# HB Pro vs. Marquesa



## DeepSouthFly (Sep 7, 2016)

So my buddy just hit me up about buying my 05 Marquesa. And I have been on the fence about selling it and looking to get a Professional to have a shallower drafting boat. How big a difference is the ride? Are they as dry as a Marquesa? Will I regret it? And..... anybody thinking about selling their pro? If you are, shoot me some pics and info. Not trying to turn this into an auction or anything, just would like to see what's out there. But would love some input on this. 
(334)268-1936

HELP ME OUT PEOPLE


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## Limp Shrimp (Aug 23, 2015)

It really depends on the water you fish and your own priorities. . I don't think anyone could make that decision for you. .. The ride of the pro is good, but not as dry as the Marquesa. .


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## MariettaMike (Jun 14, 2012)

DeepSouthFly said:


> So my buddy just hit me up about buying my 05 Marquesa.


Sell it to him. Buy yourself a Pro. Fish from both.


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## mtoddsolomon (Mar 25, 2015)

I agree with Limp Shrimp, it depends on how you fish. Are you having trouble getting places you want to go? A pro will be skinnier, pole a little better, and probably a little more stable due to less deadrise. But if you're happy with the Marquesa keep it.


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## DeepSouthFly (Sep 7, 2016)

I do have trouble getting to places I know hold reds. But that's only around the fall when I get into those areas and I'm having to push my boat through the bottom. Usually I just have to get out. And I would like an easier poling boat. And I agree I could fish out of both if I did sell mine and got a pro. There just ain't many pros out there in the used market that I'm dying to have. At least from what I've seen on boat trader. And I just can't go the brand new route right now, or prolly ever. Unless my lotto numbers line up. The reason I got the Marquesa is the bays I fish here in the panhandle get deep and rough and the boat I had at the time ( won't even go there) you would get soaked crossing water with a freakin breeze. So I got the marq but now I'm wishing I would have looked a little harder for a pro. I know a pro won't ride like a marq. Can't have your cake and eat it too.


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## mingo gringo (Dec 1, 2015)

If you enjoy the smooth ride of the marquesa than you are gonna b disappointed trying to take the pro across open bays. I fish both boats on a regular, and with the flat bottom of the pro you are going to pound and get wet as well if things do kick up. For what the pro is it does a great job and can handle most things thrown at it but does have its limitations. On the other hand I personally hate poling the marquesa and this is where the pro just shines.


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## LowHydrogen (Dec 31, 2015)

Getting wet on a boat ride is disappointing and a rough ride is aggravating, but neither are nearly as disappointing and aggravating as not being able to reach fish I can see. Just one man's opinion.


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## Flood tides (Nov 23, 2016)

If you can use your trim tabs right , the pro wouldn't be to wet crossing open bays. I now guys in SC that have pros and can go out and get cobia. It really is just about how your going to be fishing I like to get really skinny and be able to pole easily. I also like to go out for tarpon of the beach. The pro would be my choice because it can do both if handled right. Go to the guys at hells bay they will teach you how to use the trims on the pro like a pro.


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## Megalops (Oct 23, 2011)

The only question I would ask myself is: Do I fish for tarpon?


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## sotilloa1078 (Mar 27, 2014)

I owned and ran the Pro in every possible situation. From ocean side Tarpon in the keys to belly crawling reds in Flamingo. The Pro did it all and was ready for more. Does it ride as smooth or as dry as the Marquesa..... no chance. Does it pole like a dream and float shallow.... you bet. The Pro will get you where you need to go there's no doubt about that.


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## K3anderson (Jan 23, 2013)

The other option os the Guide which will go as skinny as a pro, but, is a much bigger boat. It still wont ride like the Marquesa as it is flat like the pro. But it is bigger, can hold more people if you need, and poles nearly the same as the pro.


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## DeepSouthFly (Sep 7, 2016)

K3anderson said:


> The other option os the Guide which will go as skinny as a pro, but, is a much bigger boat. It still wont ride like the Marquesa as it is flat like the pro. But it is bigger, can hold more people if you need, and poles nearly the same as the pro.


Yep I thought about that route. I fished out of a guide in Mosquito in Jan. His was a tunnel. I'm not sure why but the back end of that thing swayed back in forth when we would be on plane. Anybody know why? Is it the tunnel?


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## K3anderson (Jan 23, 2013)

If you mean it slides in turns, yes, it will. And so will will any of the flat HB's with a jack plate. I ended up putting on a stiffy "wing" on the lower and reduced the sliding. That how they can go so skinny.


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## DeepSouthFly (Sep 7, 2016)

no i'm talking on plane going straight. the back of the boat would sway left to right.


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## westsidefly (Aug 15, 2014)

I was asking all these same questions not long ago. I love fishing out of the Marquesa...with my guide polling it. If I have to poll all day, I want my Pro. It sounds like you already know the differences. What's your priority? Draft, ride, pollablity? It's all about the compromise.


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## DeepSouthFly (Sep 7, 2016)

My priority was ride and staying dry. Now it seems to be draft and pollability. But main priority is catching fish, which I feel like I can do in both. So shit I don't know.


