# fishing out of 14-16 ft boat near Lazzaretto Creek



## smittyg (Jan 16, 2011)

I'm thinking of pulling a small boat down to fish out of this year. and was wondering if it was a good idea to put in there and how far to go out without putting myself in danger. we usually fish the piers and surf so we're not to familiar with fishing out of boats down there. ANY help will be apreciated


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## skiff23 (Jan 16, 2011)

I would not venture out into the bay , and I would be careful in the creeks due to boat traffic.Some people will drown you in theur wake, They dont seem to have respect for little boats or other people. Not all just a few. I fished the creeks for years in a 16 ft jon boat, got nervous a few times before I got a bigger boat.


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## fishtail (Jan 16, 2011)

You are gonna have a lot of options with a boat in that class. 
Something with sides slightly higher than the typical aluminum boat for comfort, capable of 25 horse or so to get around quickly, Bimini top to keep the sun and rain off you.
A Skiff or Bateau style would be perfect even to cast for shrimp from. A V style with a slightly rounded bottom like they use a lot up north is NOT the type you want. 
Locations from Lazaretto will include the Savannah River jetties, any of the creeks, Bull River, the Little Tybee complex. 
Dangerous places to avoid would be the beachfronts, crossing the Savannah River channel or crossing the Wassaw Sound channel.
Already have a boat in mind?


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## fishtail (Jan 16, 2011)

This was the boat I fished the above mentioned locations (and more) for over 20 years. A 15' Owlcraft, several people make this design. Loved the boat, shame I had to cull the herd a little. It also was a flounder gigging machine!


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## smittyg (Jan 16, 2011)

we've got a 15ft bass boat with an older suzuki 75hp on the back and a few other choices to pull down. thats the most dependable boat out of the bunch. Fishtail, that's similiar to my riverfishing setup.


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## fishtail (Jan 16, 2011)

I'm always leery of anybody saying to or trying to use a "bass boat" in salt water conditions. Problems usually associated with those types of hulls are low sides and transom. Usually takes water from the side or rear when bad conditions arise. 
Though there are a number of wide semi-v's that are just fine for the situation.
This is what I replaced the Owlcraft with. A 15' Ashcraft with a 50 horse. Draws an inch or so more water than the Owlcraft, a little more labor intensive to gig from but rides a lot better.




Post some pictures of what you might intend to use for some input.


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## smittyg (Jan 17, 2011)

this is almost like the boat we might use. i dont know how to get pictures off of a digital camera. so i just got a pic from the web.. thats why i dont have an avatar. i hope the pic is on this


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## sea trout (Jan 17, 2011)

smittyg said:


> I'm thinking of pulling a small boat down to fish out of this year. and was wondering if it was a good idea to put in there and how far to go out without putting myself in danger. we usually fish the piers and surf so we're not to familiar with fishing out of boats down there. ANY help will be apreciated



orange boat in my pick is a 15 ft trihull.
we launched at lazaretto for 4 yrs in that boat.
we fished all the edges around the bay comfortably in good weather. felt safe but aggrivating fishing the bay on windy days with 1-2 footers. bad wether days we tried but felt unsafe with 2-3 footers moving us and lifting and dropping us over shallow oyster beds.

fishing bull river and tybee creek we always felt perfectly safe. lots of good fishing holes over there. there is a tie in creek at the top of lazzarretto.
!!!!! at low tide there is 1-2 ft water in the 10ft wide channel, explore it then!!!!!!! because at mid and high tide it appears to be a 50 yard wide river....but it is not!!!!!!!!!!
have fun and catch some bigguns! we'll be there this spring somtime!!!!


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## smittyg (Jan 17, 2011)

Seatrout,I might just see you on the road this spring. seeing how we live about 20 minutes apart... Commerce-Carlton.. I fish on Russel,Hartwell, and Clarkes Hill alot. on your orange boat, did you have to change anything to make it "saltwater" capable? I changed my wiring and plan on getting another trolling motor..


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## sea trout (Jan 17, 2011)

ahh cool! we are close! 
my dad has a camp on hartwell. we're there alot. we're not big on freshwater fishin but we do fish for crappie in the spring! mmmm good eatin!!!!! we'd like to fish for striper but we don't know how and never catch anything.
i didn't change anything on orange boat in 07-10 when it went to tybee. i used a fresh water troller motor the first year. it worked all year but the next spring it was toast!!!! i got my wire brush and contact cleaner and took it apart to fix it....and parts were corroded in two...unsaveable! trashed it. so i got a riptide and its been flawless!!!!
i was told by smart people to not try to save on the grease!! i greased steering components, power trim, prop shaft, wheel bearings on trailer, everything with a grease fittin. if your full of grease...no room for salt water.
i hosed everything down heavy with water hose when got back at the house. run motor with water hose 10ish minutes twice that day and 1once or twice the next. goin for a ride across the lake would be even better!


