bajamikey - 4-26-2008 at 07:59 PM
my ? is when fishing the island's around loreto with some off shore and over night trip's the cc or the wa ? i will be fishing solo most of the time
i'm thinking 23 or 24ft wa
Diver - 4-26-2008 at 08:56 PM
I much prefer a center console for fishing. With a nice windshield and leaning post, you have tons of room to rig and fish around the boat.
Of course, I am willing to sleep with a tarp from the T-top to the bow or on the floor behind the leaning post.
I guess it depends how much you plan to sleep on the boat. The cuddy will cost more, is heavier to tow and you are not in the cabin when underway so
they're often no dryer. But a V berth and porta potty can go a long way with the wife !!
If you look at walk-arounds, make sure they really have sufficient room to walk and fish. Some I've seen have less room than my feet are big !
.
Skipjack Joe - 4-26-2008 at 10:19 PM
If you flyfish or plan to ever do so the center console is superior. It allows for a freer backcast.
Bob and Susan - 4-27-2008 at 06:11 AM
diver is correct!!!
towing weight is important!!!
a too heavy boat and you MAY need to get a new vehcile!!!
also...the "bano" is even better if the wife is onboard a ANY time!!!
remember not ONLY do guys like to fish or cruise...
the other team does too!!!
oh yea...and the TOP for shade is IMPORTANT!!!
Alan - 4-27-2008 at 06:22 AM
Strictly depends on how you plan to use it. I really don't think a CC can be beat for straight fishing. Yet with that said I run a WA. When not in
Baja I usually plan fishing weekends and very few day trips. When I run offshore for YFT and Albacore it can mean trips up to 100 miles offshore as
we leave the night before taking turns at the helm and an uphill run coming home. Other pluses of a WA in my situation is the ability to stow and
lock all my rods in the cabin when renting a slip. The minuses of a WA are that I have rarely seen anyone use the WA capability so don't really plan
on that providing fishing room. Leaning against the bow rail doesn't provide the security of a gunwale when on a big fish.
bill erhardt - 4-27-2008 at 07:22 AM
Mike....... I live in Loreto, usually fish solo, and do a lot of 2 or 3 day trips anchoring overnight in the islands. Three years ago I bought a new
boat designed for the way I fish on the Baja. I ended up with a Bluewater 2150 CC. It has a flush deck on which I can lay out a sleeping bag, a big
fishbox and a full transom with a bracket. I had an auxiliary tank installed at the factory to give a fuel capacity of 140 gallons. It is a light boat
with a deep-V that allows me to go offshore with the big boys not only in the Sea of Cortez, but also on the Pacific banks outside Mag Bay, but with a
4-stroke Suzuki is fairly fuel efficient. Depending on how I am fishing, I have a range of between 425 - 500 miles, which is good for 3 fairly long
days. I have a cover for the bow to keep the dew off and a reading light on the anchor locker bulkhead if I don't want to go to sleep when the sun
goes down. Here is a picture of my boat on the hook in a cove on Isla San Jose about 70 miles south of Loreto.
Don Alley - 4-27-2008 at 07:26 AM
Can you really walk around your choice of "walk around" while fighting a fish? Safely? If you're fishing solo, that's a critical safety issue.
Also, the ramp at the Loreto marina is poor, and the weight of a 24' walk around could be a problem.
Bill's "Soledad" is nice, and suggests that perhaps you could get a slightly smaller boat that would be easier at the ramp, towing through town etc
yet still get you anywhere you want to go for less fuel.
[Edited on 4-27-2008 by Don Alley]
Bob and Susan - 4-27-2008 at 02:43 PM
we launch our 23 foot wellcraft cc right on the beach
its all about the truck!!!
bills center consol would be a piece of cake
4baja - 4-27-2008 at 05:04 PM
i agree with bill and heres a few more. if you are allso fishing areas with cold water and lots of wind i may go for a wa, it will get you out of the
elements and keep you dry. if you mainly fish areas where its hot and the water is warm by all means a cc, you will be alot cooler with that wind in
your face. i have a cc and dont regret buying it, we fish the cortez when its hot and we stay nice and cool with the t-top and the breeze.
BajaBruno - 4-27-2008 at 05:37 PM
I think that's more than I have ever seen Bill write about his boat. It's quite a boat and if it can do what he expects from a fishing machine, I'd
think that's all most people need.
