# New fishing boat.



## redneck_billcollector (Oct 13, 2014)

I am normally an offshore fisherman, but with the seasons what they are and the cost of getting offshore only going up, I decided I would spend more time fishing inshore.  Came across a good deal on an older model flats boat and decided to jump on it.  I had been messing with Tarpon up in the panhandle due to weather and low limits and short seasons for fish that I target offshore......just for kicks and relearned why I used to love to catch tarpon and other inshore fish. Here are some pictures of my boat, just ordered a bow casting platform and getting ready to get a riptide 80 i-pilot.

It is an 84 hull with no wood, Dolphin Back Country 16, back in the day these were the most popular boats with guides in the Keys and in the Bahamas.  It gets up and goes. With me (I am not small by no means) and the guy in the first picture in the boat along with two coolers full of ice,  tackle and a full tank of gas (23 gal.s) have no problem hitting 50mph on the gps (still have some throttle, just haven't had one of those glass smooth days yet where we felt good opening it up all the way).  It can cruise at around 40 mph with a heavy chop in the bay and it is smooth as silk....and dry.  They are well known for being the driest and smoothest ride for a boat in their class.  Can be fishing west bay in the morning, then run over to east bay in mere minutes with 20mph winds like there was weekend before last....and be dry.  

The boat poles like a charm, I have no experience at doing that and yet had no problem controlling the boat with whitecaps just off the point in the bay.  If any of yall have true flats boats, i would love to see some pictures so I can get some ideas on what I might want to do with my boat.


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## redneck_billcollector (Oct 13, 2014)

Picture of me poling the boat for the first time.....easy. Way up on the flats in East Bay....the weather wasn't the greatest....strong winds from the south so we were in a leeward part of the bay.  You can really see fish from up there....


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## Anvil Head (Oct 14, 2014)

Now that's just real sweet!
Heard a lot about those old Dolphins being the solid ticket. Sure wish I had one. I'm sure you'll get a lot of good hard use out of that one. 
Got to where I prefer skinny water sight fishing over all other approaches. Lost any affinity for dredging with bait after pulling duty on a grouper snatcher many moons ago.


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## redneck_billcollector (Oct 14, 2014)

Anvil Head said:


> Now that's just real sweet!
> Heard a lot about those old Dolphins being the solid ticket. Sure wish I had one. I'm sure you'll get a lot of good hard use out of that one.
> Got to where I prefer skinny water sight fishing over all other approaches. Lost any affinity for dredging with bait after pulling duty on a grouper snatcher many moons ago.



Thanks, it is a fun little boat.  It has a jack plate, so we can run in some rather shallow waters.  It does not run as shallow as a flat hulled tunnel boat, but it laughs at two foot seas and can get you anywhere in the shallows on windy days when those boats have to stay leeward or stay home.  With smart tabs it gets out of the hole in less than a second....

As for the hull, there is a following of devotees out there, they are like the Bertram 31 of the flats boats, people look for the hulls to restore and build up from.  Similar story too, the hulls are supposedly copies of the Sidewinder Speed boat from the 70s.


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## thedudeabides (Oct 14, 2014)

Nice lookin boat!


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## Limitless (Oct 14, 2014)

Very nice!!

I'm like you, I sold my offshore boat and will be getting a flats boat early next year.  The seasons (or lack there of) and costs  of running offshore just aren't worth the trouble anymore.


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## bhdawgs (Oct 14, 2014)

Looks good man!


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## redneck_billcollector (Oct 14, 2014)

I appreciate the compliments on the boat.  It is strange, grew up fishing in Panacea and there abouts, inshore. Now some 30 plus years later relearning inshore fishing. Strange how the wheel of life turns.


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## Anvil Head (Oct 15, 2014)

Man, I love fishing the Och and Gator bays! Very few know just how good these waters can be in the right timing. Caught my first bull red on fly off the corner of Turtle Island. Had to shoot my crab imitation in sideways due to the winds. Very worth the hard casting....37#'s of Peterbuilt on a #8 rod and 12 tippet!

That's where I was visualizing your new toy when I first saw it here.


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## flatsmaster (Oct 15, 2014)

Here is my flats sleigh .... Hells Bay guide ... Runs and jumps skinny without a tunnel hull and good ride


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## redneck_billcollector (Oct 15, 2014)

That is one nice boat Flatsmaster.  I am curious about those bigger Hells Bay boats, what depth can the go being poled?  I can make it to around 8 inches depending on what all is in the boat.


