jon boat type- flat bottom or V?

true. i should qualify that i'm a recreational crabber so i'll be using eing nets and box/topless traps only, or running a trotline. either of which can be done while seated (albeit seated near the side) I'm also thinking about widening my beam to 44" and the chine width to 36" as that'll help the tenderness

 

Thed,
Your last dimensional specs seem fine to me if you can eliminate the 3rd person. Not much has been said about V v/s flat. Go flat. You mention rivers so it looks like shallow draft and beach ability should be important. The outboard will need to be mounted lower w the V bottom. An inverted V may even work well for you but I'd just go flat.
Take a look at one of Atkins designs .. Little Peter w 3'10" beam and Dancer w 3'9" beam. LP is a punt w better capacity and stability however LP has lots of rocker so 5 knots tops. Dancer is typical small row boat/skiff w pointy and squareish ends .. faster and (to most) better looking. Dancer is rated for 3 people and LP should do that even better.

Easy Rider

 

in all honesty, 3 people was optimistic and was used mainly to give a large buffer for 1+ large dog or 2 people. Thanks for the suggestions, i'll check them out. I was considering changing to a modified V and try to get the best of both worlds but am now quite intrigued by inverted V and will have to research more. The project builder in me wants to build the hardest type of hull shape i can but I'll go with whatever can give me the best performance overall.