# Cayo 173 coming in hot!



## mangoman (Dec 1, 2011)

Bea


Caleb.Esparza said:


> I'll be picking her up at the end of next week, so I guess I should drop some build photos.. My first build, stoked is an understatement!
> 
> Cayo 173
> - Solid tan all the way around
> ...


 Beautiful color and its nice to see recessed hinges for the hatches.


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## E-money (Jul 7, 2016)

awesome! This will be a slick skiff. I like the call on the tiller 30. Should be a skinny boat for sure. Can't wait to see more


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## lsunoe (Dec 5, 2016)

Perfection.


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## mtoddsolomon (Mar 25, 2015)

Gonna be sick! I bet you can't wait to get it on the water.


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## Caleb.Esparza (Jan 31, 2016)

Thanks! I had a lot of time to do my homework and really think about what I wanted in a skiff. I also tried to keep it light, and as simple as possible. Everything I need and nothing I don't was the theme I tried to run with


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## Caleb.Esparza (Jan 31, 2016)

mtoddsolomon said:


> Gonna be sick! I bet you can't wait to get it on the water.


Yep! I planned things out so I'll have a week of vacation time coinciding with the pickup


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## rjackh90 (Jun 4, 2012)

Congrats, looks great. How did you get JB to answer a call/text/email??


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## Sublime (Oct 9, 2015)

Very nice.


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## Caleb.Esparza (Jan 31, 2016)

rjackh90 said:


> Congrats, looks great. How did you get JB to answer a call/text/email??



Thanks! And honestly I've never really had a problem getting in touch with JB. Maybe a couple missed texts here or there but if I call I pretty much always got a call back in a reasonable time


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

That's great man, I'm glad you are getting this build wrapped up. It's going to be a damn nice boat. Good call on going no liner. Hopefully mine is floating around in that shop somewhere


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## Caleb.Esparza (Jan 31, 2016)

jmrodandgun said:


> That's great man, I'm glad you are getting this build wrapped up. It's going to be a damn nice boat. Good call on going no liner. Hopefully mine is floating around in that shop somewhere


Thanks again man! And I'm sure it is. He really seems to be rolling now that he's in the new shop. We'll have to meet up sometime and race


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## LowHydrogen (Dec 31, 2015)

Nice ride man. 

Clean and simple, the two best qualities in this type of boat.


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## Tankhead (Aug 28, 2015)

Just saw this in the shop, looks good man.


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## Caleb.Esparza (Jan 31, 2016)

Thanks guys! 

Tabs on, outboard getting hung today I believe


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## Tankhead (Aug 28, 2015)

30 Suzuki?


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## Caleb.Esparza (Jan 31, 2016)

Yep!


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## Caleb.Esparza (Jan 31, 2016)

Getting close!


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## Finn Maccumhail (Apr 9, 2010)

Poling platform?


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## Caleb.Esparza (Jan 31, 2016)

Finn Maccumhail said:


> Poling platform?


All the fabwork is going on today I believe. Was waiting on it to get back from powdercoating


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## Finn Maccumhail (Apr 9, 2010)

Caleb.Esparza said:


> All the fabwork is going on today I believe. Was waiting on it to get back from powdercoating


Gotcha. I just figured it would have been mounted already.


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## Caleb.Esparza (Jan 31, 2016)

Done!


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## tbnolefan (Feb 2, 2017)

Damn, nice looking rig!


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## Backcountry 16 (Mar 15, 2016)

Looking good looks like your close to getting it wet.


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## Caleb.Esparza (Jan 31, 2016)

Got on the water for a few hours this evening to do a little break-in and try to get my 78 years old grandfather on a fish or two. Boat runs and poles like a top, and has so far exceeded my expectations in every way I can think of. Other than momentarily forgetting where my kill switch goes leaving the ramp.. (Thanks random maverick guy, I'm new to the tiller gang) it went off without a hitch!


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## Shicks007 (Apr 30, 2014)

Pretty rig, that's awesome you still fish with your grandfather.


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## Caleb.Esparza (Jan 31, 2016)

After the first week, I'm pretty damn impressed. She pretty much did everything I asked very well, including a run north of 50 miles one day with three grown men onboard. She floats in nothing, and is absolutely stealthy. Got to spend a few days in the lagoon fishing my old home waters, and had a pretty uneventful 700 mile tow back home to Mississippi. Can't wait for what's to come!


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## sjrobin (Jul 13, 2015)

Good choice on the skiff. Congrats!


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## Caleb.Esparza (Jan 31, 2016)

sjrobin said:


> Good choice on the skiff. Congrats!


Thanks!


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

I guess this means it was worth the wait  Awesome boat.


