What Makes a Fishing Boat a Fishing Boat

Let me start with the easy stuff. Fishing boats are a relatively easy choice if plan to spend more time than not fishing from your boat. That might sound obvious, but there's more to consider along the lines of some of the questions in the previous post.

Obvious to some, but you have to think about the following: Many of the sleek, attractive cuddy cabins, bow riders, express cruisers, and of course speed boats, simply are not practical for fishing. And fishing boats are not usually all that sexy.

No matter what type of fishing you do, it all comes down to mobility. Essentially, you need a boat designed to let you move around easily to chase a fish that might be fighting hard - ducking under your boat - coming up on the other side, etc, etc. You don't have to be a big game fisherman to experience this, even a small bass or blue fish can give you this type of a fight. And for that reason, you need to look for open-designed boats specifically made with fishing in mind. For new boaters, these can simply be a bass boat (noted for having what looks like an office chair screwed to the bow) for many fresh water needs, or a Boston Whaler for your near-shore fresh or salt water single-day fishing trips.

If you're looking for something bigger to accommodate more than a couple of buddies going fishing for more than a few hours, you need to look at cuddies and cruisers specifically designed for fishing. In addition to the obvious tubes or sleeves strategically placed around the boat to hold your rods, these boats are also marked by their layout... A good fishing boat will have more deck space and less cabin space (if any); it will have accessible compartments in the deck for storing fish or gear; and it will always have a wide, accessible walk-around area that will let you walk 360 degrees all the way around the boat. The smaller of these boats are referred to as "center console" boats because, yes, that's where their console is - in the center. The bigger fishing boats - with cabins - will have wider than normal paths along the sides of the boat so you can easily access the bow and follow the fish! Once you get up to the 25 foot and higher range, you can find a lot of great fishing boats that have practical space for doing what you love, as well as cabins that accommodate overnight fishing trips and beyond.

Here are a few fishing boat manufacturers for you to check out.