Back to the original question, I agree with Don, mostly because on few "walkarounds" can one truly walk around, and for a solo fisherperson, being
able to follow the fish where s/he goes by walking makes the experience far more enjoyable than trying to back down the boat to face the stern to the
fish. I've tried it both ways, and like Bill I usually fish alone--the CC is just far less hassle than the WA, albeit with fewer creature comforts.
Having said that, my wife and daughter would like to weigh in and say that they would REALLY like to have an enclosed head! Ah well, they need to
take a swim now and again anyway...
howat - 4-27-2008 at 06:22 PM
I've had both and each has advantages over the other as stated above. i use my boat mostly on the pacific side both in baja and San Diego. When i've
pulled it to the Sea Of Cortez, it was a bit heavy. However, i sleep in it and the high winds are no problem. tough choice but i prefer a WA.
HH
[Edited on 4-28-2008 by howat]
[Edited on 4-28-2008 by howat]
Pescador - 4-27-2008 at 06:38 PM
Boy is there some great advice flowing here. I opted for a Center Console but I wanted fuel economy so that I felt better about going out as many
days as I wanted to so opted for an Aluminum hull. I could not find anything in the Gregor, Klamath, or Valco lines that would hold up to the contant
beating of the salt water so ended up with an Australian made Quintrex which is doing exactly what I hoped it would do after 4 years of active duty.
Because of the lighter weight, trailering and launching is a piece of cake and I can make the run from my house to the bait grounds, and then on to
Tortuga Island which is about a 60 mile round trip for about 12 gallons of fuel. I wanted high sideboards which make for a safer and drier boat. For
my style of fishing a baittank is of utmost importance and fishwells are an added bonus for stowing fish without cluttering up the deck area.
Finally, the instruments are a very important part of the total package and I would be lost without a good sounder as well as a good GPS. I opted for
seperate units because that makes more sense to me and I have good color on the sonar but greyscale on the GPS since charts are horribly inaccurate in
Baja Waters.
I have fished on Walk Around boats and I find them cumbersome and a real pain to fish out of. If you are doing mostly trolling then they serve
fairly well but for other pursuits like throwing surface iron, casting a fly, chasing down billfish, then their use is limited. But it is important
to decide what you want a boat to do and then come as close to that goal as you can. If you are going boating with occasional fishing thrown in then
a WA makes sense, but if you are a hardcore fisherman you will always be a little dissapointed in the functionality.
I thought that I would never be positive about a side console boat but have a friend who has had two and I must admit that after fishing seriously
out of these boats, I have changed my mind about the functionality. One is a panga with side console and the other was a fishing boat with the same
thing. They sure do have a lot of deck area opened up.
bajamikey - 4-27-2008 at 08:42 PM
thanks for all the comments.this was the info (help) i was looking for, i can get a cc 21 to 22ft and still get offshore and do over night trips at
the islands as this boat will be base out of juncalito......thanks again mike
Roberto - 4-27-2008 at 09:36 PM
Here's how I would sum it up:
If you're fishing the open Pacific, especially if you are fishing far offshore, a cuddy is hard to beat.
If you're fishing waters that are usually more tranquil, or closer to shore, a CC has great advantages in terms of towability, launchability.
Cuddys, even if "walkarounds" really aren't designed to walk around with a big fish on a rod -- they're more to set an anchor and other similar
activities. Especially in big seas, you can be taking your life in your hands walking to the bow.
The final consideration is the audience. If you are planning overnight, or fairly long trips with a female companion or kids, a cuddy with a porta
potty or bathroom facilities is hard to beat.
Alan - 4-28-2008 at 06:47 AM
Don't be in too big of a hurry to sacrafice length. WA or CC, a couple extra feet doesn't necessarily add a lot of weight but it makes a huge
difference in fishing room and safety offshore. I opted for a 23' Striper WA for towing to Baja but having later towed and fished from a 26' WA the
difference in towing or fuel consumption was minor. The difference in fishing room was huge! Check several models. A CC does not equate to No Head.
Several models have a porta-potti or even marine head inside the CC.
For my current situation which is mostly SoCal with occasional trips to Baja I run a WA. After retirement when I can spend more time in Baja I plan
to trade it in on a CC.