# Skiff suggestions Tampa area



## Shadowcast

@fishingjeff I live just south of Tampa near Apollo Beach and am a rep for Ankona Boats/Salt Marsh Skiffs. You should check out the Salt Marsh 1444. If you keep it a simple build you can keep it close to your budget. Let me know if you would like some more information. Feel free to text or call me. 863-860-7250
Jon


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## Padre

Shadowcast said:


> @fishingjeff I live just south of Tampa near Apollo Beach and am a rep for Ankona Boats/Salt Marsh Skiffs. You should check out the Salt Marsh 1444. If you keep it a simple build you can keep it close to your budget. Let me know if you would like some more information. Feel free to text or call me. 863-860-7250
> Jon


I second @Shadowcast suggestion.


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## Pierson

If you don't have something particular in mind, both of these would be great options for Tampa. Boats like these pop up pretty often around the $5,000 mark so be patient and you will find something. Definitely would feel a little safer in these with the 6 year old over the Gheenoe if you decide to cross some open water. Tampa can get choppy real quick. Good luck in your search!


https://www.microskiff.com/threads/14-custom-johnson-skiff-conversion.49745/

https://www.microskiff.com/threads/2004-key-west-1520-7-000.49449/


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## Padre

Pierson said:


> If you don't have something particular in mind, both of these would be great options for Tampa. Boats like these pop up pretty often around the $5,000 mark so be patient and you will find something. Definitely would feel a little safer in these with the 6 year old over the Gheenoe if you decide to cross some open water. Tampa can get choppy real quick. Good luck in your search!
> 
> 
> https://www.microskiff.com/threads/14-custom-johnson-skiff-conversion.49745/
> 
> https://www.microskiff.com/threads/2004-key-west-1520-7-000.49449/


That "lil' Johnson" is a good looking little skiff


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## crboggs

Tampa Bay is a large area with a variety of different environments which all deliver different conditions and needs.

What type of fishing are you looking to do?


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## fishingjeff

I have fished Tampa some with my old boss, we mainly drifted some of the deeper grass flats, 3’-7’ deep and caught trout, a lot of trout

I would like to find reds, but his boat didn’t go shallow. 

I have kayaked a few places a picked up a few snook, but not consistently

The “type” of fishing. . . The productive type

I just want to get out somewhere and catch fish.... big grass flats on the south side out of cockroach bay, skinny water/mangroves down there, 

I don’t plan on running across the bay


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## crboggs

fishingjeff said:


> The “type” of fishing. . . The productive type


There are lots of ways to be productive. *lol*

With a 6yo and a short time line...look for an older flats boat. Maybe a Key West, Carolina Skiff, Mako, etc.


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## makin moves

I second something like a 16 ft key west/palm beach. The usually draft around 9 to 12 inches have 50 to 90 hp motors on them. The also have a more room for the little guy to move about. I had one back in the day and caught plenty of reds from it.


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## fishingjeff

Thanks for the suggestions 

How old is too old to buy? Lots of boats for sale 10+years old, I would not buy a used car that is 10+ so assuming there is no wood to rot, and the motor is well maintained (service records) how old would you buy?

I also need to be able to resell next spring when I have to move for work


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## Scrather

I have a Key West 1520 I bought a few years ago for a price well within your budget. It fishes well with me and a boy, adequate with me and 2 boys, and feels real crowded with me and 3 boys and a 10 lb chopper blue flopping around. 

Evening trips with 2 boys and wife to sandbar it works great. It feels like 3 of us could stand on the gunnel and it barely tips. Powered with a 45hp Honda, it is just enough for four of us, but perfect for me on my own. Been out in serious chop and t storms, you get wet but I never felt worried about getting home. I doubt it would pole worth a dam, more of a trolling motor shape. I throw a beanbag in the cockpit and it makes it much nicer for riding across a chop, but does take up most of the room in front of the console. Engine has t/t which I find to be absolutely necessary.


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## Jim Lenfest

fishingjeff said:


> i am looking for a cheaper option that is better than a kayak and I can take my 6yr old on to catch some trout and other “easier” species with. Price range is $6k max,
> I will be moving in April of 19 to Rhode Island for about a year, then who knows where (military) so I want to be able to resell the boat with ease and minimal money lost,
> 
> Gheeno options are widely available and meet my needs and might be where I go, I’d like a bigger boat but my requirements limit me, what are other good options that are better than a gheeno for $6k or less?
> 
> I will be towing the thing about 40 miles or so to about any ramp I use so a trailer with lights and good wheel bearings is needed, anything to look for in a trailer to make sure I don’t end up stuck on the side of I75?
> 
> Thanks
> Jeff



If you need a skinny water boat, I would suggest a Carolina Skiff or similar Sundance. 14-16' minimum. They will handle a little rough water if your back can stand it, but they float in a mud puddle and get up and go with very little power. They are designed to trap air under them for a slick surface once you reach a certain speed. They are popular clam boats and tenders for larger boats in my area. Look for a good second hand one in your price range. Don't be afraid to haggle a bit on the price. Also there are other brands just like them if you look around a bit.


