Off shore fishing boats

Anyone here into off shore fishing? Starting to look around at some boats and would love to here some thoughts from people with experience on what they like/ dislike, would do again or can't live without type of info. I would be using off the coast of md and am looking at boats in the 35-40ft range. Wanted to keep my range around 100k but it seems like the sweet spot for the nicer ones (relative to my range are more like 150k-200k.) Still not sure about a center console type vs wider cabin type. If I went the cabin route I would be looking at a much older boat in my range than a center console. Any thoughts besides boats are a waste of money?

 

I had a Tiara 31 for a long time and loved it. Very seaworthy and capable....Tiara makes the best pop out boat, IMO. The only thing I'd change next time around would be to get a flybridge boat to get out of the hole. For 150K you could get a much bigger one for sure. You need to think about a lot of things like how far offshore, how much fresh water you'd need and whether or not you intend to stay overnight on her. That'll dictate the length of the boat you need.

 

Something like this....

1996 Tiara 3600 Open Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

 

If you want to go faster maybe consider a Fountain 38 LX... Not as beamy as the Tiara but definitely sick.

2005 Fountain 38 LX - Boats.com

The last thing I'd suggest is to stay under 40' if you want to run her yourself. Any bigger and you'll always need another guy to help with mooring and stuff.

 

Are you friends with John Lamour from here (D Cup)? Her lives near you and is really into fishing.

 

NorTech 392 SuperFish.



392 Super Fish | Nor-Tech
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Wow,had to look up that nortech and that boat is awesome. Looks like it runs around 400k. Don't see any used ones listed with pricing, any idea what year this model came out? Going to check out some boats tomorrow, can't wait.

 

Fwiw , I had a Wellcraft Scarab Sport 30 with 225 Mercs great boat for fishing or the family. When I sold it I didn't loose a fortune. Yellowfin seems to be the hot ticket in Florida but more expensive. Good luck with the hunt.

 

my father had an '03 Topaz 32 back from 03-06 and it was one hell of a battlewagon. You need to decide if you want to go fast and get a little beat up or move a little slower and be comfortable. Before the Topaz we had a 28 Pursuit and that was a great boat, but you got tossed around and you needed to be holding on. The Topaz, weighing in at 20K+ pounds, took everything like a champ. One day on a tuna trip to the Hudson Canyon(80-100 miles off the coast of Long Island) the seas kicked up and we had a ride back in 8-10 footers with the occasional 12'. Took it slow-ish, but a boat that size handling seas like that was impressive to say the least. I actually fell asleep on the trip back, it was that uneventful. There's a great forum called the Hull Truth with TONS of feedback on any boat your interested in

In the sportfisher 35' category I'd look at Topaz, Cabo, Carolina Classic and maybe Albermarle. If you're thinking about a Center Console take a look at Yellowfin, Regulator, SeaVee, and Contender.

And check out this thread on the Topaz. Post 8 goes into a lot of hull design which will help you to understand what you're looking at a little bit more as you work on making your decision.32 Topaz - The Hull Truth - Boating and Fishing Forum

EDIT: Also, there seems to be way more value for your money in the diesel market right now. Boats that were $450k new are under $200k now. The center consoles seem to be hot right now(and because of that more expensive) with the cost of diesel so high.

 

What's more important to you? Time or comfort? Don't have a lot of time on the big sportfishers, but has quite a bit of time on center consoles.
The sportfish is the battle wagon, it's slow out and back, but you'll stay dry, comfortable, have more room for friends. There will be more money in upkeep though, and you definitely want diesels. But you have the engines to keep up, generator systems, AC systems, etc.
Center consoles, cuddly cabins are faster. The ride varies by boat, boat most are really good in most seas under 6-7'. 32-38' would be the sweet spot, 2-4 engines. You can get cuddy cabins, forward cabins, cabins under consoles with full front decks. There is a lot less to maintain, engines are cheaper to maintain, easier to replace. The boat can be pulled out of the water for storage or work easier.
I'd look for a CC, 34-36 with trips. Regulator, Invincible, Yellowfin, Contender, SeaVee are some of the solid boats used down here a lot. Guys regularly run 60-100 miles out of both coasts to fish, run to the Bahamas.
Find a layout you like, research your fuel needs to make sure you have the capacity, test some boats and go from there.