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## redneck_billcollector (Oct 20, 2014)

Anvil Head said:


> Man, I love fishing the Och and Gator bays! Very few know just how good these waters can be in the right timing. Caught my first bull red on fly off the corner of Turtle Island. Had to shoot my crab imitation in sideways due to the winds. Very worth the hard casting....37#'s of Peterbuilt on a #8 rod and 12 tippet!
> 
> That's where I was visualizing your new toy when I first saw it here.



Man, a 37lb redfish on an 8wt.....that had to be a rush. I would have loved to have seen that, its a shame you did not get a video.  As a teen I would fish for tarpon down in Panacea and my grandfather and all the older folks that lived down there thought I was a fool for wasting gas and time on a fish you could not eat. As you know specs were king with redfish and flounder close behind.  I am playing with a fly rod now, I am slowly going to be rigging the skiff for fly fishing.  I put a riptide 80 with i-pilot on this past weekend, and it is a hoot to play with.  I spent a lot of time on the poling platform this weekend.  Saw lots of redfish in West Bay but they were not very interested in what we offered them (both flies and lures).  Went up the ICW heading west of the 79 bridge, muddy water and the reds seemed a little bit more cooperative, lots of rats on chartreues spinners with gold  blades.  That is were the new trolling motor truely shined. If the weather is good I am going to hunt gator trout on topwater this weekend.


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## Anvil Head (Oct 21, 2014)

That I pilot ought to be something. Like getting a new graph...gonna miss a few fish just playing with it.
Never got a good stick on a tarpon in Och bay but jumped several on free lined pins. Haven't been in awhile. Always got distracted chasing the bulls in the loose grass.
Yeah, flyrod makes for some real excitement and workout. It figures out to about a minute/# on the fight when you go light. Kind of wished at times during the fight that I was watching instead of bending fiber. Luckily my St. Croix has an extension for bigger fish. Real wrist saver. Biggest threat is those rusty crabtraps, real leader eaters and the bulls know where all of them are.
My next run at them will hopefully be on my SOT Yak. Been practicing standup fly work on the lake and river to get my dancing steps coordinated with gravity (exciting all in itself for an old poot). I think my #10 rod would be a no go in the Yak for now....just saying.
Happy to hear you are enjoying your new boat. Always wanted to work off a platform just never got the chance. Amazing how much more you can see with a little elevation.


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## Nicodemus (Oct 21, 2014)

Fine lookin` rig, Jay.


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## GLS (Oct 21, 2014)

I used to think I wasn't fishing unless I flew to West Yellowstone or was 70 miles offshore.  Now, my best fishing is an hour from my couch inshore and the pleasure isn't derived by the number of fish per hour, but the lack of folks seen per hour.  Age will do that to you...


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## redneck_billcollector (Oct 21, 2014)

Thanks Nic, we need to get together before too long, if I can get you and Ben down from yalls perch up in a tree....I'll race ya for pink slips....we are sowega rednecks, had to throw that in.


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## redneck_billcollector (Oct 21, 2014)

This is with her new trolling motor, getting ready to hit the water after a last minute stop at The Half Hitch.


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## Hooked On Quack (Oct 21, 2014)

Very nice rigs guys, great dry ride even in a good chop.



My guide in PCB Capt Justin Leake likes these . .  "Poling Skiffs" powered by Yamaha's.


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## flatsmaster (Oct 22, 2014)

Bill collector depending on load we can go around 6 inches .... We are in mosquito lagoon on east coast of Fl and it has really worked for us .... 18 ft and only HB rated for 4 people on that rare occasion and in the summer when it's flat we might run the beach for big poons or giant jacks .... But the main thing that my boy and I love is sight fishing reds and gator trout .... Me poling and him fishing  the only thing I'd like to add is a second power pole so when I drop them the wind doesn't turn boat ... That's a sweet boat u got and when ur done fishing hit the car wash and it's clean in 10 minutes !!!! My favorite part


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## redneck_billcollector (Oct 22, 2014)

Justin runs a Hells Bay, I bump into him regularly on the bay.  Last saturday I think most of the fly fishing guides got beat to death by the wind....it was ripping and there were some right big waves, 3 foot plus in the non-sheltered areas of the bay system.  Sunday it was even worse in the morning, we put in at the 79 bridge, and a couple of the fly fishing guides did too, there were white caps rolling into the ramp across from the college.


