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Feature article
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My favorite fishing boat? Somebody else's
By George Thwaites
Since I have been doing a regular fishing column for the Kingsport Times-News during the last 10 years, people from time to time ask me my preference in a fishing boat.
The answer is simple: Somebody else's.
This is a smart-alecky quip that usually gets me off the hook with a laugh. But it really isn't far from the truth.
I love fishing in general, but I am not really a great fisherman. By virtue of what I do, however, I sometimes get to go fishing with great fishermen. And I get to go in their great fishing boats. At least one time, anyway.
So at least while I have this job, I can postpone my big powerboat purchase. If nothing else, there is only so much trouble I can get myself into with somebody else's hand on the throttle. And given my generalist approach to fishing - or at least to writing about it - I would be hard-pressed to decide exactly what kind of fishing boat I'd settle on.
Of course, the standard bass boat configuration has a definite foot in the door of my imagination. I've been in more of these than any other kind of fishing boat, high-end and low-end. The bass boat is an archetype of modern Southern manhood, developed by fishermen, for fishermen.
The basic design - replete with bow-mounted retractable trolling motor with foot pedal control, forward deck with post seat and rear deck with post seat, as well as the inclusion of angling electronics and aerated livewells - has evolved as it has because it fishes so well. It is the perfect match for an active angler. Not only is the standard bass boat configuration ideal for largemouth and smallmouth bass fishing, you can also adapt them to casting for walleye, jigging for crappie, panfishing, etc. On higher-end models, the livewells can be upgraded into bait tanks for striper fishing. Yes, you can mount rod holders on a bass boat.
Think a center console is the ultimate striper boat? As long as I've known Norton striper guide Gary Roberts, he's always used a glass-hulled bass boat with modifications for striper fishing. And he is nothing if not doggone good at what he does.
The low profile doesn't get blown around too much by the wind. The extreme responsiveness under electric power is also as much an asset to the striper fisherman as it is to the bass angler. Live bait is only one of the tricks in the bag. There is a lot of casting with artificials to be done as well, and those bass boat casting decks are designed for just that. In rare moments of lucidity, I figure the outboard power needs of the average recreational angler should be moderate. Why burn all that fuel and be in such a hurry? Unless, of course, I should completely lose my mind and decide I wanted to start fishing bass tournaments.
Have you ever seen that motorcycle-riding comic book character whose head is a flaming skull? I have actually been in a high-performance bass boat with that guy at blast-off. I'm talking 225 horses of pure terror, folks.
You don't need a screamin' demon to fish rodeos, but once you start heading into the trails from the Gatton on up, you'll usually encounter two kinds of guys: 1) those who have a boat that will flat-out fly and, 2) those who want one. It is not a coincidence that the demographic for NASCAR fans and tournament bass fishermen overlap.
But what about taking such a boat up into those shallow rivers with surprisingly well-hidden logs and rocks that I so dearly love? So much for the fiberglass hull. And maybe so much for the standard outboard. That's when I think what I really need is a big, military-looking heavy duty aluminum boat outfitted with some kind of hyper-powered jet drive. Paint it camouflage. Fish out of it in the spring, summer and fall. Use it as a duck boat in the winter. I'd be unstoppable. I could name it "PT-109." Muy macho! Aluminum? Hey. What kind of plastic do they make the armor for those Abrams tanks out of? That is some serious, shock-absorbing stuff. How heavy is it, anyway? How much? Geez.
I am once again forced to conclude that my ideal fishing boat does not yet exist. For the time being, at least, the boating world can breathe a
sigh of relief.
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