So I know there have been a few discussions on here about skiffs, but I always enjoy another!

I will be moving to Houston soon and am thinking about getting a boat. I don't want to spend 20k though. So I would love to hear y'all's opinions based on what I want.

Preferably under 8k. 10k max
I would like to be able to have 3 people on the boat. Don't have to be able to fish at the same time.
I would like it primarily for fly fishing the flats so something that can go skinny and pole decently

I have never fished around the Houston coastal area so don't know what I will need for the water there and figured y'all may have a good idea.

From the little research I've done Gheenoe is a likely option. But could you take 3 adults in it?
Carolina skiff seems to be another option but I am not sure about how shallow it will go or how well they pole.

Any suggestions and good discussion welcome!

http://texags.com/forums/50/topics/2599887

Gheenoe is certainly an option for you and maybe one other angler, Finn will know best certainly. I've never been on a Gheenoe so I can't be certain what the capacity is, but I would guess fishing 3 would mean a larger skiff; think, 17 ft or so. Mavericks, HB, ECC, Dolphin, & Mitzi fit the bill and are the 'poling skiffs' that most think of in this class; even if few of them are thought of in this budget.

I'm not sure what Carolina Skiff offers myself. I know they have boats that size, but I don't know how well they pole, how much they draft, or how quiet they are.

Do some research on Ankona. If you search Florida craigslist I'll bet there are some relatively late model shadowcasts in your price range. There was also a thread here a while back about the Sandpiper skiff that was bigger than a Gheenoe, but smaller than an ECC Caiman IIRC. To go three anglers in a skinny water skiff within your price range might be tough unless you are talking project boat. IMHO.

Sorry for all the edits. It took like 5 timeouts at the basketball game to finish it.

Finn will read the title of your post, get a boner and respond accordingly.

That's my guess.

Yes, Finn is who I'm waiting on! Looks like he has some experience with gheenoes and others. His boat looks great but definitely not able to take 3 people. If I give up on having 3 people in the boat I'll definitely take a look at it.

Let me start off by saying I've never seen a Gheeno canoe in person.

Now, I have several concerns with the design.
1) Doesn't look very "seaworthy." I'm afraid you'd get swamped in 1-2 ft chop... especially with 2 grown men on board.
2)You're extremely limited in where you can fish ( see #1).
3) You're extremely limited in where/when you can launch (see #1).
4) Its basically a Kayak with a 9 horse motor. You can get essentially the same function out of just that... a kayak.

I'm not putting them down at all, they look really neat. But Let's just for "S&Gs" say you're crossing or traveling down the ICW or Corpus Christi Ship Channel when a 65ft Viking comes by. Sure the vessel does well on Brown and Root , Pringle , Contee or Mule Slough. But, you've got to get there first.... safe and dry.

My Ambush has a lot of the same concerns and it's a lot more boat than a Gheeno.

Now Doc,



Who said you have to be dry?

Not from spray!
From treading water!

I lIve on the coast. Fish all the time. Have friends with skiffs of all makes and models. Most expensive down to reasonable. No cheap stuff.

A lot sold their skiffs. Here's why.
- always windy. Lots of times the fish aren't where you can fish in a skiff. Average day here is 15-25. everyday.
- they are very rough (again back to wind issue)
- run shallow great. Easy to maneuver. Don't carry a lot of people. Two. . Three is max. Otherwise you lose the run shallow etc....
-the guys that fish from skiffs are after the "experience". Few fish. Quality.etc,,,
If that's your thing go for it. Kids do NOT do well in skiffs. They make too much noise which defeats the purpose of being in 6" of water.

Just some thoughts. One friend sold his skiff and bought a jet drive. It's unreal where he can go. He gets to the same places as air boats. Some of the places. Runs rough water
well, he wades a lot.
A skiff guy will tell you nothing but how great they are. I just know how many I've seen bought and sold because in reality, they are very limited.

Not my airboat. I had NW80 and Ursusguy onboard and I headed into Tadpole Hole. I have to cross a sand bar. As I got closer Ursusguy started clamping down on his seat.....I have ten good finger prints.

Hey Mythot- do u know make/model of your buddy's jet boat? Does he like it... especially as a fishing boat?

A jet drive 90hp on an 18ft aluminum center console is the way to go. Much more versatile than the Florida style skiffs. As someone who has minor back issues, sitting down in a boat going through chop is impossible.