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## redneck_billcollector (Oct 22, 2014)

flatsmaster said:


> Bill collector depending on load we can go around 6 inches .... We are in mosquito lagoon on east coast of Fl and it has really worked for us .... 18 ft and only HB rated for 4 people on that rare occasion and in the summer when it's flat we might run the beach for big poons or giant jacks .... But the main thing that my boy and I love is sight fishing reds and gator trout .... Me poling and him fishing  the only thing I'd like to add is a second power pole so when I drop them the wind doesn't turn boat ... That's a sweet boat u got and when ur done fishing hit the car wash and it's clean in 10 minutes !!!! My favorite part



Those Hells Bay boats are something else.  If I continue to do this I would like to find me one some day.  I keep toying with the idea of a power pole, but I have been lucky in keeping the boat lined up right from the poling tower.  The i-pilot on anchor mode does a good job too.  Takes a second for it to do it, but once it does.....how do they do in 2ft or so seas?


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## pottydoc (Oct 23, 2014)

Those Dolphins are sweet boats. we had one of their 20' CC's with a 225 on it years back. Man would that thing fly.


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## Nicodemus (Oct 23, 2014)

redneck_billcollector said:


> Thanks Nic, we need to get together before too long, if I can get you and Ben down from yalls perch up in a tree....I'll race ya for pink slips....we are sowega rednecks, had to throw that in.





Ain`t no way I`m gonna race that rocket!  First round of oysters and beer at Indian Pass are on me.


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## Hooked On Quack (Oct 23, 2014)

redneck_billcollector said:


> Justin runs a Hells Bay, I bump into him regularly on the bay.  Last saturday I think most of the fly fishing guides got beat to death by the wind....it was ripping and there were some right big waves, 3 foot plus in the non-sheltered areas of the bay system.  Sunday it was even worse in the morning, we put in at the 79 bridge, and a couple of the fly fishing guides did too, there were white caps rolling into the ramp across from the college.





Yessir, I've spent many hrs in that lil boat.  Known Justin for prolly close to 20rs, he was the first mate on my brothers first Hatteras.


My wife's first redfish with Justin... crap I can't find the pic.




Gotta Redneck Riveria grandslam with Justin, triptail, redfish, trout and flounder.


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## redneck_billcollector (Oct 24, 2014)

Hooked On Quack said:


> Yessir, I've spent many hrs in that lil boat.  Known Justin for prolly close to 20rs, he was the first mate on my brothers first Hatteras.
> 
> 
> My wife's first redfish with Justin... crap I can't find the pic.
> ...



Nice, I am looking for a Pro Trim casting platform with tarpon cage, just like the one Justin has.  If I see him this weekend I am gonna ask if he will sell it to me...lol. They don't make them anymore which is ashame, they are the best casting platforms out there.


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## swamp hunter (Oct 26, 2014)

I've been from a 65 Hatteras fishing Walkers and Chub to a Flats boat living in Everglades City.
Now I'm down to this boat. Burns 2 gallons of gas per run, Poles in dew , and I can slip upon Reds and Snook in water so shallow their backs are showing.
Plus a Negative tide is now Way Cool..


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## GASeminole (Nov 4, 2014)

Congrats, looks like she can get real skinny!


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## redneck_billcollector (Nov 4, 2014)

GASeminole said:


> Congrats, looks like she can get real skinny!



She can get skinny, not as much as some of the micro skiffs, but that is a trade off, she can cross St. Andrews Bay when there are white caps and run smooth and dry (actually better than many bay boats I have been in). I wish there was a skiff that there were no trade offs on....if someone could come up with a design that could run fast (mine will do 50mph +), smooth, dry and pole silently in 5 to6 inches they would corner the market. I am slowly modifying her. Going to be adding a Bob's Machine shop ultra-lite hydrolic jack plate in the future, some preformance trim tabs and looking at a couple of casting platforms with tarpon cages (by the way, if any has one they want to sale, please pm me...Pro Trim, Spider or a custom one).  By the time I am through, I will probably have 3 times the money I spent on the boat in add ons....but ain't that always the way it is?


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## LTZ25 (Dec 2, 2014)

Nice boat .


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