Have been out of saltwater fishing for a decade, and previously had a 15 ft. Whaler w/70 hp motor that I used at W. Bay Galveston as well as back bays at Port O'Connor. For wide stretches of open water the Whaler was very seaworthy, but I liked to fish shallows and there were times when I simply couldn't get on plane quickly or the motor would ground when on plane.

I realize water in Laguna Madre is much shallower than farther up the coast and would like your suggestions as to the best boat (in the 15 to 17 ft range) for fishing that area of the lower coast. I'd like the motor to be 50 hp or less as I intend to fish ever day weather permits and can't afford huge gas bills.

New to forum and thanks in advance for your help.

I'm sure Pat Goff will chime in soon. He's the shallow boat guru around here. I'd look closely at some sort of flats scooter.

Look at the shallowsport 15' classic. Look at their website, they have videos and detailed specs. Shallowsport is a family owned business and they turn out a quality product that really hold their value. I grew up on the LLM and these boats are legendary, I have an 18' and love it, would not consider owning another brand.

+1, an' cocodrie has a sweet ride.

Shallow sport.. call Cole at Coastline Marine in Houston... that took on all of Tops n Towers custom aluminium work and you can get your boat and aluminium all at one place... www.coastlinemarine.net

New Water Boatworks in SanAntonio is awesome... check out the Ibis or Curlew

I love Desperado Boats... they run shallow as well but if you're looking at going super skinny the other 2 will probably serve you better.. if you are going to fish for trout in the potholes and drop offs then Desperdo would still be good choice.

just my 2cents...

I'd go with a G3 or other aluminum center console. I have a G3 DLX cc 1756 that I use for bass and inshore fishing. I've caught plenty of large mouths, as well as, specs and reds out of it! It's easy to trailer, I can launch it solo easily. I have a yamaha 60 4-stroke that pushes me in the mid 30's. The draft is about 12 inches, raise the motor and let the #55 trolling motor pull me along. The only down side is that it is small and really only two people can fish comfortably. And the wind will blow you around quite a bit. But for the money, it's a great little boat.

My father-in-law lived in S. Tex and we fished in his BayMaster 1650 out of Port Mansfield and Port Isabel. This boat powered with a 50hp Evinrude did very well in shallow water. He could fish shallower than I could with my 18' Kenner with a 90hp. I really liked this boat for shallow water fishing but it was pretty harsh in rough water.

One Word, Tunnel Hulls. Everything else will getcha in trouble on the coastal bend, especially if your Huntin Them Secret Reefs in Copano Bay.....roflmao

If the G3 has a draft of 12 inches you are better served by a 17 ft Boston Whaler Montauk which drafts somewhere between 9 and 12 inches depending on the weight of the motor and fishermen. The Whaler then can be used offshore also.

I just traded an 18' Xpress CC. I used it last 4 years in the LLM. Great for fishing the flats but must run slower in the chop.
This boat is still for sale at Austin Boats and Motors for about what I traded it for.

http://commtrd.smugmug.com/Other/24-70-Boats/i-pwSMvh5/0/M/DSC0017-M.jpg

Here is a shot of my 15' Shallowsport scooter. It works exceedingly well in extreme shallow water and I had it made specifically for fishing in the LLM.

Here's *ONE* opinion...

There's a fleet of very good hulls you can choose from, but only a few will be exactly what you want.

So ask yourself the following (be honest, it helps)
How many friends will you expect to drag around?
Percentage of wade vs. drift fishing?
Do you *really* think you'll be using a push pole for something other than an ornament?
Is looking cool more important than pure function? Again, be honest....
How adventurous are you? Is your risk/reward level high or low? (How far off a mud bar will you risk dragging your sled off of?)
The answers you'll get will depend on the answers received.

For example I wouldn't trade what I've got for any prop/fiberglass rig on the market, I don't want to sacrifice *any* shallow water ability for comfort, and I will drag mine off a mud bar, and I don't care one bit how it rides or how many potlickers I can tote around. Count me far right of the scale of hard core. There's the other end of the scale also, and most are something between the two...

These are some extremely valid and correct points for anyone to consider when looking to buy a boat. In my case, I never fish with anyone else aboard. In the very rare instance where I do, it is just one other person. So I figured I could get by with a boat that is "too small" according to conventional wisdom. My push pole is not an ornament. Do I use it all the time on every trip? No. But it does come in real handy when I am in a back lake and trying to be stealthy and especially if the bottom is real nasty mud that is not really safe to wade in. Will my boat run as shallow as a jet boat will? No. But my boat with a conventional outboard is the most applicable rig for what I use it for. I am not exclusively running in inches of water and the hull shape does a reasonable job of handling very choppy water when necessary. It will never be as smooth riding as a bigger boat with a vee entry. So it can be said that every boat will always be something of a compromise. Just the way it is. I have had several boats over the years and they all had something "wrong" with them but they all were fishable. One big thing I wanted when buying this "too small" boat was a smaller outboard to offset the cost of fuel both for towing (I fish mostly in the LLM) my boat from Corpus Christi to Port Mansfield, and having the engine be very conservative with fuel and oil usage. And this boat does those things. The boat facilitates getting off the boat and wading. It works very well for drifting if the winds and area are favorable for doing that. Some people look at the towers and think I got the boat set up that way to try to impress someone else. Anyone who knows me would also know that is ridiculous. I could care less what someone else thinks about anything. I just wanted my boat to be functional. I never had towers on a boat before, but I wanted to try it on this boat. Not totally sure just how necessary they really are. And if I had it to do over again, I think I would probably just get a Shallowsport 18 Classic with no towers at all. But they are on my boat and I do use them and I am paying for the boat so I get to live with them. One thing for sure: It is absolutely necessary to be brutally honest with yourself when defining what you want in a boat and how you will use it the majority of the time. For the way I fish MOST OF THE TIME my boat is set up nicely. Nothing on the boat is "ornamental". And it MOSTLY works just as I thought it would. Hope this overly long diatribe helps someone make an educated decision about what kind of rig to get into.

WOW! Great discussion and much, much more information than I expected when I originally made the request for advice. Many thanks to all who have shared their views.

I don't own a Haynie but undertsnd they are nice and dry and get skinny.