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## Caleb.Esparza (Jan 31, 2016)

jmrodandgun said:


> I guess this means it was worth the wait  Awesome boat.


I kinda forgot about the wait about 5 minutes after getting on the water... haha


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## Sublime (Oct 9, 2015)

Great looking skiff.


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## FSUDrew99 (Feb 3, 2015)

Simple and clean. I like it. What kind of numbers are you getting with the Zuke 30?


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## Caleb.Esparza (Jan 31, 2016)

FSUDrew99 said:


> Simple and clean. I like it. What kind of numbers are you getting with the Zuke 30?


Thanks! That's what I was going for.. I've been consistently seeing top speeds of 31.5-32mph with 10 gallons of fuel, two people, a loaded yeti 45, and fly rods/boat bag. This is with the stock prop and minimal trim tab in calm water. I was seeing consistently 26.5-28mph with the same load and 3 grown men in similar conditions. Haven't had a chance to look at the numbers with just me on board yet. I've been averaging almost 11mpg with those loads and varying tab usage depending on conditions. It cruises very comfortable in the 25-28mph range. I absolutely couldn't see myself not having trim tabs on this hull. It's night and day in any decent chop and I love being able to tab out and plane at like 9mph while cruising around and checking out new spots


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## FSUDrew99 (Feb 3, 2015)

Sounds nice! Yea trim tabs are a must. Down the road if you want a dialed in prop I would contact Jack Foreman at Crossroad Propellers in TX. He built me one for my Zuke 60 and none of the PowerTech props I ran could touch it. Its an oversized 3 blade with cupping and it'll ride out. Those Zukes are geared up and with a smaller stock size prop that they recommend for the boats it just gets spinning too fast and either blows out or hits the rev limiter trimmed up, which was my issue.

Yours might be right where you want it, but something to consider down the road as I know a guy running his stock zuke prop on his 60 and said its pretty soft.


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## Sublime (Oct 9, 2015)

Those are good numbers.


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## Caleb.Esparza (Jan 31, 2016)

There aren't words for how happy this little skiff makes me. She's back home in Mississippi and thoroughly exploring her new home water.


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## Caleb.Esparza (Jan 31, 2016)

Also, take your outboard mechanic fishing. Never know when that might pay off..


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## nsbkiter (Apr 24, 2016)

nice choices...good luck w/ it!


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## hookemdano (Feb 9, 2007)

Beautiful skiff. Congrats. Where in MS are you based out of? I'm in OS and suprised how many poling skiffs are around here now.


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## Caleb.Esparza (Jan 31, 2016)

hookemdano said:


> Beautiful skiff. Congrats. Where in MS are you based out of? I'm in OS and suprised how many poling skiffs are around here now.


Thanks! I'm in East GPT down by the coast currently, but will hopefully be relocating to Pass later this year. I love OS but I work way west so that's adding to an already long commute.. Maybe we'll run into each other out there!


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## Austin Bustamante (May 11, 2015)

Hey another nice skiff on the coast! Im in gautier if you want to throw the fly


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## Caleb.Esparza (Jan 31, 2016)

For sure! I was actually fishing a little east of there on Friday


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## Austin Bustamante (May 11, 2015)

Caleb.Esparza said:


> For sure! I was actually fishing a little east of there on Friday


Ah you fishing the wildlife refuge in grandbay area? One of my frequent spots


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## Caleb.Esparza (Jan 31, 2016)

abgautier said:


> Ah you fishing the wildlife refuge in grandbay area? One of my frequent spots


I was.. pretty impressed with that place!


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## Austin Bustamante (May 11, 2015)

yep. let me know next time you go or want to go 228-382-2740. I can show you a couple of hot spots


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## Caleb.Esparza (Jan 31, 2016)

abgautier said:


> yep. let me know next time you go or want to go 228-382-2740. I can show you a couple of hot spots


For sure!


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## rjackh90 (Jun 4, 2012)

Caleb.Esparza said:


> There aren't words for how happy this little skiff makes me. She's back home in Mississippi and thoroughly exploring her new home water.
> 
> View attachment 9013


Nice skiff and nice fishing partner.


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## el9surf (Dec 23, 2008)

Nice sled! Do you have a secondary trim tab switch anywhere?


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## Caleb.Esparza (Jan 31, 2016)

el9surf said:


> Nice sled! Do you have a secondary trim tab switch anywhere?


Thanks! And no, just the little switch panel on top of the starboard gunnel. I can kinda just lean over and touch them while I'm standing and running so I'm pretty happy with how that turned out. I do however want to wire a tilt/trim switch into the cap on my tiller extension


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