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## jimsmicro

If I were going to have to sell a boat in a year I'd probably consider not buying it at all. But if you insist on buying it get something you can sell easy, like a Carolina Skiff. There's always somebody buying one of those. Cheap, shallow, reliable, fishable, desirable by lots of entry level boaters so it should be easier to sell. Barring that, a typical flats boat would sell easy too.


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## Jim Lenfest

I understand about only wanting the boat a year or two due to circumstances. My father did it all the time throughout his life. Dad never really bought a boat, he claimed he rented them. As soon as he saw something he liked better, he would sell out and start over, figuring his loss was his rental fees for the year or two or three that he owned that boat. (Not to say if you are careful and frugal, you could actually make money on the deal) Once in the 70's he picked up a 15' fiberglass runabout hull. New but unfinished for $200. He then for $500 bought a new 50hp Merc for it. We already had steering odds and ends pieces and parts. Even though I was only about 10 years old, I was very mechanically inclined. He had me do some work, like run the steering cables and set up pulleys etc and he did more complex things like mounting the motor and drilling holes etc. With his father in law, He had built lobster boats from the keel up. As a child from age 3 and up, I used to go with him to the boat shop. I just loved watching those two guys assemble a boat from the keel up, with all hand made and hand planed pieces of oak and cedar. Often times they would be in the hull working and need a tool and Elihu would start out over the side and dad would say, "Jimmy can get that". Might be a hammer, drill (bit and brace usually they had very few power tools), or bag of screws, but he put me to work if I could be of help. Once in later years, he claimed that three boat shops in the area owned one electric drill between them and when you needed it, it was always in one of the other shops. He was never afraid to tackle any project like that. By age 7 or 8, with no video games and computers in those days to waste my time, I was his helper and gofer. So for $700 and maybe another $50 in miscellaneous parts we had a nice clam boat/family runabout. We used that boat many hours as it was moored right in front of our home. Then one fall, 4 years later, he said he was going to sell it for $500. I was upset, loved the times we had with the boat. He simply said, "I need the $500 for a temporary emergency, we will get another in the spring. Consider it a rental. We rented that boat for $250 for 4 years, that is how you need to look at it". "You will never find a better deal on a rental", he said. Well, Dad is gone now, after about a 10 year ordeal with strokes and dementia, but those memories I will have until the same happens to me, but as to playing Atari and Space Invaders, even though I played them in my teens, I never think of it.

So given that story, look for a motivated seller. Maybe someone getting a divorce, or an estate sale, or someone like Dad, just ready to move on. Look for something maybe in need of a few repairs that lowers the price a substantially. Look for something you think you can unload quickly that might turn a cash profit but don't look to get your labor back. If you do recoup labor, then great, but in this business, that is asking a lot. Check out the "Free for the taking", ads in your area. You would be surprised at how many people are just plain tired of looking at the boat in their yard. Maybe it is a great hull, in need of a new transom. Several years ago, I picked up a 17' Deep V with an older 115hp Merc and galvanized trailer for $800. The hull was in pristine shape, but the wood in the transom had rotted out and the floor needed minor repair. I used the motor for several years on my other boats, it just died spring before last. That would have been a perfect boat as the transom could have gone another summer or two easily by just adding some wood or steel to the inside of it. The boat and trailer alone are worth the $1000 plus today. So I will close with, don't be afraid to take the newspaper or print outs from Craigslist, and a couple of weekends to drive around and check things out.


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## Cam

I would be tempted by that Salt Marsh but ultimately would probably just wait for a well used but boat that is solid operational order. The age of a boat isn't as important as who built and how it was used. Older Key West boats even Stealth series can be found in that price range from time to time.


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## Cwilson27

Carolina Skiff. Can’t go wrong. Float skinny and lots of space.


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## Cam

Cwilson27 said:


> Carolina Skiff. Can’t go wrong. Float skinny and lots of space.


Maybe if you are young and don't have back problems. Tampa Bay can beat a fellow in a flatter bottomed skiff like Bonham playing Moby Dick.


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## Cwilson27

Cam said:


> Maybe if you are young and don't have back problems. Tampa Bay can beat a fellow in a flatter bottomed skiff like Bonham playing Moby Dick.


Well I guess you do have a point. I’m 16 and personally I think my j16 takes chop fairly well for a flat bottom skiff. There is almost a rythm you have to catch when running them trough moderate chop. If you can get into that rythm you will mainly just skip over the chop but once you lose it expect to be slapping the bow and spraying water everywhere.


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## dranrab

I think these are a pretty good deal if you are looking for a new skiff.

http://www.phillipsmarinellc.com/griff-craft-boats


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