Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire "Bay" Boats...

Ran a Hewes bay boat for 3 years, 150 Suziki w/ poling platform and trolling motor. Sent it down the road. Too clumsy in the shallows and not especially adept in sloppy condition either. Read that as "wet".

Also ran a Hewes Bonefisher down in the Keys for about 6 years and did everything with it you can do with a bay boat. Flats, diving, offshore for Mahi and tuna...nothing I couldn't do with it that wasn't easier and cheaper than with the bay boat.

I might add I'm a fan of "smaller is better" with boats to the extent practical. Quality of construction, design rule. Hull design is 90% of everything in successful and proper function IMO. Light weight is my mantra.

Most of those shown aren't Bay Boats. They're bass boats with center consoles meant to take advantage of the current popularity of Bay Boats. Rob posted two of what I'd call Bay Boats.

If you're fishing primarily freshwater lakes, like you described, I don't see the advantage over a bass boat. I've fished in Texas pretty extensively. When you get out of east Texas, most of the reservoirs I've fished are almost identical to ones in Kansas. They are flat, open, shallow and catch the wind very badly. This creates a contrast. The protection of say, a multi-species boat with a wrap around windshield can be very desirable, while at the same time, the greater draft of the hull is undesirable in the shallow water.

Personally, I like a medium-draft fishnski with wrap around windshield.

I really like center consoles I am up here in Michigan on the Saginaw Bay here they are not as practical because of the early and late (at times early summer mornings) fishing seasons you need the protection
I have had a few "whalers" are Whalers almost an investment (also good for my 401K)
When others are loosing they are atleast maintaning value
That being said there are a lot of nice boats
This spring I sold an 18ft Winner it had an old 135 V6 Merc (they last a bit longer up here) it was old but no wood and everyone who was on that boat really liked it inc me
I could name many good ones I am very impressed with Dusky made in FL

What a great thing to ponder buying
Hank

I go out fairly often on a pards 2001 24' Blue Wave. It is a huge upgrade from the Triton he had.

24' sounds a bit large, until you're going out through & past the jetties in Galveston or Port O'Conner (Yikes!) with a little wind & a tough tide. The Yamaha Saltwater outboards are durable as hell too. He has a 225HP. The Pure bay is about the closest to his style & look to be available in 22 & 24'.

Give the Bluewave a serious look & you may be impressed.

http://www.bluewaveboats.com/boats/2400-Pure-Bay-32.cfm

Nah, only a couple hours. The rest was on shotguns

check out the Stoners, Patrick.the fact that you can't find a used one for sale speaks to their quality, that and he'll custom build it for you.

Small and light suck when a 40 mph gale blows up ..... btdt in my airboat and thank God its not that small....

Of course you can be a fair weather person too and never go out in iffy weather. Around here its a 125 mile one way minimum drive, and unless its dangerous, we can get out and find some waters to fish and hunt that are protected, but it might not be water for a small light boat to cross to get there in the process.
Different strokes as they say.

Or run the pass cavallo instead of the jetties going out... ugh.... no place for small stuff.

Met the "Three Sisters" going out between the Port O' jetties one very early morning heading out for a tournament. It was pucker time..

Thanks, I will check them out, too.

It's all about compromises. I agree with DD on the small and light ... provided you've got a hull design that's appropriate. I ran a small light boat in Alaska for ten years and it served me extremely well. It was the perfect compromise for the different types of fishing that I wanted to do.

I'm not familar with the Hewes Bonefisher but I looked it up online and it has all the features that I'd want in a "bay boat". Sharp V up front, wide flat stern, very nice lay out and it appears to be a quality boat.

Bigger can be better but then there's the compromise on cost. They're substantially more expensive up front and depending on power options they can more expensive to operate.

Well, that's 'cause I couldn't talk you into aluminum. I don't do glass boats, unless they're a tax write-off.

I'll add this too. When it to comes to airboats ... bigger is definitely better. I've been in small and light and bigger heavier more powerful and the bigger airboats rule.

So what aluminum boats would you suggest for that use ?

Heck, I see sixteen foot flats out at Central....twenty miles from the end of the rocks. No accounting for what some people will do.

My usual fishing partner just got a 24 foot bay boat, and it works fine for Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Borgne, and the Shell Beach/Hopedale marsh....and we'll run it out to Central and Battledore reef if the weather is OK. It's never gonna be a deep V in a rough sea, but it will snuggle up in skinny water where our old Wahoo V wouldn't go.

they are compromise boats, but a pretty good compromise, where I fish.

That's what a bay is. But I have taken similar boats out to the first set of rigs in the gulf MANY times to fish if you watch the weather and being able to hit 50mph+ helps stay out of the worst of it. I wouldn't take it out to say West Delta 82 or the lumps for sure.

If you get anything bigger, deeper than that you pretty much might as well go for a real offshore boat because you have totally killed off the ability to use it on the lakes in southeast TX the OP mentioned where you will be fishing in 4' of water a good part of the year and dodging 1000 stick up trees every 3 feet.

Yes the lake actually looks like this for about 3/4 of it's 140,000 acres. Everything is a comprimise but to get any bigger you can pretty much kill off 1/2 the listed use for it.

Many moons ago we went probably 20ish miles out in a 16 foot whaler designed hull... needless to say I was in highschool and or just out.... some mornings we'd wait for a big hatteras to slip through the jetties so we could suck up in its prop wash and ease through... would hold up a ways offshore too coming in to wait to follow one back in....

I need to do some more motor work on teh 200 as there is a weird sound in #6 before I run offshore a bit with it again... I really wished I'd have just bit the bullet and bought a pair of 90s or so to stick on the back of the Hydra sport..... but at leats its its a heck of a solid hull.

I loved going out the jetties... I just have not had the chance in many years....

Thats not always the case either.... once stuck with a bigger one.... you'll bitch a bit... but it forces one to buy a larger motor and prop generally after that... WTF its only money.

As to cost of operations.... I can run my 16 foot AL john boat really cheap and be probably safe 50+ % of the time on the coast in the bays... but what exactly is my life worth actually?

We all know in the end it would be cheaper to go with a guide once a month for the whole year than own any kind of friggin boat....

this from an idiot that can't swim and currently owns 2 john boats, a bay boat, and 2 airboats..... WTF....

Sampled the Pass Cavalo route on a rough day in my 17' Whaler. Don't want to do it again, but made it without a hitch. During a Boston Whaler tornament.