[Stevie]

I wasn’t going to respond, but..

- Resale value?

- You should charter @sotilloa1078. Saw his boat out on Biscayne Bay yesterday... it’s beautiful, 12 degrees and very skinny.

- Chittum donated a $75k skiff to IGFA last year...

 

[WylanB]

So you believe Chittum makes the best boats on the water, but you are going to drop $70k+- on a second or third place boat?

Good points Rudy and let me just elaborate on that a little bit since I wasn't too thorough in my original post. When I originally started looking at skiffs in this price category, I went straight to Chittum. Hal and I spoke on the phone for about 45 minutes and I have nothing but good things to say. He spent as much time as needed to answer all of my questions and went out of his way to lock in a build slot that worked with my time schedule. I consider him to be one of The Godfather's of our hobby and he has an extremely interesting and innovative new product.

A week or so after our conversation, a series of posts were made on their social media account (since deleted) bashing brands like HB and Maverick. I found it to be very distasteful and really turned me off from the brand. When I did some further research, I found that this was pretty much the sales tactic they've been using since the start of the company. I'm not sure who is running the social media over there, but I hope you're reading this and your tactics change. If you really believe your product is as good as you say, advertise it for what it is, not for what others aren't.

Now onto the other side of the coin. CP and the folks at HB did wrong by Hal by cutting his name and years of hard work out of the HB history. It's not right to include Morejohn and Flip and try to pretend that Hal wasn't as, or even more, important than each of them. As a buyer, I wouldn't have access to either of these great products (HB or Chittum) without Hal's years of hard work. And as a business, CP wouldn't be enjoying his profits without Hal paving the way for him to do so.

Anyway, this is all beside the point and I don't want to get too carried away here. I'm not here to choose sides or play favorites and I really wish that everybody could just get along lol. But competition is always good and it pushes the envelope for both companies, as well as others, to continue to improve their products. (For example, HB is now offering full and partial carbon fiber builds. Maybe they always have, but I didn't know this going in.) We as consumers are the real winners here.

At the end of the day, I chose Hell's Bay for my reasons listed in the original post and I have no regrets. They're a great company that builds great boats. All I have left to do is choose which one!

 

[WylanB]

I wasn’t going to respond, but..

- Resale value?

- You should charter @sotilloa1078. Saw his boat out on Biscayne Bay yesterday... it’s beautiful, 12 degrees and very skinny.

- Chittum donated a $75k skiff to IGFA last year...

- Out of curiosity, please explain what you mean by "resale value?". I believe that each of these brands enjoy the highest resale value in the game. Having said that, this is a non issue for me, as I plan to make this my lifetime skiff.

- Thats great to hear that Chittum donated to IGFA! As I stated in my previous post, when brands compete, we all win! Also as an aside, let's not forget that many of these charitable donations are tax write offs for the manufacturer. I'm not knocking it though, I think thats great!

 

[SomaliPirate]

This makes me miss that epic Hal vs. Flip thread from a few years ago.

 

[backbone]

I wasn’t going to respond, but..

- Resale value?

- You should charter @sotilloa1078. Saw his boat out on Biscayne Bay yesterday... it’s beautiful, 12 degrees and very skinny.

- Chittum donated a $75k skiff to IGFA last year...

How much do you think you can resell a $90k skiff for?

 

[GladesFlyFishing]

I currently have both boats. Fished the Marquesa for about the last 3 years, 200 or so days a year. Mostly poling, but ran the TM when I had the infamous fly/spin combo trip. I recently bought the pro just because I am getting older and wanted a lighter pole to pole, and focus on fly fishing. The Marquesa poled shallower than I thought it would. runs through anything pretty much, and is super stable. Thing I like the most about it is that in my years of fishing it I have had no structural or electrical issues. Which I cant say about boats I have owned from other companies.

 

[Stevie]

Hi @WylanB

When you said this was a lifetime boat I thought... must be an older guy.... I see you’re 27 ... that’s awesome! I highly doubt it will be a lifetime boat for you.

For the 2 boats in question, given your budget, why not buy BOTH Marquesa and Pro, quality used, not new build. To me the only reason for a new build is to get something exceptional that’s not available used.

The best advice on this post is sea trial everything, including boats you’ve excluded due to the Cyberspace perceptions. Do not get caught up in what the internet tells you.

Good luck,

 

[Stevie]

How much do you think you can resell a $90k skiff for?

Sold 2 new builds that cost over $70k in the last 14 months. Average depreciation was less than 15%. What hurt that average was selling a new build which I had overloaded with options...

 

[HPXFLY]

Another vote for the Marquesa here, I own one an older one but I think the only one with out sponsons (gordon did the work) so pretty similar to the new builds. I also own a Whipray. Ill say the marquesa is always surprising me. The ability to run big water, the storage, range, comfort ect.. is all there and it poles pretty damn good. Its no pro or whip, but I have no problem pushing it around in deep water and current for 5-6 full days in a row. It spins better than you'd think and really rides pretty high.

Why not demo a biscayne ? seems like that might be more in the middle and theres a good number of 1-2 year old used ones for sale right now, that will save you about 20k

 

[K3anderson]

I know you said not to add more models, but...

What draws you to the Marquesa? If its the space only, you should get a Guide 18. If its the ability to run in sloppier water, Marquesa. The Pro is a far superior poling skiff and can pole much shallower than the Marquesa. It's not nearly as good in chop. I have a Guide. I got this instead of the Pro because I wanted to bring more people sometimes, but, go as skinny as possible. I also wanted to do beach Tarpon in the summer conditions withstanding. Guide is a much bigger skiff than the Pro is. Kinda similar to the Marquesa. The Pro and Guide pole in skinnier water, but, the Guide holds more people.