Jet boats are great. But, you can't pole a aluminum boat in any wind. I agree with the above poster regarding "skiffs" to some degree. However, IF you want to fish back lakes that are too soft to wade ( Pringle or Mud Island, Mule Slough, etc.) , then you need a poling skiff. Unlike Trout waders you've got to cover a lot of water when you're sight casting a flyrod at Redfish.
Personally, I'd rather wade than pole, but in my world a poling skiff is very advantageous.
The bottom line is that poling skiffs are made for fly fishing and that's what I do.

What makes aluminum boats poor for poling? Exposed gunwales? Weight?

The shape of the bow catches a lot of wind. Therefore, you're constantly trying to fight to keep it on track.
Don't getr me wrong, there's a place for the rig you're talking about. It could be a nice wading platform to drop guys off at intervals. But, when two guys want to go out together and sight fish it's a little problematic. Those boats were not designed to fly fish off of.
Someone alluded to fly fishermen not catching quantity and it being more "for the experience." I guess 10-20 Reds per morning isn't quantity. It is for me though.

Unfortunately there are always trade offs with any boat. I enjoy getting to and fishing areas that most people cant get to. I realize to do that you can't have a huge boat that rides smooth. But that's what I enjoy. and I am young, not married, no kids so right now that's doesn't matter. When that happens I realize things will change.

That's why I am asking. And maybe there isn't anything that fits my needs. I would be willing to give up a little to fit 3 people and have a smoother ride. But I really want to be able to fly fish the shallow areas so if I have to give up having 3 people I guess I will.

3 people on any skiff "approaches" too many. It's kinda like hunting Quail over a dog. One person over appoint is fun but lonely. Two people over a point is perfect! Three people is too many and four people I won't even leave the house!

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You crack me up. Brag about your airboat on here all the time. Funny I know every airboat in port a and rockport. Don't know you. Never seen you anywhere either. I live here.

Congrats that your airboat will cross a sand bar. Wow. Amazing. Guess what. I can get a jet drive over that sand bar. Not a big deal.

Can't you just let people have a conversation without trying to prove how bad azz you are?

No one's ever been nervous on my airboat or In my bay boat. They know I'm safe and never worry. Man it gets old.

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What brought that on?

I was wondering the same thing Troutslime. Sunchaser has had his airboat in Port A as long as I've known him.
The OP wanted a boat to fly fish off of not a wading platform. Hence the questions about a skiff. I'd bet the "jetboat" guys don't flycast.
Also, I doubt you could get close enough tot a school of Reds poling an aluminum skifff, especially if the wind is blowin.... at all. Besides not being able to keep the boat tracking, the hull slap will run every fish off the flats.

Troll!

This took a surprising turn

I was going to chime in on other skiffs but now I'm not getting in other than to elaborate on my Gheenoe.

The NMZ I'm selling is a 2-man boat, tops, maybe 3 if you're all under 150 pounds apiece. But you can't fish 3 unless you're just drowning bait. You're definitely not making long runs or crossing big water with any sort of chop. It's designed to float very shallow and be stable in protected backwaters. It excels in the marsh north of the ICW near Galveston's West Bay. Especially because you never have to run unprotected water. I've even trailered it through Yarborough Pass to fish the flats on the back side of PINS there. And I can launch right off the side of the road to get back into B&R or cover a lot of water in Lighthouse Lakes. What I cannot do is run from Cove Harbor across Aransas Bay to Fence Lake or Allyn's. But I can cross into Estes and cover more water than waders and stand up to sight fish better than 95% of kayakers.

It's light, inexpensive and stable. NW80 is right that it's an oversized canoe with an outboard. But it's easily manageable for 1-2 people to fly fish.

I love the little thing and if the only fishing I ever did was by myself or all I ever did was fish those protected waters or my wife would let me have 2 boats I wouldn't be selling it.

I was planning on getting a technical poling skiff but have decided against it, largely due to family requirements and also because I've got a bunch of friends who have poling skiffs. When the wife is OK with me owning more than 1 boat at a time I'll have another skiff.

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A lot sold their skiffs. Here's why.
- always windy. Lots of times the fish aren't where you can fish in a skiff. Average day here is 15-25. everyday

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Well maybe not everyday...

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Wind

Over the course of the year typical wind speeds vary from 1 mph to 18mph (light air to fresh breeze), rarely exceeding 24 mph (fresh breeze).

