Beavertail Skiffs is Southwest Florida’s premier
manufacturer of shallow water boats.
Located just up I-75 in Palmetto, they’ve built the last two hulls that
I’ve used for my charters over the past six years.
My first Beavertail was a 2006 B2 model, a pure sight
fishing machine and a dream to pole. At
only 550 pounds, I actually bought it to launch right of the beaches on
Vieques, PR where I was living at the time.
It would float in only six inches and still handled the rough, open waters
surprisingly well. No bonefish was safe
from us and when I moved back to Florida in 2009 I gladly forked over the money
to ship it up here. The B2 was just as
effective on the tailing reds of Pine Island Sound and even subdued some huge
tarpon in Charlotte Harbor. Unfortunately,
it was only rated for 60 horsepower and I wanted to go just a bit faster.
Last fall I ordered a new Beavertail BT3 with a Yamaha F70
outboard. This skiff was like a B2 on
steroids. It was six inches longer, ten
inches wider, but only one hundred pounds heavier. With its extra power I picked up an
additional 10mph but still got the same fuel burn as my previous boat with its
2 stroke motor. The most impressive thing
of all about this boat was its ride. No
matter how nasty the chop, it’s actually difficult to get wet in a BT3. I’ve never experienced anything like it in
the two decades I’ve been fishing the flats.
Now for 2013 comes Beavertail’s all new 17 foot Strike. This skiff has almost the same dimensions as
their original B2 but its hull is evolved from the BT3. The huge flared bow is not only great looking
but just as functional in deflecting spray away from its passengers. This also gives the Strike a casting deck
that’s larger than any other skiff in its class and more than enough room for two
anglers to fish side by side.
I got to drive the first production Strike last month in
Tampa Bay and was thrilled with how it performed. Its hole shot was amazing with just a 60
Evinrude on the back. This was thanks to
the unique short sponson hull and a very light Atlas Jack Plate. With the outboard trimmed all the way down
and the trim tabs dropped just an inch the Strike jumped right up on plane in
only a couple boat lengths. This is
hugely important for us here in SW Florida when it comes time to go after tailing
redfish during the low tides this time of year.
Anglers in Texas and Louisiana will also love being able to jack the
motor straight up and run for miles across their ultra-shallow grass flats.
The boat’s stern has only 4 degrees of deadrise which means
it’s essentially flat. Along with the
light weight, this helps to give the Strike a 6 inch draft. A stripped down Lodge Edition with a tiller mounted
outboard will float in even less water but still cruise at 30 mph, making it a
perfect choice for the Everglades and Ten Thousand Islands. Anglers down in the Keys will probably opt
for the full 90 horse option which will let you fly out the Marquesas at close
to 40 mph.
Poling the Strike was effortless and it reminded me exactly
of my old B2. It was easier to stop and
turn than my current BT3 and only a bit tippy up on the platform, which is
something I expected from a 10 inch narrower beam. Down on the casting deck it felt totally
stable and standing on the 11 inch gunnels will give you plenty of room to
chase down a zig zagging tarpon at boatside.
The storage was also a huge improvement over the older B2 and all the
gear for three anglers can easily fit below the deck and in the optional
cooler.
All of this performance is great but not if it comes at a
price that keeps it out of the hands of the average angler, and this is where
Beavertail really outdoes the competition.
They’re offering a full boat, 60 E-tec motor, and trailer package for
the first ten production Strikes at $25,000.
Throw 90 horse on the back as well as a shallow water anchor system,
trolling motor, and GPS and you’ll still be right around the $30,000 mark for
this boat. Most of the competitor’s
skiffs in this class will run anywhere from $5000 to $15,000 more.
I would have given my right arm for a 90 horsepower Strike
when I started fishing in Key West back in the early 1990s. The first technical skiffs were just coming
on the market around that time but none of them had all of the Strike’s capabilities. Over the last two decades I’ve owned half a
dozen different boats and spent time fishing on almost everything designed for
shallow water. There are a lot of great
skiffs out there right now and almost all of them are built in Florida. If I were in the market for a new ride, the
Beavertail Strike would be at the top of my list.
If you want to see one in person give them a call at 941-705-2090 or stop by the Ft. Myers Boat Show starting on Nov. 8th.
