Bay Boat?????

[South Woods]

Anybody have a bay/marsh boat? Looking into getting one and I am interested in what you have, what you like about, what you dont.

Would like to do a little marsh fishing, maybe run out to the islands, or maybe even pull a tube in the lake.

I have been fishing with a buddy a good bit, now my father seems interested in going, so we need our own.

Also, some resources for looking for a slightly used one. Thanks, Andy

[MudHog]

there's really no such animal as a marsh/bay boat, unless your just calling marsh as some marsh land with canals in them to fish. When I think of marsh I think of mud flats and real shallow drive boat needed. Also a place where you'd sight fish where the top fin of the fish is out the water, thats how shallow the water is.


I own a 19' FishMaster. I'm very pleased with my boat, just wish it was a couple of feet longer. It handles water great and is a dry ride unless you hit the seas at an angle. I find it to be stable when anchored too. Boat itself is really wide which helps with stability.

Now I rode in a BayStealth in Venice. I'm pleased with those in how they cut the water. Now granted it has more of a vee than my "bay boat" which have a major impact in cutting the water. I liked it having dual livewells, but it was a larger boat, so had more room for features as such.

I'd suggest getting a trolling motor if you don't find a boat with one. Nothing less than 24V too.

Far as used boats, check for cracks. Some cracking is normal in a fiberglass hull, but excessive cracks should raise a flag. Check the bottom of the hull for deep scratchs. Also check the front vee for chips, scratches, gouges, etc. All will let you know if the boat has been ran up onto things like reefs and such.

Make sure you go for a test ride. Don't just accept the motor running on tap water is okay. Make sure it handles a load and gets the boat on step and such. Can check compression on the cycliners while your at it too. Can pull the bottom plug on the lower unit and see if there's any water in the gearcase. Milky oil will prove there's water and a seal leaking somewhere. Check the water pump when running the motor. Make sure there's a good flow of water out the piss hole.

Resource wise, check out http://www.boattrader.com

[South Woods]

Thanks Mud Hog. You hit the nail on the head on marsh versus marsh with canals. The later is more of what i am driving at, and what we have done in past.
Basically, we want to be able to fish speck and red and go mess around at least to the closer islands.

Keep em coming if you think of anything else. Thanks, Andy

[crackhead]

My buddies that guide in cocodrie areas run black jack boats and love em.

[stang67]

If you are really wanting to learn alot go to http://www.thehulltruth.com.

There is more info there than you could imagine. Most about bigger boats, but more than enough about bay boats, too. Good luck. Ahh, my vote is for the Triton, but I have never fished from one.

[cwink]

Grew up on the TX coast and have seen lots of of Bay Boats. We had a 1979 Ski Barge that would work pretty good for both fishing and skiing. Sold it and got a Blue Wave that was really nice. I checked out thier website, but could not find the model we had. It was a 1998 and the Engine sat up real high in the back that made the boat run in extremly shallow water. IMO if your looking for shallow water draft the only way to go is with tunnel drive. Most of them will run in 8-10 inches of water..

[MudHog]

Grew up on the TX coast and have seen lots of of Bay Boats. We had a 1979 Ski Barge that would work pretty good for both fishing and skiing. Sold it and got a Blue Wave that was really nice. I checked out thier website, but could not find the model we had. It was a 1998 and the Engine sat up real high in the back that made the boat run in extremly shallow water. IMO if your looking for shallow water draft the only way to go is with tunnel drive. Most of them will run in 8-10 inches of water..

Motor was likely on a jack plate too.

From what I recently seen, 8-10" is deep. There's a company in Texas right now that has a 27' OFFSHORE boat that can run in 6" of water. That's right, 6 INCHES of water. Then it can sit down in 10-12" of water and take off again and get on plane.

Shallow Sport Boats is the name in Texas. It's a 27' Latitude. Funky looking boat. It is a tunnel hull design with a mixture of tri-hull design as well. http://www.shallowsportboats.com/home.shtml

[cwink]

No it was not on a Jack Plate... Just the center of the hull was raised above to get the motor out of the water better.. But I wish it had a jack plate

[Grommet]

Hewes or Hells bay if you want to lean more to shallow water.

