Good Afternoon,
I wanted your opinion on a safe size boat and perhaps recommendation for fishing for grouper inside Tampa Bay on good days? I currently have a 16’ Carolina Skiff with a 25HP on it.  While this is good for flats and general shallows fishing, I haven’t really had it out very far. About the furthest has been to the reef of debris off of the Picnic Island landing.

I’d like something in the 17-18’ range (so I can still garage it), to fish for grouper and snapper in the Tampa Bay channels. I fish alone quite often and want to be able to still handle the boat alone. There are several nice looking boats, but I haven’t really gotten up close to many at this point. I was hoping perhaps you could point me in a good starting position. I’ve looked at a few on the Internet - Blue Wave 16 and 18V; MAKO 171, 181, 1801; Key West 176 CC or Bay Reef. Thanks, John

John:
Basically, you need something with a little V in the bottom, and good freeboard and flair up front, to give you a softer ride than the flat-bottom C-Skiff and also to keep you drier. (On a dead-calm day you could troll the channel inside Tampa Bay in your current boat, but watch out for those ship wakes!) My personal favorite for value and quality is the Sea Pro; I shopped all brands when I bought my boat a few years back, and they offer a great boat at a very good price. However, they were purchased by Mercury recently, so if you don’t want a Merc on your boat, they are not an option. Mako makes an excellent boat, but they are somewhat pricey. Blue Wave is a good value, but I’m not sure about their quality. I’ve never been aboard one, so I’m not saying they don’t build a good boat, just that I’m not personally familiar. Key West is also pretty good on price and would fill the bill for what you want. Consider a good quality used boat and shop Boattrader.com, among others. Some companies make folding trailer tongues, which would help on your garaging problem. Good luck. FS