If its choppy in the cuts, I can't (Or won't) go out there. I would np in a Marquesa. But, my passion is skinny water over big Tarpon on the beach when its choppy, so it' was an easy choice for me. At some point I'm going to get a super simple tiller boat at which time I'll probably get a Marquesa too for the chop.

IDK Charlotte Harbor really. You are free to come to Tampa and pole my guide if it becomes a thing.

 

[slewis]

I've spent a significant amount of time in Charlotte Harbour; a lot of which were days I was glad I wasn't crossing in a Pro.

 

[WylanB]

Thank you so much to all who have reached out and offered insight thus far! All of the opinions have been very thought provoking. As mentioned, I am new to this forum, but I can already tell that this is a great place to be and I feel very fortunate to be a part of it.

I wish I could say that I have decided on a model, but this has only made things more difficult. I may have to open my search back up to include the Chittum and the Guide, and I may even have to test both the Pro and the Marquesa again. Just so many great options out there.

 

[sotilloa1078]

Wise choice. The guide is a flat bottom boat also so you will only gain room over the pro but not ride.

 

[MSG]

OK since were opening it up to the models why not go all in. The Chittum 21 is supposed to float skinnier than the 18 - should ride better than marquesa and probably Poles T lest as well due to the weight. I would buy that if I was buying a boat right now

 

[sotilloa1078]

OK since were opening it up to the models why not go all in. The Chittum 21 is supposed to float skinnier than the 18 - should ride better than marquesa and probably Poles T lest as well due to the weight. I would buy that if I was buying a boat right now

I don’t think it’s supposed to float skinnier than the 18. but it will be a skinny floating 21.

 

[Matts]

I bought Stevie’s old full carbon LM 2 and can say, even without a tunnel, there simply is no quieter or more shallow drafting skiff available for the TX market. It’s stable as a barge, poles like a dream and so quiet it gets within mere feet of fish. I have spent time on most other major brands and can tell you there is absolutely nothing that compares. The only problem is that my fishing partners literally want to buy it. Even with people weighing 250#,190 and 110, its stealthy in 5” of water. You won’t do that with a Pro or Marquesa. The added bonus, it’s so easy to hook up and move around because of it’d weight. Hal has truly left other companies behind. I don’t need all the banter either but at the end of the day, I really want a stable ride in very shallow water and Chittum delivers. I love HB but I couldn’t get them to convince me they would set up a Pro for S TX and I didn’t want to experiment. I spent time on 5 Chittum’s, numerous HB, Mavericks and my old BT Mosquito prior to buying this one and the others simply can’t touch it. You should wet test as many as you can and FISH them for hours. Thanks Stevie!
All the best with your search,
Matt

 

[MSG]

I don’t think it’s supposed to float skinnier than the 18. but it will be a skinny floating 21.

Yes- chittum claims it is slightly skinnier than the18 - more displacement

 

[texasag07]

I was going to keep my crayons to myself on this one but I guess I will chime in.

I have spent a lot of time on Newer pro’s and older marquesa’s 2004 ish plus a lot of waterman’s of different sizes and configuration’s and vintage’s.

like most others if you need to get into less than a real 9” draft more than half of your fishing the marquesa isn’t for you. As setup light it’s a 9” ish boat.

I have fished on the super light 2004 marquesa with a 90 zuk 4stroke that @TidewateR speaks of its a great boat.

I have also fished a lot on an 2004 with a 115 pro xs command thrust with a 36 volt troller( all in the bow) The draft between the two is minimal. Maybe an one inch difference. The main difference is where they get stuck. The heavier skiff with troller gets stuck at the bow first in about 10” the super light with a 90 gets stuck in the stern first maybe in 9”.?If you put trolling and start batteries in the center console I think you could run a 115 and troller and end up with a boat that poles in 9-10”. For the 20 lbs difference I wouldn’t trade the 90 suk for the 115. More power all the way. In florida with or afternoon storms when it’s time to go it time to go(granted we always wait 10 mins to long to fish)

A pro or waterman with a 70 4 stroke is prolly a 7-8” boat. With less freeboard and deadrise you are going to take lots more waves over the bow on the hook Oceanside and get pounded in the big water. A guide won’t help any more since it’s a flat bottom hull design. The guide just carries more weight up front while poling so shallower draft with more weight but not much better in big water.

For reference(not to persuade you) I run a 24volt troller 2011 mav 18 with a 115. I like it but I’m not in love and a don’t drink the brand koolaid. It’s a 10 “ is boat it’s heavier than the marquesa but not by a ton, runs faster than a marquesa with the same power, but the marquesa is a touch drier but not by much.

For all these people taking about how much easier a pro is to pole they are right except when the wind in blowing hard. The larger skiff’s like the marquesa and mav 18 to me pole easier when the conditions suck than a pro or waterman. There weight plus the v shape of their hulls. Stays on track once the skiff is moving on your desired direction

I am not a big guy and I push my 18 mav about 70 percent of the time and troller the rest!

have you been on a Biscayne? Could be a nice fit.

 

[texasag07]

I don’t think it’s supposed to float skinnier than the 18. but it will be a skinny floating 21.

I did a fairly mild price out on a 21 and it got into almost 6 digits. For that I get a pathy and A used v hull small mav.

 

[sotilloa1078]

The Biscayne would be a good option. But it’s not a family boat and drafts like a marquesa. But the ride is solid.