[maverick7]

Nautic Star Makes a Great Bay Boat and Nautic Star is a Mississippi Company.
There Plant is in Amory

[iron grip]

maverick boats; they make hewes, maverick and pathfinder. Top of the line stuff. Blue wave is a nice boat too, and triton has some nice Light Tackle Skiffs.

[Don Miller]

Bigwater says that a Carolina Skiff is the smoothest ride on the water. Hey, BW did you ever figure out if you had any internal bleeding from the boat ride back?

[MemphisStockBroker]

PM Jeff with your question

[Meeka]

Mine is a 21' Stratos. Fiberglass. Heavy. flat at rear of hull and v'd in front. 24v TM. Baitwell. Extra box in rear for baitwell or live well is possible. Bass style seats up front and on back deck. center console with 3 batteries underneath. I have rodholders on front deck and at front of the rear deck. Can fish from anywhere on the boat. Have had 7 persons and full 70 gallons of gas and camping gear coolers etc, but that is pretty loaded down. Have a bimini for summer. New Garmin GPS and fishfinder unit. Have crappie fished oxbows, tubed in Percy Quin and tombigbee, run trotlines in Mississippi River, and a whole lot of inside and outside speck and red fishing from West of Houma to Pensacola Bay. That includes Timbalier, Venice, Breton islands, Chandeleur islands and Cat, Ship, Deer, etc, Mobile Bay, Ono.

Most all Bay Boats are set up about the same these days. Difference is how steady and heavy they are. Mine is heavy cause it is fiberglass over wood. It has a freeboard above the knee, which is good for kids. SOme are composite now, which has the advantage of being easier to make and will not rot.

The bigger the better for my type fishing. Bigger means longer. 24' is good now; used to not be an option. If you are worried about skinny water fishing a lot, and by that I mean 6-9", get a tunnel hull aluminum boat and quit worrying about the islands and stay at home when the wind blows (which is all the time).

Plan on spending 20% per year of the boats value on upkeep, maintenance, repair and improvements, after you rig it with a TM for $700, Fishfinder/GPS $900, life jackets, safety equip, and all the plethora of other stuff you put into a boat.

If you are gonna go back and forth, be sure to get a good, aluminum, double axle trailer, with brakes.

My stratos is worth about 9 and I will sell it. But it is a 95. and the projects are becoming more regular. Has a 150 evinrude, which has been very, very good to me.

I will say this, I can not justify the boat any longer as compared to the cost of 2-4 guided trips because I can't make but 2-3 trips a year any more. Truck gas to Hopedale is 200$. 40 gallons of boat gas for a weekend is $150.00, oil, lodging, food . . . junk. You do the math.

[Jeff]

Bay boats are very nice for all around boats, however I am not sure if you need an all around boat. Bay boats offer lots of options and can also get you into a lot of trouble with those "island/rig" trips. I got the biggest bay boat made at the time I got mine, a 24' bay stealth. It is heavy and it's long, those two options make it great for riding rough seas and getting on top of waves instead of plowing through them. The longer the boat the better the ride you will have. The lighter the boat the more you are going to get thrown around on waves where the heavier the boat, the more you are going to throw the wave around. If you are doing mostly marsh fishing, I would get a 18 or so foot aluminum boat. Due to the decrease in weight, you can run with a much smaller motor, get into shallower water (with mine I can fish in 14" of water), and have better fuel economy (my boat gets about 4 mi/gallon with a 225 optimax). The pluses of a bay boat are they are fiberglass, they don't get nearly as hot as a tin boat. They normally have a bigger fuel tank for greater range. Bay Boats ARE NOT V hulls, I have seen a lot of people try and take bay boats where they shouldn't be just because it's a long boat. I love my bay boat and would rather see my house get destroyed than my boat, but they require maitenance, and the more they sit up the more problems you will have. I would only buy a non wood boat, you couldln't give me a boat with wood in it down in the deep south. There are a ton of well made bay boats, champion, trition, bay stealth, sea pro, the list goes on and on, it' just a matter of what uses you want and what you want to spend.