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## backbone (Jan 4, 2016)

I run a Pro and it does everything very well.
The Marquesa is a dryer hull though.


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## westsidefly (Aug 15, 2014)

DeepSouthFly said:


> My priority was ride and staying dry. Now it seems to be draft and pollability. But main priority is catching fish, which I feel like I can do in both. So shit I don't know.


If draft and pollability is the priority...then the Pro is the boat, IMHO. Both are awesome boats and both will catch fish, no doubt. This a good problem to have for sure.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

backbone said:


>


Oooo... Sweet ride!  That boat is the shizzit for skinny water poling and still takes an good chop on the bay.

I believe we recently knock some good cobia on the head with a fly, on that sweet ride, Backbone! 



Here's the *"Backbone"* (the big Greg) in action, putting the wood on a nice cobia!





Who me?? Hijacked the threat??  Guilty!  LOL


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## Barbs_deep (Jul 4, 2010)

backbone said:


> I run a Pro and it does everything very well.
> The Marquesa is a dryer hull though.


You have a 17.8. Totally different hull than a professional.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

DeepSouthFly said:


> My priority was ride and staying dry. Now it seems to be draft and pollability. But main priority is catching fish, which I feel like I can do in both. So shit I don't know.


*"The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence,"* no matter what you have. There is NO all-in-one perfect boat for everything IMO! My advise to you is keep what you have and tell your buddy to get the Pro and then fish with him up in the skinny water and you guys fish in yours when it's rougher and are fishing in deeper rougher waters. I think that's your best bet. Otherwise do it vise versa, by selling him yours to you buddy and getting the Pro and then swap trips, but I think you be loosing some coin in the swap.


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## Snookyrookie (Sep 9, 2016)

DeepSouthFly said:


> no i'm talking on plane going straight. the back of the boat would sway left to right.


Deep, I know exactly what you are talking about, while I was learning to drive my pro I ran across the same thing. It is caused by being overtrimmed with the tabs up a little too high, just a very slight tap down on the tabs makes it disappear. It was a really weird feeling of the front tracking straight and the rear sliding an inch or so back and forth. I would presume it happens because of the flat bottom, but was easily corrected once I played with it a little. Don't have any issues with it now that I am a little more experienced driving it.


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## backbone (Jan 4, 2016)

Barbs_deep said:


> You have a 17.8. Totally different hull than a professional.


What are the differences, other than the newer Pro does not have the spray rail all the way to the Stern?


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## MariettaMike (Jun 14, 2012)

backbone said:


> What are the differences, other than the newer Pro does not have the spray rail all the way to the Stern?


That would be difficult to answer because Hells Bay has been continually changing things on the Pro. Consoles, hatches, lay-up schedule, live well plumbing, poling platforms, hinges, batteries, wiring, nav lights, cushions,...are all different now than they were in 2004 when the newer Pro hull came out. And that's not counting for other custom changes.

I can tell you the Pro hull is 5" wider at the stern chine than the 17.8 because I have measured that myself.


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## sjrobin (Jul 13, 2015)

MariettaMike said:


> Sell it to him. Buy yourself a Pro. Fish from both.


Good strategy.


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## sjrobin (Jul 13, 2015)

Remember Morejohn and Chittum said that the original 17.8 Whip and Waterman had the same hull mold, just different cap and floor structure. A lot of people here miss that and compare older Pro/Whipray to the newer Pro. So I can compare my older 18 Waterman 70 hp 2s to my current 2015 Pro. I liked the Waterman, but the new Pro is a better all around skiff. Smoother ride, drier ride, tracks straight, and holds line in the wind. A little harder to push because it is heavier. The way mine is rigged, I can get to the same redfish I could reach in the Waterman. So draft is very close. I have not fished a Marquesa but like you some people that pole a lot wish they had a new Pro. More open water tarpon or better poling to shallow red fish? I have not fished open water tarpon from a skiff but if I did I would just fish ice cream days in the Pro. Which do you have more passion for?


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## DeepSouthFly (Sep 7, 2016)

Redfish no doubt as of right now, but...... I'm gonna be trying the tarpon up here in the panhandle this summer. So my plan is fish the Marquesa this summer hard for everything, tarpon, reds, run the beach. I'll make up my mind around August whether or not I am gonna keep her or sell her.


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## jtrev3 (Sep 26, 2014)

You can have "your cake and eat it too". But Hell's Bay doesn't make it. Chittum does.


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## crboggs (Mar 30, 2015)

jtrev3 said:


> You can have "your cake and eat it too". But Hell's Bay doesn't make it. Chittum does.


Sure they do...they made the Guide, like Ken suggested. We fish his boat hard in the fall and winter for reds in skinny water and hard in the spring and summer for beach tarpon. We run in bay chop, beach slop, and through upper bay winter low tides. If the wind is bad, we go into the backwaters for snook against the mangroves. The Guide does it all...and does it well...at a fraction of the cost of a Chittum.