 

I would definitely start with a center console. The maintenance is a fraction of the cost and about 1/5 the complexity. Rarely do the CC's run as strong as people say in big seas but they are great on <4' days. 4' means you've got a fair number of 6's rolling by.

A center console is fairly easy to get in and out of. A diesel sport fish is just a bigger commitment. I've got both. A 32' Boston Whaler with top notch electronics and a 56' Viking with everything on it. The big boat is fantastic but you have to stay on top of everything.

 

I would say a center consul too.

 

Do you fish regularly now?

If not, do several charters out of OC on different boats and see what you like being on (if not driving). That research will be fun for both seeing how much you like it and like the boat varieties. When spending a couple hundred grand it's worth some time.

If you do fish regularly now, what on and how do you like it?

The guy who did our pier owns a twin diesel boat out of ocean city for himself. The commercial crabber neighbor here just charters all the time when he goes deep sea fishing.

 

that's an awesome boat.

 

by no means am I an expert but I like the Tiara 4800 Convertible, as mentioned above over a certain size (40-50 feet) it becomes hard to run a boat yourself. but Hatteras or Viking seem to be the Ferrari and Porsche of fishing boats.

I'm partial to the Into the Blue YT channel, it's more about fishing tactics and gear than boats though. https://www.youtube.com/user/IntotheBlueFishing

or if you want some hot ass with your fishing entertainment: https://www.youtube.com/user/DarcizzleOffshore

 

I love the Tiara '48 and almost bought one. A guy I know that is a $B bought one and sold his 130' so he could get rid of the crew hassles and run it himself. A super nice practical boat. If there is such a thing.

There is no "the" boat in the range you guys are talking about. People have a religious fervor about it that eclipses the Ford vs. Chevy type car discussion.

I'm running a pretty good sized Viking. At about 90K lbs it's a big job running and keeping on top of it but we run it ourselves and are one of the few families we know that aren't using a captain or at least a mate. I looked at about 20 boats when I bought this one. All but 2 were using crew help a lot.

An oil change is $3000. 8 turbos, after coolers the size of a small dining table and so on. The maintenance needs to be well managed or it's very expensive if it goes bang. That said, we have a blast on it.
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that's a beautiful boat

 

Thanks. We're planning our Summer vacation trips now. I can't wait.

 

how far do you go with your boat? Keys? Bahamas? further?

 

We'll go to the Exumas and Abacos (Bahamas). We'll come back from there and spend a month going up the East Coast- Savanah, Hilton Head, Charleston, and up to Cape Cod.

RL- Our boat is rigged for cruising. It turns out, about 25% of the sport fish boats aren't fished and 50% are fished very little. We bought this one for speed and ability to go in rougher seas. It's a PITA to get the family loaded up, get to a far away place and then leave to go fishing every morning. You have to get the boat ready, what if some people don't want to fish and so on.. What ends up happening is that there are always plenty of friends around us that are going fishing on a given day. For example, we're going on a trip with 4 families. There will be 2 big boats and two 30'ish center consoles. The smaller boats will be used for fishing, snorkeling and lot's of spearing. The bigger boats will be used more as mother ships although that's overstating it a bit. The logistics on these vacations can make your head hurt but I guess that's part of the fun.

The guys that are really into it, like the big Hat you posted, have crews that run them on a circuit. Right now, some friends are on a boat in Costa Rica, that boat will work it's way through the Virgin Islands, the Bahamas and be back in Ft Lauderdale in September. Then there's the tournament circuit which is an even higher level of insanity.

Having said all of that, the sides on the top roll up, the shade in back flips up and it has the freezer space as well as power pick ups for the deep drop rigs.

The water makes it worth it.
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