# Conchfish 178 - "Final" Thoughts/Summary



## JC Designs (Apr 5, 2020)

Excellent write up!🤙🏻


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## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

great write up and it looks like you did some fine work on your skiff. glad you're enjoying it.


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## Water Bound (Dec 12, 2018)

Great stuff man, you should be very proud!!!


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## iMacattack (Dec 11, 2006)

Awesome write up and thank you for sharing this with our community!


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## Capt. Moose (Dec 12, 2015)

🤤


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## Chris Morejohn (May 12, 2014)

Sitting in LA airport waiting for my flight back to BC after finishing my “ Last “build project the 57’ Hawaiian sailing canoe. Ha, I even threw away all my work clothes to make a point.
Reading Brysons post here is very informative for me as designer and for you all that want to build anyone’s design. It takes commitment for sure. My original goal in providing plans and behind the scenes advice was to show people that...... well we-all can build a nice skiff in our own in our backyards, Garages and still stay married. 32 years for me and Rachel. 
I have enjoyed Bysons engineering mind set tweaking this design as he went along.
The only way to improve is to keep trying new ideas.
The only thing I still need convincing with are his short trim tabs. I still like tabs with the actuator all the way on the aft edge.
Glad you are happy, and ....ah the checks in the mail.
She’s exactly what was envisioned


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

Chris Morejohn said:


> Sitting in LA airport waiting for my flight back to BC after finishing my “ Last “build project the 57’ Hawaiian sailing canoe. Ha, I even threw away all my work clothes to make a point.
> Reading Brysons post here is very informative for me as designer and for you all that want to build anyone’s design. It takes commitment for sure. My original goal in providing plans and behind the scenes advice was to show people that...... well we-all can build a nice skiff in our own in our backyards, Garages and still stay married. 32 years for me and Rachel.
> I have enjoyed Bysons engineering mind set tweaking this design as he went along.
> The only way to improve is to keep trying new ideas.
> ...


Chris, I appreciate the response! Thank you again for your help along the way -- I think one of the biggest challenges was staying _happily_ married during the whole build. And I'm with you on the tabs -- I like the small surface area of the short tabs, but the tab angle gets sharp very quickly. Long and thin would be better, but more obtrusive (not that I fish from that end very often). Maybe I'll switch it up one of these days. Hope everything is going well, and wish you the best in your "retirement"


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## 7665 (Jun 9, 2014)

Well said. Once I have some more time on mine I’ll do a write up as well. Beautiful boat!


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## TidewateR (Nov 11, 2009)

you lost me at the no stringers, but quickly won me back!

what a beaut. This would be my ideal skiff


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Outstanding review… and just to provide some perspective- you would never have this kind of info years ago when I first started out rigging, modifying, and or restoring a boat here or there. Very valuable site, particularly because of the people that post here.


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## Capt.Ron (Mar 5, 2014)

beautiful build, and great write up!!!! sketchy tabs will make you pucker lol


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## sjrobin (Jul 13, 2015)

Nice work


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## SSFiero (Sep 10, 2019)

Great post. Very informative. 
i loved watching your build. I have a couple questions.
why did you switch to the 50? 
just to get newer or was the 30 under powered? 
I thought You had some issues Getting it running right.
Also, what is the purpose of the edge circled here?


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

SSFiero said:


> Great post. Very informative.
> i loved watching your build. I have a couple questions.
> why did you switch to the 50?
> just to get newer or was the 30 under powered?
> ...


Biggest reason was that I kind of wanted a 4 stroke. The 30 was good once I got it all sorted out, but at the end of the day it was still a pull start, manual tilt, 2 stroke. Saw a good deal on the 50hp and jumped on it. Since I like to take my wife and toddler out, the 4 stroke is really nice -- quiet, no smoke/smell, electric start... Kind of hated to gain the extra draft, but it still gets plenty shallow, especially when balanced out.

That step is just for flow separation. If it's not there, the water will try to curl around the transom, causing lots of extra drag. It will also probably cause some weird squirrely behavior, and I'm guessing it would end up causing some spray. At poling speeds the small step doesn't matter, but the water seems to separate nicely when running.


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## Lmhanagr (Aug 21, 2017)

@bryson It was an absolute blast to be a part of this build-at least now that we are on this side of things! It was an incredible learning experience that has caused me to look at boats very differently. I too would recommend this project to most who are interested, but Bryson brings up a good point in being honest with yourself as a lot of sacrifices were made. 
This boat fishes shallow water incredibly well, and is such a joy to fish. It has put me on two of my best Redfish on the fly, so thank you very much as well Bryson!
🍻


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## MikeChamp12 (May 17, 2021)

First of all beautiful skiff and well done. I’d like to pick your brain on the floor. On the H60 what was the thickness and also what additional glass did you add. I’m going to run in this issue with my skiff.


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## DBStoots (Jul 9, 2011)

bryson said:


> I think I've fished the skiff enough to give some good feedback for anyone considering building one of these skiffs. Fair warning, this is a pretty long post.
> 
> View attachment 177913
> 
> ...


 Such mad respect for you and others who have the skills to do this. She's beautiful! Please let me know if you ever want to sell her! .


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## Rob_Alexander (Apr 23, 2018)

Love your skiff! When things slow down for me this winter we’ll take the Beryllium out.


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

@MikeChamp12 the core was 3/4" for the whole skiff, then I added an additional 3/4" when I wanted to stiffen up the floor. I ended up going with approx 2.3mm inner skin (3 x 18 oz) and 3.0mm outer skin (3x10 + 3x18 oz).

Certainly overkill, but the boat feels so solid. There was definitely a weight penalty, but for how I use the skiff it was worth the compromise. 