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## Ckirk57 (Sep 27, 2009)

I've been down this road a few times, currently on my 4th HB. Now that I have a Glades Skiff I plan on purchasing a Marquesa in a few years as a second boat and cover all the bases. But for the next two years I'm gonna have to suffer for 2 months as I tarpon fish out of the Glades Skiff. It could be worse....


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## jtrev3 (Sep 26, 2014)

crboggs said:


> Sure they do...they made the Guide, like Ken suggested. We fish his boat hard in the fall and winter for reds in skinny water and hard in the spring and summer for beach tarpon. We run in bay chop, beach slop, and through upper bay winter low tides. If the wind is bad, we go into the backwaters for snook against the mangroves. The Guide does it all...and does it well...at a fraction of the cost of a Chittum.


No. The prices are comparable. Both start around $50k


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## Megalops (Oct 23, 2011)

@jtrev3 put some pics up of your Chittum in the bragging section, please.


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## crboggs (Mar 30, 2015)

jtrev3 said:


> No. The prices are comparable. Both start around $50k


Assuming you buy new. You can get a Guide from the good HB years for much less.


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## commtrd (Aug 1, 2015)

Cool video...


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## sotilloa1078 (Mar 27, 2014)

jtrev3 said:


> You can have "your cake and eat it too". But Hell's Bay doesn't make it. Chittum does.


lol thats some funny stuff right there.


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## DeepSouthFly (Sep 7, 2016)

I have fished out of an older guide. Floats super shallow but was a little bumpy in chop but I mean that's fine with me if I'm dry and skinny when I get to the spot. How is the performance with a 70 yami? I'm kinda scared to get away from a 90 too. My Marq pops up quick. Is there a lot of lag on the guide as far as holeshot? I know you can put a 90 on that boat but I feel like that would be defeating my purpose of getting a guide. Also have talked to a few guys with watermans. They say it rides better than the pro and cuts better. They said the pro kinda slides in turns.


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## crboggs (Mar 30, 2015)

Maybe Ken will pop back in here. He runs a Merc 60 Bigfoot with a four blade prop. No issues jumping up on plane. But consider the Bigfoot turns a 115 lower unit. Best of both worlds.


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## K3anderson (Jan 23, 2013)

Take a look at 4:05 in this video I took 



You can see how it comes up in skinnier water. I repowered with a 60 CT (bigfoot) which is what it was built with as you can see from the old ad https://hellsbayboatworks.com/image...media/hb_media_reviews/FFS0400_FlatSkiffs.pdf 

Thats with my winter prop. The 3 blade custom Jack foreman actually gets it up quicker and lets it stay on plane at low speeds. Price wasnt really a concern in re-power, but, extra weight was. The etec was actually my preferred but there were just too many people with problems with that engine around here so I went back to the Bigfoot. I couldnt really justify adding 35-40 lbs for a 3.5-4.5 mph speed boost. 

All that said, I piloted my buddies 2016 Pro with F70 and I dont remember any difference in slide. He also had no jackplate. It rode very similar to any HB I think. Marquesas are awesome IMO. But if you fish shallower most of the time, it cant do it. If beach tarpon is your thing, the Marq is better.


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## sotilloa1078 (Mar 27, 2014)

I fished many a days on the ocean in my Pro. Lots of those days were windy some VERY windy. The pro did fine. The Marquesa will do it better but the pro will get it done without question.


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## K3anderson (Jan 23, 2013)

btw, I love the Pro. If I didnt live where I do, I would sell mine and get one. The only reason I got this is because I have to cross bigger water sometimes and I still want to go skinny. If I wasnt here, I would have the pro or if I was in the glades, a whip with a tiller.


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## DeepSouthFly (Sep 7, 2016)

Appreciate the info. True dat. When I know I'm going to an area where I'll be pushing it I have to take my batteries out and only fill up half the tank. I can get in about 7 inches with 2 people but that's pushing it. There is a guide around where I fish running a newer guide with a yami f70. I might give him a call and take a test run if he'll let me.


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## kylet (Jun 29, 2017)

MariettaMike said:


> Sell it to him. Buy yourself a Pro. Fish from both.


This ^^^. Sell it to your buddy!


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## Gatorgrizz27 (Apr 4, 2015)

Where in the panhandle are you? I fish out of St Marks, Panacea, Alligator Point, and Lanark. You basically put in where you want to fish, and can be catching them right off the ramp. Without having to do much running around between spots, ride quality is very low on my list of priorities. 

Further west around Destin, Port St Joe, Choctawhatchee Bay, etc, there are longer runs required across rough bays and there's not a good way around it. 

I enjoyed this video, and it may be helpful to you.


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## TheHawk (Aug 9, 2017)

If draft was your very most important consideration, would you go new HB Pro (with or without the pocket tunnel) or Chittum SS? Anyone have real life experience in both to give some feedback? 

Also be interested in running speeds in both if you know with a similar setup (most likely 70 HP yamaha).


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## DeepSouthFly (Sep 7, 2016)

Sold the Marquesa, getting the pro tonight.


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