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## fishtail (Jan 17, 2011)

smitty, that design is borderline iffy for taking surprise waves. The one sea trout has no problem for the mentioned situation.
Things to consider, a wide flared bow sheds most water to the sides and doesn't tend to dig into them. Boats with the sides fairly flared and rolled gunnel tend do the same thing. 
The depth from the floor to the top of the gunnel at the rear needs to be at least 16", the front at least 18". But this varies as to floor thickness and how the boat was designed.
Honestly that design will be fine if you pay attention to the waves, balance the boat and not overload it.


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## Bryannecker (Jan 17, 2011)

My owlcraft was green, had stick steering and a 20 HP Mercury on it.  Likewise, I fished it for years and got a ton of fish with it.  We island hopped with it all along the Georgia coast, camped on hammocks with it and did gigging out of it. It one of my many boats which I should have kept.  It was a jewel. Stumpknocker is close to it, today...Good Luck.  I now build my owl skiffs and have a new 15 with a 15 four stroke for the backwater areas.  It has a tiller handle and a tunnel pocket for extra shallow running.  You can see it on my website.
Capt. Jimmy


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## Fletch_W (Jan 17, 2011)

What is a tunnel pocket?


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## Altamaha Stalker (Jan 17, 2011)

Fletch_W said:


> What is a tunnel pocket?



This is the back of my boat. It is a tunnel hull, I think a tunnel pocket is either the same or maybe a shorter version of what I have.


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## fishtail (Jan 17, 2011)

DAYNG!!!
I love that thing! Post some more pictures of it!
The Owlcraft was the green/blue color. I redid the transom, a few cosmetic stuff, painted it black and anti-fouled the bottom. Let it sit for almost a year before deciding I had tooo many in the yard. Adams has one real close to it now. Mitchell was another one that made that style.


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## Altamaha Stalker (Jan 17, 2011)

This is the only other pic I have of it. Yeah, I LOVE this boat! It is very stable. The only thing wrong with it is not getting to use it enough!


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## sea trout (Jan 17, 2011)

altamaha that boat is WAAAAAYYYY to clean!! lets go get it dirty with fish slime!!!

thats a interesting hull. i've heard of it but don't know it. so i'm gonna guess......correct me if i'm wrong.....is that made so you can jack yer motor up higher and still get plenty of water to the prop????


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## fishtail (Jan 17, 2011)

Beautiful!
Now do you have a pair of 8' casting rods (yellow of course) with Penn #9's on them?
Don't care, nice rig!


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## Altamaha Stalker (Jan 17, 2011)

sea trout said:


> altamaha that boat is WAAAAAYYYY to clean!! lets go get it dirty with fish slime!!!
> 
> thats a interesting hull. i've heard of it but don't know it. so i'm gonna guess......correct me if i'm wrong.....is that made so you can jack yer motor up higher and still get plenty of water to the prop????



Let's go!!

The tunnel hull provides lift. The water rushing through the pocket gives it a lot of lift. Funny thing is with the tunnel hull, I can plane out and run fine with the motor trimmed all the way down. I just bump the trim a little to get a little better handling. It is very easy to over trim and make the motor cavitate. Sometimes you can cavitate the motor on a sharp turn too! And it doesn't like to back up! It has its drawbacks. But it will run very shallow. I cut across a mud point around Jekyll one trip to test it out and I know I was in MAYBE 10 inches of water. Skipped across it like a flat rock!! It has almost no draft when it is running. I can run it across the Piggly Wiggly parking lot after a good rain!


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## Huntsman.45 (Jan 17, 2011)

Altamaha Stalker said:


> Let's go!!



When? Let's go! Just noticed somthing, You move closer to the coast?


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## decoyed (Jan 17, 2011)

smittyg said:


> I'm thinking of pulling a small boat down to fish out of this year. and was wondering if it was a good idea to put in there and how far to go out without putting myself in danger. we usually fish the piers and surf so we're not to familiar with fishing out of boats down there. ANY help will be apreciated



If you have to ask this then you should not do it.  Not being a jerk, just telling the truth.  Piece of cake though if you know how to run a boat and pay attention to the weather.


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## Altamaha Stalker (Jan 17, 2011)

Huntsman.45 said:


> When? Let's go! Just noticed somthing, You move closer to the coast?



We are going, my friend! We will hook up and go when the weather gets a little more stable!

No, I took that pic when I first bought the boat. That is the old tag belonging to the guy I bought it from. I wish I was closer to the coast. I would have rust on ME by now if I did!


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## Huntsman.45 (Jan 17, 2011)

Altamaha Stalker said:


> We are going, my friend! We will hook up and go when the weather gets a little more stable!
> 
> No, I took that pic when I first bought the boat. That is the old tag belonging to the guy I bought it from. I wish I was closer to the coast. I would have rust on ME by now if I did!



I was wondering about that. We'll definately have to plan a trip or three!! Did I tell you that I AM READY!!!


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