Kayak with a motor…sort of

Alright now, hang with me and I'll get this thing turned towards kayak fishing; but for the moment I have to talk about my new boater, ah, kayak, with a motor. Yeah... that's what it is.

I recently made the leap to full-time guiding and with that decision came the need for a new boat. I've owned boats pretty much since I got my driver's license. Some were picked up used and some were straight off the showroom floor. They all did their jobs admirably, but none of them were ever built exactly the way I wanted.

I did the oversized jonboat thing, the big center console, and then the Texas flats boat. Many years ago I was stuck, really stuck, out on the white sand along the east side of the Lower Laguna Madre in my very heavy 21 Texas-style flats boat when a guy came poling by on a skiff unlike any I'd seen in our waters. Of course I'd seen them on TV poling through the Keys and Everglades, but for some reason hadn't given them much thought. At the end of eight hours pushing that beast off the sand I vowed to look further into the idea. Incidentally, this fun little exercise was also what prompted me to buy my first kayak. Eventually I ended up owning two Florida-style poling skiffs over the last eight years. Both were cool and I'm now hopelessly addicted to poling the flats from the high perch of my platform. But as in the past, they were stock boats and neither was built specifically for my needs.

Enter East Cape Skiffs. I first met co-owner Kevin Fenn back during the days of the Extreme Edge Kayak Tournaments in Florida. He and his partner were just starting the company by building a cool little poling skiff that they could use in their no-motor zones. I've kept in touch and watched as their company grew and gained respect in the shallow water fishing community. They became known for building custom boats to suit the customers needs and their line-up had grown from the original Gladesman to include three larger models. I had always thought about getting them to build me one, but just hadn't laid my money on the table.

A few months ago while having dinner with my lovely wife we got to talking about things. I had grown weary of being on the road as a tackle sales rep covering three states. She asked what I really wanted to do.

I've guided part-time for seven years and really enjoy taking folks fishing. There's no greater high than putting a rookie on their first sight-casted red. And watching the look on the face of a fly fisherman as his first-ever red burns into the backing will never get old.

I told her that I just wanted to be out on the water taking people fishing, writing about it and capturing the things I see through the lens of my camera. My lovely wife's response, I've been waiting years to hear you say this. Huh? I sure wish she would've said something sooner, cause I sure was nervous dropping that one on her.

So, the green light from the wife led to a phone call to Kevin. We talked over the current models and what I was looking for. The conversation turned to a new project they were working on. It was a combination of the best features of three of their current models and sounded like a winner to me. Over the next few months he kept me updated with secret pictures and information on the R&D they were doing. The final result was dubbed the Fury, and it was good.

All of this waiting was killing me, but it was actually a good thing in that it gave me time to wrap up my rep business. More importantly; it allowed me to put a lot of thought into how I wanted the new boat set up and rigged. My basic needs were for a boat that floats shallow, poles quietly, has plenty of storage to keep gear off the deck, and the ability to cross open bays in less than perfect conditions.

One of the biggest downsides to running the Florida-style skiffs is that most are designed to drive while seated. I often have to navigate through minefields of oysters or make my way through narrow channels that snake through the marsh lakes and steering from a low vantage point inhibits the ability to see what's ahead. Kevin and I discussed this and the raised console position that you see in the photos was the result. Along the way I also went with powder coated aluminum, locking storage compartments, custom removable push pole holders and a few other goodies.

A few weeks ago I finally got the call that she was nearly ready and the next day I was on the road to Orlando. They'll arrange delivery, but I couldn't wait. Along the way I took several calls from Adam, the shop foreman, asking where I wanted the gauges, trim tab switches, jack plate controls, etc. I was so pumped I drove straight through. Unfortunately the shop was long closed by the time I got there. I met up with Kevin for dinner and he says, "Let's go look at your boat." That says a lot about the kind of business these guys run. He was willing to drive across town at 10:00 pm to open up the shop knowing how bad I wanted to see my new toy. I had been getting regular photos throughout the build, but seeing it in person was way cool.

The next day was spent hanging around the shop watching the crew finish the rigging and a few other details. It was interesting to watch how meticulous these guy were. Close enough is not in their vocabulary. The wiring is the cleanest I've ever seen. And if you've ever had to work on your boat a couple years down the line; you'll understand how nice it is not to be dealing with a rat's nest of wires. She was almost ready, but a mix-up at the trailer factory had me with a trailer needing a removable tongue. I had to have that in order to make the fit in my garage. Kevin says, "No problem, they'll have it ready by noon and I'll take you fishing while we wait." Awesome, well the fishing wasn't so awesome that day, but the offer certainly was.

I've had her home for a couple weeks now and have logged ten trips thus far. I couldn't be happier. She runs through the chop with ease, poles shallower than I'd expected and, the E-Tec just barely sips gas.

You guys don't worry though, I'm still out there kayaking too. I've got a few places where even my kayak with a motor can't reach. I'll be offering guided kayak fishing trips along with trips on the new skiff. And as for the kayak part of this article, I'm afraid that in my excitement to tell you about my new toy I've run out of space. Next month I'll run through some reasons kayak anglers might want to consider a guided skiff trip to improve their success on the water and when a dedicated kayak trip would be the better option.