# Shallowest running; most stable ??



## Shadowcast (Feb 26, 2008)

I can only speak to the Ankona line up but based on your stability and power requirements I'd say an Ankona Native SUV 17 with a 25 on the back. I have a friend who fishes my RedFly every year who runs one with a 25 Yamaha 2 stroke and loves it. As long as you keep the build light, it's definitely doable. You won't break any on the water speed records but it will give you a huge platform to fish from while floating in the 5" you need.


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## zlenart (Jan 30, 2016)

for what you're describing I would definitely go with a skiff from Ankona/Salt Marsh. You've got the Native SUV, like Shadowcast suggested, and the Shadowcast and Salt Marsh 1444, 1556, all three of which do/can have tunnels. The shadowcast, I believe is the least stable of the skiffs I mentioned.


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## not2shabby (Sep 14, 2016)

Based on all of that, I think @Shadowcast is right. You could also consider a Shadowcast Tunnel, but that's not going to be as stable. The Cayenne is awesome, but not as cheap and you'll need more power. 

Native SUV - shallow on the pole, economical, stable
Shadowcast Tunnel - shallow on the pole and running, economical, less stable
Cayenne - Shallow on the pole and running, less economical, stable

If you wanted a little more power, I'd recommend the Pathfinder 17T. You can find great deals on used ones with their stringers already fixed. They run super shallow with the tunnel configuration. This would meet your shallow, cheap, stable criteria, but would probably have a 50hp or 60hp on the back.


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## AfterHours2 (Aug 2, 2010)

If you need something stable and shallow but don't want to kill the budget, a older Pathfinder 15T would work really well. Not a dry or soft ride by any means but pretty much beats the others listed in the running and stability. Most can be found with either a 25 or 30 tiller btw..


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## not2shabby (Sep 14, 2016)

Also, Rich - excited to see another TKFer on here!


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## richg99 (Nov 28, 2009)

not2shabby.....Yeah, I'm afraid that my age and bad knees have moved me away from TKF and all the fun that yaks produced over the recent years. 

I gave one yak away in Houston a month ago (on TKF FB) and sold my Malibu Stealth here in TN last week. I'll sell the Malibu Mini-X in a few weeks when I get back to Houston. Reducing my fleet appreciably. Ha Ha 

Looking forward to hitting the Galveston Flats in the Fall with whatever I buy.


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## hookemdano (Feb 9, 2007)

Look at the new Spear whatever it's called.


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## richg99 (Nov 28, 2009)

*Look at the new Spear whatever it's called.*
*
?????????*


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## hookemdano (Feb 9, 2007)

Yep


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## AfterHours2 (Aug 2, 2010)

Never mind, just buy the Spear. Dudes a class act..


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## richg99 (Nov 28, 2009)

Still trying to keep the price near or under $10,000.00 Wonder if anyone had any answers re stability; shallow; and prices? 

So far, best I can tell, Ankona is the only one mentioned by anyone that is near the $10M figure. 

I guess I should have clarified that.


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## not2shabby (Sep 14, 2016)

I also think the Pathfinder 15T and 17T are worth looking into. Less than $10k. Super Skinny. Super Stable.


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## richg99 (Nov 28, 2009)

Hmmm. Looking at the internet, it seems that the Pathfinders all had stringer issues. I'm not interested in starting with a boat that needs repair. Been there, done that. At my advanced age, I want to spend my time fishing. thanks


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## not2shabby (Sep 14, 2016)

Most sellers with 15T and 17T skiffs have had the stringers fixed. I wouldn't buy one without good documentation of the repair, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy one that's been fixed up.

Here's a 15T with repaired stringers in Austin. 40hp motor.
https://www.microskiff.com/threads/1998-pathfinder-15t-6500-obo-in-texas.44366/

17T in Corpus Christi with new stringers.
https://www.microskiff.com/threads/pathfinder-17t-texas.45799/

17T in FL with new stringers.
https://www.microskiff.com/threads/rebuilt-2001-pathfinder-17t-with-60hp-yamaha.45950/


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## Pierson (Mar 16, 2016)

Have you looked at any Mitzi skiffs? Plenty of them around for ~ 10,000. Skinny and stable. 15, 16, or 17. The 17 is especially stable and they all have huge front casting decks. You can find them with a tunnel too.


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## richg99 (Nov 28, 2009)

Every day I scan the for sale listings. Two things prevent me from even going to take a look ....time and...distance .

Time... I need a new knee, so buying one "on the spot" has to be held off for a while.

As far as distance, there are tons of boats in Florida and not too many elsewhere. The closest I found a boat that I wanted to look at was South Carolina...and that was 7 hours one way from my TN place. When I get back in Houston, everything will be 12 to 15 hours away, one way. 

It isn't easy to buy a small, lightweight, shallow-draft boat from either place that I live. I will keep looking. With the lead times on many new ones, I wouldn't get a new boat until Winter. Bah Humbug.
Ha Ha rich


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## CedarCreek (Nov 23, 2012)

richg99 said:


> Every day I scan the for sale listings. Two things prevent me from even going to take a look ....time and...distance .
> 
> Time... I need a new knee, so buying one "on the spot" has to be held off for a while.
> 
> ...


Have you looked at Hog Island skiffs with a jet drive? I'm not recommending just curious. I like to musky fish and I know there are guys in your neck of the woods using them on the rivers for that purpose. Seems like they have a good following in both fresh and salt. Couple guys use them in Virginia where I'm at for both fresh and salt. Don't know how well they pole..Just a thought.


