When you are navigating through a storm and rough waters you may notice that your boat is actually taking on water over the bow and along the sides.

Bay boats in rough water. The well-found deep-vee planing hull offers surprisingly good handling in rough water with a smooth ride up-sea good coursekeeping down-sea and stability in a trough. Bay boats are for coastal saltwater fishing pure and simple. The deep-V hull is solid as a rock and the console is roomy.

Its a pound-for-pound beast when compared to most 35ft to 40ft vessels. That said some bay boats such as the Pathfinder 2200 TE 22 feet 2 inches LOA or Sea Born FX22 Bay Sport 21 foot 9 inches LOA offer offshore fishing capability as well as the ability to sneak into shallow inshore waters. From its massive live wells its huge.

Bay boats are incredibly popular in many coastal saltwater areas especially along the Gulf Coast. The 23 Shoalwater Cat is the largest model in the Shoalwater line. However what is gained in shallow water capability is sometimes lost when it comes to performance and stability in rough open water.

If running through super skinny water and over shallow flats is necessary then a catamaran tunnel hull or flat bottom style of bay boat will serve as the best vessel. If you think about it a flats skiff is seldom operated in rough water so the guy standing on the casting deck doesnt have to worry about getting pitched off. Gulf Coast offers a variety of different models from an aggressive V tunnel for rough water conditions to running skinny in the flats.

Consider this if youre looking for the best deadrise for rough water. If youre cruising straight into big waves and you slow down before hitting a trough chances are youre going to dip the pontoons nose below water and will take some of that water on board when it crashes over the bow. The boat rides excellent in extremely shallow waters and runs well in the heavy chop of the bay and inshore waters of Florida.

Bay boats usually range between 18 and 24 feet in length and have lower gunwales than boats designed for. A V-hull boat for example will easily outperform a pontoon boat in choppy water as its hull can cut through the waves. Shoalwater 23 Catamaran Fishing Boat.