey, red and white granuels. Once you choose the mix, its combined with a marine epoxy and hand applied with a trowel. Is it heavy?  not really, basically, it weighs more than dry carpet, it weighs less than a wet carpet. It will work on wood or fiberglass decks. On a wood surface, it actually will add a layer of waterproofing to guard it from deterioration.  I had it put on the floor, on the top of my motor cover (made it much quieter) and on the seat that people use as a step to climb into and out of the boat. Perfect traction, whether wet or dry  I'll attach a few pictures 14 year old photos of how it looks now after being used by hundreds of charter trips. You are welcome to come see the floor in my boat if you are serious about it. Rainmaker charters put it in his boat in 2011 until he sold it.  
 

This will be for a new to me boat. I am on the market for a salmon/ family boat at this time. 

I first saw this Safe Floor when fishing in Texas where Safe Floor is headquartered and I had the chance to talk with the guy who started the company. He told me most of their work is on new boats. Not uncommon for a guy to show up with a new Ranger or other bass boat costing $100K or more, they'd rip out the carpet and install Safe Floor. He said every Coast Guard boat on Texas Gulf has a Safe Floor and he works a lot on commercial fishing boats, as well. I asked about the limited lifetime warranty.  "What's the limitations?"  He said he really didn't know since he's never had a claim. He then said he has repaired the floor on some commercial fishing boats but the damage was done with fork lifts or shrimp dredges.  

I'm into my second year with the Aqua Traction product similar to the Sea Deck product with a few advantages (I think).

Pros

• Definitely protects the fiberglass surfaces it goes over so no more chips
• Looks great when clean
• Surprised on how much the cushioning helps feet, knees, and back.

Cons

• It is not easy to clean no matter what you see on the internet. Fresh messes (fish blood) come off easily, have your boat in a slip for a few weeks and the dirt/dust that settles on it gets set in. I use an electric Stihl powerwasher but be careful about PSI

If I were to do it all over again, I would have gone with a darker color with more lines.  Lighter color pops when clean but shows dirt and where I thought more lines would make it harder to clean (or look clean) and its just the opposite.   
 

I love my vinyl flooring in my Starcraft Fishmaster.  I also have a Washdown pump so any blood on the deck gets immediately hosed away.  The vinyl has texture so it doesn't become too slick when wet.  I'd never want another boat without it...or at least another boat with carpet.

I'm not necessarily recommending it but I used the Amazon stuff when I redid my starcraft islander on all the new wood (floor, seat box, back wall). This has been its first season on my boat. The gray with white stripes is just gray with gray stripes at this point but the blue camo is staying quite visually appealing. Where I was able to tuck edges behind walls or into butting edges has been pretty durable but the edges that ran flush has shown about 1/8"  shrinkage from sun exposure.

If you go the diy route make sure to get a couple disposable utility knives, the ones with the breakaway blade, and break em off every 4-6 ft of cutting. The material will cut smooth but in no time glue will accumulate and cause a jagged edge when you least expect it.