The highest average wind speed of 13 mph (moderate breeze) occurs around May 1, at which time the average daily maximum wind speed is 18mph (fresh breeze).

The lowest average wind speed of 9 mph (gentle breeze) occurs around August 24, at which time the average daily maximum wind speed is 13 mph (moderate breeze).

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Wow 10-20 keeper reds every morning??

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What is this guy's handle?

Many people have switched to jet drives because they can legally fish inside the Sea Grass Study Area and not have to worry about leaving a mud trail.

If you can't fly fish in 20 you might as well forget fishing the salt.

I'm not going to say I'm a badass caster who can bomb 100ft casts into the wind but if you sit at home because you can't make a 40-50' cast in 20mph wind you're going to sit at home a whole damn lot.

Thanks for the replies so far. I guess I just need to figure out what I want it to do most as there isn't something that will do it all.

I would like to be able to take it out on small lakes to bass fish or sight cast to carp as well. Would a gheenoe be able to perform there?

And Finn, have you ever fished out of an LT25? Would it be able to hold 3 people better? And is it more stable than your nmz?

And a little off topic, but how do you fish in your nmz on your own? Do you fish and pole at the same time? I'm sure it's hard to describe, but when you say it's stable, how stable to you mean? I have a coosa kayak and can easily stand in it so I'm assuming it would be at least that stable.

I have fished out of an LT25. It's more stable than the NMZ but it's bigger too. An LT25 is 16' long with a 56" beam, my NMZ is 15'4" with a 44" beam. You can handle 3 guys in the LT25 if you're going to get out and wade but, no you can't safely fish 3 guys at the same time- you could have one guy poling, one guy waiting, and one guy on the bow fly fishing though. But with that load you're definitely limited to protected waters.

I pole the NMZ backwards. I pull up the motor, stand on the bow platform and push the boat so the motor is in front of me wherever I go. I have a belt clip that the push pole snaps into when I need both hands and just let it drag behind me in the water. On the floor in the cockpit I have a collapsible mesh laundry basket. I wet a towel and stick it in the bottom for weight and have my fly rod sitting up in it with a bunch of line stripped out.

When I see a fish, I put the pole into the clip on my waist, grab the rod out of the basket, get set and make my cast. I strip the line into the basket to prevent tangles. The basket is basically a lightweight stripping bucket.

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I guess I just need to figure out what I want it to do most as there isn't something that will do it all.

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You win the internet for the day WestTX! We say all the time that everything about a boat is a compromise, and I think we introduce fly fishing into the equation it becomes doubly so. Everything about ride vs dryness vs draft vs speed vs ride again gets ramped up even more when you introduce things like stealth and tracking to the equation. Go with friends, go with guides, fish on every platform you can before you commit to one.

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I guess I just need to figure out what I want it to do most as there isn't something that will do it all.

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You win the internet for the day WestTX! We say all the time that everything about a boat is a compromise, and I think we introduce fly fishing into the equation it becomes doubly so. Everything about ride vs dryness vs draft vs speed vs ride again gets ramped up even more when you introduce things like stealth and tracking to the equation. Go with friends, go with guides, fish on every platform you can before you commit to one.

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Bingo.

Poling skiffs are great for what they do. And of course you're not limited to just fly fishing. Virtually every single skiff manufacturer puts or will put a bait/live-well in their boat. Even a lot of older Hell's Bays had what they called "crustacean tanks" where the Keys guys would put little crabs for permit bait. Even the most hardcore Keys fly guys will frequently free-line live crabs on light spinning gear to catch spooky permit.

But they have their limitations and that's why I've decided to eliminate a technical poling skiff from my plans for the time being.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not getting a big ass CC Shallow Sport or Majek or Pathfinder, it will still be fly fishing friendly but just more versatile.

Only on Texags can a fight erupt during a thread on skiffs.

That being said, I always wanted a polling skiff. So awesome, so sleek. But IMHO they just don't work on the hell bays we have. Now, in the Keys, you bet, nothing embodies the romanticism of flats fishing than casting a fly from a skiff. Your best bet is to get a Texas sled and be done with it.

I DUST MY CRAWFISH!!

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But IMHO they just don't work on the hell bays we have.

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OMG THEMS FIGHTING WORDS. You've ruined my TexAgs experience. I saw what you did. Loud Noises. Fast shallow running boats you have to sit down on. They are the best and EVERYONE in Texas should have one.