With much thanks to this site in particular. I've spent a ton of time the last two years trying to understand what would help me be more successful as a Tarpon Guide. I'm not shy about running my BT Mosquito. And I've fished her pretty stinking hard from the Keys to the Laguna Madre with quite a few stops in between. I love my mosquito, and she isn't going anywhere any time soon. But I also love migratory tarpon and the mosquito is not the most client friendly skiff while sitting in gulf side rollers.
Knowing that I somehow convinced my wife to let me keep the mosquito (I don't know why she keeps me around most days. But I'll sure take it!)and add a more dedicated tarpon boat - I began my search. More beam was a must, but I didn't want so much beam that the boat was hard to pole. I pride myself on having guided Tarpon the last 3 seasons without a trolling motor. I'll eventually add one to the air for some night time fun and for minor adjustments to spots, chasing down hooked fish, etc. But I refuse to be a button pusher on the beach. I want to pole the boat to fish or sit on the hook. It's a non-negotiable for me. I also wanted more dead rise and more speed. I priced out boats from other manufacturers, scoured the used market, booked other guides around the coast, and read as much as I could about what factors make a good tarpon boat. I was, and have been very impressed with customer service offered by Harry and Ann at Beavertail. Between that and my research I settled on building a BT Air with Harry and Ann. It fit my budget, needs with performance, and I was aware of the quality of fit and finish I was going to get.
The BT Air with a Suzuki 90 tops out at 48mph, boasts 14 degrees of deadrise, a 77 inch beam, and a 38 gallon tank. You can see the rest of the specs on their website. I've personally had it to 45 with some throttle and trim let in it. I have not run big deadrise boats much and am definitely still learning how to drive it. But the ride is noticeably better than the mosquito in big water. It feels like a much larger boat on the big motor, but not necessarily so on the push pole. I think the narrow beam on the mosquito actually makes it more difficult to track well in rougher beach side water. I redfished it on day 2 and I bottomed it out in roughly 10" of water with another angler and 20 gallons of fuel. Compare that to a concrete 8" in the mosquito with a full tank of gas. The Air is definitely not going to cut it in the tight mangrove creeks and rocks I fish on the nature coast, or run a flat in Texas. Thankfully I don't need it to.
I am almost to 20 hours on the engine and a handful of trips in 2 weeks. We put a good tarpon boat side on the second charter out and I am beyond satisfied with the boats performance for it's mostly intended use - Targeting large Tarpon.
If you're interested or in the area, I'll be showing off the boat at Tarpon Lodge in Bokeelia on June 8th from 9AM-12PM. Enjoy some pictures and I'll see y'all out there!
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Knowing that I somehow convinced my wife to let me keep the mosquito (I don't know why she keeps me around most days. But I'll sure take it!)and add a more dedicated tarpon boat - I began my search. More beam was a must, but I didn't want so much beam that the boat was hard to pole. I pride myself on having guided Tarpon the last 3 seasons without a trolling motor. I'll eventually add one to the air for some night time fun and for minor adjustments to spots, chasing down hooked fish, etc. But I refuse to be a button pusher on the beach. I want to pole the boat to fish or sit on the hook. It's a non-negotiable for me. I also wanted more dead rise and more speed. I priced out boats from other manufacturers, scoured the used market, booked other guides around the coast, and read as much as I could about what factors make a good tarpon boat. I was, and have been very impressed with customer service offered by Harry and Ann at Beavertail. Between that and my research I settled on building a BT Air with Harry and Ann. It fit my budget, needs with performance, and I was aware of the quality of fit and finish I was going to get.
The BT Air with a Suzuki 90 tops out at 48mph, boasts 14 degrees of deadrise, a 77 inch beam, and a 38 gallon tank. You can see the rest of the specs on their website. I've personally had it to 45 with some throttle and trim let in it. I have not run big deadrise boats much and am definitely still learning how to drive it. But the ride is noticeably better than the mosquito in big water. It feels like a much larger boat on the big motor, but not necessarily so on the push pole. I think the narrow beam on the mosquito actually makes it more difficult to track well in rougher beach side water. I redfished it on day 2 and I bottomed it out in roughly 10" of water with another angler and 20 gallons of fuel. Compare that to a concrete 8" in the mosquito with a full tank of gas. The Air is definitely not going to cut it in the tight mangrove creeks and rocks I fish on the nature coast, or run a flat in Texas. Thankfully I don't need it to.
I am almost to 20 hours on the engine and a handful of trips in 2 weeks. We put a good tarpon boat side on the second charter out and I am beyond satisfied with the boats performance for it's mostly intended use - Targeting large Tarpon.
If you're interested or in the area, I'll be showing off the boat at Tarpon Lodge in Bokeelia on June 8th from 9AM-12PM. Enjoy some pictures and I'll see y'all out there!
