Re: Carolina Skiff question
Hi Toonin. I'm right up the road from you in Tallahassee. As you've probably noticed, Carolina Skiffs are very popular boats down in this region. Their big claim to fame is that they are "unskinable" due to their foam-filled hulls. Not because they're overly specialized, but because they're great all-around craft that can be converted to do a number of different jobs. There are also tons of aftermarket products that simply bolt in place. While they aren't masters of the flats, or the open ocean they do have very good all-around handling characteristics. I've seen them used as bait boats and flats skiffs as well as offshore vessels. Of course, they key to getting into skinny water is keeping your boat as light as possible, so the tower won't help much with that, but it will improve your visibility on the flats by letting you get above the water to see. Lots of folks use poling platforms for the same job. If you do add a tower, you'll have to keep it very compact and light weight. Not to mention the fact that rigging the tower will get pretty pricey by the time you're done with it. I'm assuming you're shooting for a Cobia/Tarpon boat set up like they use in Boca Grande as in the pics below right?
Boca Grande Pass, Tarpon fishing boat with tower:
Carolina Skiff with similar rig:
Here's a Carolina Skiff rigged as a bow-drive bait boat in Panama City: (as you can see you can rig them just about any way you want....if you have the money)
Front Wheel Drive Carolina Skiff Live Bait Boat - YouTube
Traditional FL flats skiff with poling platform:
