NJ inshore suggestions?

[Sayn3ver]

Coming from kayak fishing in hobie kayaks in the bays and backwater of southern nj.

I now have a son and a desire for a smaller boat for targeting fluke, tog and stripers. I also have a desire not to have to wear a drysuit.

Overwhelmed by choices.


A trolling motor on the front is a must have.
Launching loading and running solo a must.
Cooler for catch is a must. I think I need larger than the 65qts you often see used as seats.

Max would be 3anglers? Maybe four people for a quick ride no fishing?

Mostly solo by myself or with my son as he gets older.

For years I've been thinking about an fs18. The lm18 looks better now without tunnel. The phantoms all look good to me too.

Not opposed to something more like a hobie power skiff now but I mainly fish the brigantine/great bay/little egg harbor areas which have the mantra of "if you aren't touching bottom you're not boating in great bay".

At the same time I wouldn't mind something like a od18/ob17/c19. The c19 is probably as large as I want to go for storage and $$$ for power.



Any input welcome from real experience on the water in the nj/Delaware/Maryland areas as I've fished ocean city Maryland area via kayak before and has a similar feel.

[Rmarsh]

I started in kayaks and had similar criteria for a boat for buzzards bay in MA and to go six to ten mikes off shore at most. I built a C17 center console version... great solo and with another......have takenup to four fishing and did fine . Dont have a bow trolling motor on it though......probably would need a very long shaft ... yamaha 60 hp......very little fuel to go all day long.

[fallguy1000]

I think noone responded because not sure what you mean by touching bottom. Of course, not from out east,

Polish the sor more and the boat will choose you.

How big the waves you'll be in..

Offshore at all?

[Sayn3ver]

Great bay and many other bays in southern nj have a shallow average depth. It's a local joke that if you aren't running aground you must not be boating in the area.

No off shore for me. If I want to go out front I can hop on my buddy's boat.

In the past I typically have picked my days due to being in a kayak. Anything over a 10mph wind wasn't fun to pedal in.

Now that I'm doing the adult thing. Job. Kid. Etc it would be nice for the craft to tolerate those 15mph gusts to 20mph days if that's the hand in dealt. Many fall days never lay down.

I want to setup and maintain particular/technical drifts in the early fluke season which is typically in April/May. I've found the hobie pedal kayaks are fantastic for controlling a drift. It's so intuitive to flutter your feet as you bucktail to hold location, slip slowly or adjust the speed of the drift. The hand control for the rudder allows the drift angle to be dialed in. I'd like a boat design combined with a powerful enough trolling motor to have a similar amount of control drifting. This is important to me as there have been outings where I've been setting up repeat drifts and started banging fluke and then those in 20ish foot cc boats and any other boat in the area run over to get in on the action. I'm literally floating on Tupperware banging bite after bite while those around me aren't getting a hit. I attribute that to speed and drift angle control as I would be honing in on drift speeds throughout my outting getting slower and slower from just drifting with the current until I found a speed the fish wanted. Meanwhile the full size vessels were going with the current.

I also like to target tog/blackfish so having a boat I can nestle up next to a sod bank with a steep drop off or under a bridge next to a piling and hold spot with a trolling is a want. In the kayak I could float next to the sod banks at high tide with a foot hanging over the side planted on the ground and just essentially anchor in a spot or slowly scoot my way down a bank while simultaneously fishing. Or if I found a hot spot pull the kayak up into the grass and fish off the sod.

Then I also target stripers with artificials at night or drift eels, fish docks etc. I occasionally troll small tube and worms.
Wouldn't mind the occasional outing of being able to anchor up in the 2-3ff shallows of the bay just in front of a deeper cut and drift baits on slip bobbers.

It would also be nice if the boat fit in my garage with an 8ft ceiling and 7ft high overhead door. Indoor storage is not set in stone but if it is that pretty much eliminates many boats.

I honestly think the lm18 will fit my needs. I want a bow mounted trolling. I can use one cooler in front of a center console for fish and a smaller behind the console for a seat. She'll fit in the garage and if I'm being cheap I can even opt for tiller steer which doesn't bother me.

I'd like baitwell for minnows, grass shrimp, spot, mullet, etc.

Plenty in the area fish in aluminum v bottom John boats.

I know it doesn't help that I'm personally torn in choosing between a small flats boat and something more like an all around bay boat.

I have never poled yet personally. I had chartered a local guide named insomniac years ago who ran a flats boat similar to the phantoms and his niche was sight casting stripers with spinning gear and fly fishing gear. He poled out of necessity to not spook fish up in the tiny tidal creeks out in the marsh.

I've fished the area since 2010 or so in my hobie adventure but can't cover some of the more open larger areas of the bay due to speed and range. There's also a few spots that I fish in my kayak but the holes are surrounded by 6" of water that I get to via kayak.

I think noone responded because not sure what you mean by touching bottom. Of course, not from out east,

Polish the sor more and the boat will choose you.

How big the waves you'll be in..

Offshore at all?

[pee wee]

Good luck choosing your design!

How deep is your garage?

A typical garage is only 20 feet, so an 18 foot boat with outboard on a normal trailer won't fit. You can get a swing tongue for the trailer and that will help, you can angle the boat . . might work, might not. Hopefully you have a longer space to store the boat.

[fallguy1000]

Well, after reading your details. My vote is for boats with less freeboard like the PH18 or a Fast Skiff.

less freeboard means slower drifting unless you habe deep enough water to run a bag, a boat with high freeboard moves super fast in a 10 knot wind

I would avoid going to the C class boats or any with more freeboard.

[TomW1]

I would also think that one of the Phantoms would be ideal for you. They have the shallowest draft of any of the boats you are looking at 6". A flat deck for mounting your trolling motor and low shear for less drifting with the wind.

Tom

[Sayn3ver]

Good luck choosing your design!

How deep is your garage?

A typical garage is only 20 feet, so an 18 foot boat with outboard on a normal trailer won't fit. You can get a swing tongue for the trailer and that will help, you can angle the boat . . might work, might not. Hopefully you have a longer space to store the boat.

In the process of rebuilding it. It was a detached 20x25. The new will be either 24x32 or 24x40. Still going back and forth with zoning and possible variance.

[Sayn3ver]

Been staring at the plans page while on lunch break tonight at work.

I think I'm between the lm18 and the fs17 (probably low sheer).

I think budget wise and thinking realistically about my use (mostly solo or with one other person) Id like to keep engine size around 25-30hp and a boat design that works with that.

I'm curious if either the lm18 or the fs17 can have the rear interior setup more like a lowe Alaska aluminum skiff where they have the split seats for tiller use.

I'm also curious if you can make the casting deck of the fs17 low sheer flush with the sides?

[Rmarsh]

Up here in buzards bay conditions can change fast and the water can be cold, The higher sides and deeper cockpit of the C17 is a blessing. Can cruise at twenty mph in choppy water with practically no water or spray getting into the boat....got a bilge pump but it never gets used. My passengers and guests feel much safer being in a boat with the higher sides. It does drift to fast so i use a drift sock, My casting deck is perfect for me as I can brace myself against the coaming and heave a cast out without having to balance myself. Ive seen where at least one fs17 builder add higher "splash guards" to their bow area to stop excessive spray.