@Rob_Alexander thanks man, yeah absolutely! I'd love to get to check it out, and for you to run around on the Conchfish too.


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## Ericb1130 (Sep 16, 2020)

Really nice skiff and well written post! Would love to take on a project like this myself someday when life slows down a bit.


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## MikeChamp12 (May 17, 2021)

@bryson I believe I’m going to do as you did. I’d definitely like a solid floor for crossing some bays here in Islamorada. Thank you.


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## Sroufenator (Nov 10, 2021)

@bryson I’ve been studying conch fish builds for over a year now and saw that you’re in West Ashley. I am also in West Ashley… If possible, I’d love the opportunity to come check out your build. Maybe it will give me the extra push I need to start my own build!


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

Sroufenator said:


> @bryson I’ve been studying conch fish builds for over a year now and saw that you’re in West Ashley. I am also in West Ashley… If possible, I’d love the opportunity to come check out your build. Maybe it will give me the extra push I need to start my own build!


I'm on Johns Island now, but you're welcome to come by and talk skiffs anytime. I sent you my cell in a PM.


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

Just got back from a windy week in Islamorada with @Lmhanagr and some other buddies, and I'm beyond impressed with the skiff. Once again, we fished 3 people most days -- brought a beanbag for #3 to ride in the cockpit, while the others sat on the rear deck. One guy even took a nap in some less-than-ideal following/quartering seas. We had to run ocean side twice every day to get to the channel and to get home, and while we still had to wipe our glasses from time to time, we didn't get soaked. The wettest we got was when we ran to Flamingo and back, but even that was nothing a light rain jacket couldn't handle.

It's so amazing to be bonefish shallow (saw a handful but didn't catch any) with 3 guys on board, then pole off the flat and run through slop as well as we did. The boat was quiet with no hull slap, and we poled very close to at least a couple unseen bonefish before they spooked and we finally saw them. Overall the fishing was tough, but the performance of the skiff was phenomenal. We finally put a (small) tarpon on the skiff -- my buddy's first fish ever on the fly, and his second tarpon on any tackle.

I will say that if I lived in the Keys, I would probably have a side console. I love the tiller, and it's not bad on long runs when it's calm, or short bouts of rough water, but long runs in rough water can take a toll. Torn labrum in my left shoulder and an old back injury (fractured L1-L4) don't help, I'm sure. I may be able to "tune" the motor some to make it a little easier, but I haven't messed with it too much yet. One benefit of a wheel that I never really considered until now is that it can also kind of act as a grab handle while running. At the very least, it doesn't take every little input from your hand and use it to turn the skiff. For me, holding the tiller in rough water is kind of like holding a drink in rough water -- you get used to it, but it definitely requires effort to control your body while "floating" your hand.

Anyway, here's a very short video of us running in some chop. It's definitely not the worst we saw (I wouldn't have been able to film in that) but the boat ate it up pretty well. The video doesn't do the conditions much justice, as videos never do, but it's fun to watch anyway. I'm still so happy with almost every aspect of this skiff. I'll say this every chance I get, @Chris Morejohn knocked it out of the park with this design.


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## Yako (Jan 7, 2019)

Glad to hear your enjoying the skiff! I enjoyed reading your build.


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## MikeChamp12 (May 17, 2021)

Hell yeah!


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## flyclimber (May 22, 2016)

What a cool ride! You knocked it out of the park! I assume the flood was rock solid? 

I’d be curious to take an iPhone and mount it on the boat and take accelerometer measurements while running in different boats to get a real metric on these boats eating up a chop, while others rearranging your molars.


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

flyclimber said:


> What a cool ride! You knocked it out of the park! I assume the flood was rock solid?
> 
> I’d be curious to take an iPhone and mount it on the boat and take accelerometer measurements while running in different boats to get a real metric on these boats eating up a chop, while others rearranging your molars.


Thanks man, yes the floor was great. I was really glad I decided to double the core and add all the extra glass to the hull and cockpit floor. For the heavier motor, I also beefed up the transom, especially where it ties into the motorwell and cap. Very happy with it all -- I think that week was about as rough as I'll run it (intentionally) and she felt solid as can be.

Accelerometer data would be interesting, but we can't even get people to give real draft numbers! Would be cool though to measure different boats running side by side in the same conditions. I'm more than willing to get any data, although I don't know the next time I'll consistently be in these conditions. One thing I'll say is that I want finer control over the tabs. It's not quite as twitchy with 3 guys in the boat, but I would still appreciate the ability to make more minor corrections. I think longer/skinnier tabs will help a lot, and I may look at controls different from the toggles, not sure yet.

The sharp bow entry really does well in chop, while still having the ability to trim up and "mush" through really nasty stuff without stuffing it. The bow steer is basically unnoticeable now that I've got a little seat time with this skiff under my belt. I'm still over the moon with this skiff's performance. Only downside is now I can't blame the gear for my lack of catching fish!


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## flyclimber (May 22, 2016)

What a cool story and boat! You better believe both of my boat will get documented. I love the response on my devilray. I’ll measure those tonight for reference, may be able to scale the size of boat to trim tab to get close?


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## mtoddsolomon (Mar 25, 2015)

Well, I'm firmly in the camp that you should just tow that thing over to my house, drop it off and start building another. I'm sure Lizzie would be 100% on board with that plan.


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

mtoddsolomon said:


> Well, I'm firmly in the camp that you should just tow that thing over to my house, drop it off and start building another. I'm sure Lizzie would be 100% on board with that plan.


Yeah she was just saying that she's been seeing too much of me lately, and that she wishes I would disappear into the garage more often.

Sometimes she misses the build process so much that she sprinkles fiberglass dust in the bedsheets to help ease her aching heart.


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## nirv996 (8 mo ago)

Great build and writeup! Thank you for sharing.


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