The Boat
By Keith Lozott Contributing Writer
I’ve been fishing for a long time and have had four boats personally not counting the boats that I grew up with as a kid. I always wanted a flats skiff as a kid and vowed that once I was an adult, I would have one. I kept that promise to myself and have had several skiffs since. My skills as an angler are always getting better and changing with the times. The more experiences I have, the more honed in I become on the water and to what I want to achieve while fishing. My needs for a boat are very precise for good reason and with so many skiffs available it’s hard to find what fits the best. For example: when I go on trips to Louisiana, I fish some extremely shallow water which requires a very shallow draft boat. The runs to some of the spots can be far, so a boat with sizeable fuel cell is preferred. My current boat has a 31 gallon tank with a 140 HP Suzuki which is very economical on fuel and gets around 5-6 mpg depending on the speed. If I keep at 32 mph, I will get around 5.5 mpg and that can take me 170 miles on one tank of fuel. Of course, I never push it that far. The Chandeleur Islands aren’t that far, and we could get there and back with ease in my boat or any boat with a decent fuel capacity. The smart thing to do is bring a couple fuel tanks along in case you get stuck.
My boat is almost perfect minus a few items and that’s where the boat show came into the mix. We are in boat show mode this month and I just so happened to go to The Stuart Boat Show recently. I came across the 18ft Blacktip Flats Skiff and I was impressed! The layout was almost perfect for me in that my partners in Louisiana always take at least two fly rods with them on every trip. The boat just so happens to have two fly rod specific storage lockers standard. It has six under the gunnel rod storage compartments, six rod holders on the center console, and a couple on the poling platform. The fuel cell is a custom 47 gallon tank in the floor on the hull. Thus, the above deck storage compartments are free to store other things. The hull is reasonably light and made of composite material giving it a very sporty 8”-10” draft (before the new lighter weight material). It is powered with a Mercury 115 ProXS and can be equipped with up to 175 HP. As a flats angler, I think the smaller horsepower is more effective when it comes to draft and squat in the back of the boat. I recommend looking at Blacktip Boatworks for your next boat. This is not a paid endorsement; I was just impressed and wanted to share my experience.
Keith Lozott The Fishing Realtor