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## richg99 (Nov 28, 2009)

Hog Island Roto-molded ..Interesting. I am familiar with the Roto Moulded concept from my kayaks. Hull looks heavy at 450 lbs or so? I'll add it to my "look list" Wonder how a Roto-molded power boat would handle Houston's constant, never ending heat during the summer???? I recall reading about the first experiments with that process about 25 years ago. It didn't go well.


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## Zika (Aug 6, 2015)

I'd add a Beavertail Micro 16 to your list of possibilities. As stable as some of the other brands already noted and definitely meets the shallow draft requirement. Standard power is 30 hp. 

With the introduction of the Mosquito, several of us previous owners have put Micros on the market. It's a great skiff and would meet most if not all your criteria.


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## richg99 (Nov 28, 2009)

Beavertails look a bit pricey for my shallow search. Only one I saw recently was 16m for a 3 or 4-year-old boat. thanks, though.


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## Megalops (Oct 23, 2011)

Rich, I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to crack open your wallet a little bit more...


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## richg99 (Nov 28, 2009)

Wallet....Maybe, maybe not. How do you think I got this far?? Ha Ha

When you are 77 years of age, you don't even buy green bananas.

Ha rich


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## State fish rob (Jan 25, 2017)

Triumph boats out of durham nc make a roto-molded boat Many skiffs in the line up. Best of luck w/ the knee.


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## richg99 (Nov 28, 2009)

Thanks... looks like Triumph's smallest boat is a 17 footer that weighs 1100 lbs. Not quite small enough for my 5 inch flats, I am afraid. Thanks, though, for thinking of me. richg99


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## jwskiff (May 30, 2017)

Zika said:


> I'd add a Beavertail Micro 16 to your list of possibilities. As stable as some of the other brands already noted and definitely meets the shallow draft requirement. Standard power is 30 hp.
> 
> With the introduction of the Mosquito, several of us previous owners have put Micros on the market. It's a great skiff and would meet most if not all your criteria.


Zika, Do you have a BT Micro for sale? Don't want to highjack thread but if so send me a PM, I'd be interested.


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## BFO (Nov 13, 2017)

I noticed you have Santee listed and I know that many on here are not familiar with Santee since they are a smaller low volume company but they are very stable and can be customized to fit your style of fishing. We are a dealer (Big Franks Outdoors) so we may be a little biased but would be happy to connect you with owners that can let you know what they think of the boats. We specialize in shallow draft boats for running rivers and flats. Just let me know if we can help with any specific details


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## Boneheaded (Oct 4, 2017)

my side boat was a highsider, was fun but sold it and got a plain ole jonboat which is about to have a tunnel. jonboat>gheenoe


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## KurtActual (Sep 25, 2017)

Nice necro post! 5 months old!

Rich, thought I recognized your profile pic (also a TKFer)

Did you ever find a skiff?


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## fjmaverick (Sep 18, 2015)

richg99 said:


> Hog Island Roto-molded ..Interesting. I am familiar with the Roto Moulded concept from my kayaks. Hull looks heavy at 450 lbs or so? I'll add it to my "look list" Wonder how a Roto-molded power boat would handle Houston's constant, never ending heat during the summer???? I recall reading about the first experiments with that process about 25 years ago. It didn't go well.


They can pass the Bubba Test


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

A used maverick master angler or Hewes red fisher might fit your need and very stable


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## richg99 (Nov 28, 2009)

Yea, I did, but it wouldn't meet the criteria of many of this group. I looked at a number of fiberglass skiffs, both new and old. Many had a lot of attractive features, including the Santee.

But, after thinking about how many oyster reefs we have, and I have hit, where I fish, I went with a used 1756 Lowe tinny. 50 hp 2 cycle; manual jackplate. 

I spent the last week tearing out the "stuff" that the prior owner had added. 

I'll take her out tomorrow for the first time in her new lightened condition. 

I had her floating in about 8 inches of water at GISP last week.


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## richg99 (Nov 28, 2009)

Before the lightening operation. Note the coffin he built in the "open area". It is gone now.

Second shot is after removing the coffin, and other nonsense.


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## KurtActual (Sep 25, 2017)

Good to hear!

Is there much hull slap noise with the aluminum hull?


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## richg99 (Nov 28, 2009)

I can't honestly answer your question about hull slap. I use my trolling motor far more than trying to pole. 

The areas that I fish (Galveston Bay complex) has more mud and gumbo than sand as a base. My past experience with trying to pole in that crap is that the pole sticks in the gumbo most of the time. 

When drifting while using a drift chute, (which is what I do most of the time) I can't hear much slap. However, my hearing, at age 78, isn't all that good anymore. I've only had her out a few times so I will learn and observe more over the next month or so


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

I was going to suggest a tinny, carolina skiff or panga style as these are pretty much fixable or disposable.

Then there is this one that would be worthy of a look https://www.microskiff.com/threads/plastic-boat.48289/page-2#post-387771


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## jimsmicro (Oct 29, 2013)

None of the boats you listed are going to actually run in 5 inches. You need a deep tunnel and a tall jack plate and a bob's low water pickup, or a jet, or a mud motor for that. I run super skinny flats myself and have owned a Gheenoe Classic with a 30 Evinrude and currently run a Sea Ark 1660 MVT tunnel and while you might skim 5 inches of sand or mud bottom if it's rock or oyster it's going to bring you back to reality.


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## richg99 (Nov 28, 2009)

Lucky for me, I don't have to run on plane in 5 inches. I just have to float shallow. I can get out to deeper water with the trolling motor. 

Sometimes I have to pull the trolling motor partially up with it's cord to get moving. 

In fact, I did that today along a shoreline in Freshwater Lake Conroe.


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