# what to look for in a tournament catfishing boat



## Pikemandu (Apr 4, 2005)

i was just curious on what features to look for in a tournament catfishing boat? any information would be appreciated.


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## lakeslouie (Jan 11, 2006)

Pikemandu said:


> i was just curious on what features to look for in a tournament catfishing boat?


I believe any rig would work but if I was going to get one, it would be made by Skeeter, Ranger or Stratos, be a min of 19', and have at least a 150 HP on it!


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Large Livewells, deep transom for big rivers, lots of room, wide enough for two guys side by side, at least a 40 HP motor, a minimum of 16 ft, better if 18' and most importantly, reliable since youll be on some big river systems and possibly overnight.

Salmonid


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## H2O Mellon (Apr 5, 2004)

Check out Docs site: Hooked On Catfish. I've been in & fished from his boat on the Ohio, boy it's set up really well. We fished 6 rods out the back and were not too tight.


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## misfit (Apr 5, 2004)

doc has a vey nice boat and i think it works well for him.
i'm a little different(no comments).
if i were to rig a boat for catfishing,i think i'd opt for a big open,deep sided jon.18 feet minimum.bare bones,so i could do the mods to suit my needs.maybe center console.possibly even a boston whaler type,but i'm more drawn to aluminum as i'm not what you'd call a "kinder,gentler" fisherman when it comes to pampering my equipment  
i think that open style would lend itself well to many options and provide a good stable,fairly shallow running rig.


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## Doctor (Apr 5, 2004)

A lot of it depends on where your going to fish.

I mainly fish the Ohio River, we started out with a 16 footer and a 35 hp engine, put fish in baskets and burlap bags, but when you get loaded up the 35 would crawl back to the weight-in, so upgraded to a 50hp, which helped a lot but still not enough room for you and the fish plus gear and everything else.

We now fish out of a 20 foot Smokercraft, very good boat built like a tank, and very comfortable, lots of room, goes fast enough for my tastes but the guys in the "Big Daddy jonboats and 225 just smoke right by us.

My biggest concern is taking care of the fish and I have spent several years making sure they are in better shape at the weigh-ins than they were when we pulled them from the river. We have used a couple of truck boxes that were portable, Had spray bars and air systems in both, during Christmas I installed a 123 Gallon truck box in the boat and now they will have a hotel to relax in. With the old system we had a box in the front and one in the back with us plus the boat has a 40 gallon livewell in the front as a back-up in case we need more room it happened once to us so we are hoping it will repeat in 2007, I took a livewell that was too small in the back for catfish made it into dry storage then mounted the pumps and air controls into this box and everything is controled from the dash. Still have plenty of room in the boat for Lynn and I to move around. I plan on mounting two rod holders on the lid of the box. The other thing is now we have a lockable storage area for all the stuff that we normally had to tote into a motel if we had to stay overnight.



















My wife and I are older so we mainly want to be comfortable, have a custom Bimini top made that was great this past year, the sun and us don't get along to well, I also like the full windshield on the boat, and deep sides, Lynn can't swim and I seem to stumble over my own feet. Those deep sides have saved me a tumble into the water a time or two.

You need a boat that's big enough to carry everything you need to fish and all the safety stuff, rain gear, plus anchors. we now carry backpacks that we keep a lot of the fishing stuff in.

The flat bottoms are great if your young and can take the pounding from the large waves and wakes on the Ohio, a deep or modified V will give you more comfort.

I have a 125 on mine and with gas prices I'm glad that it's not a 175, I run full tilt at the beginning of a tournament then will back off after we start fishing, I have run upwards of 40 miles one way to get to an area so you need to have a big enough gas tank to get you there and back. 

We mainly fish out of the back of the boat but I have rod holders along the sides and in the front also.

Doc


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