Ultimate Grand Isle Boat

24/26’ cat

Twin-V
Worldcat
Prowler
Calcutta
Tideline

Take your pick that fits your budget any of those will get you from snapper fishing in 2-3’seas then back to the bay chasing trout in less than 4’ of water.

The new hybrid cats are a great choice but if you have ran mono hulls most of your life the cat handling is an acquired taste. Not in a bad way just different. The problem with mono hulls in the 25' - 30' range is fish box capacity on anything but the flagship fishing boats, Contender, Yellowfin, Bluewater etc. It's a hard to fit large cobia or yellowfin in the fish boxes of most production line boats because alot of manufacturers are prioritizing forward seating and family features over fishing. If I were to do a mono hull my short list would be Contender 25t or 28t, Bluewater 2550 or 2850, Yellowfin 29, Pair marine 24dv or 27. All of these have twin engines can be equipped with trolling motor set ups and still float shallow enough to trout fish in the bay and on the beaches but still have the fuel capacity and fish box space for the fish we encounter on the northern gulf coast.

quote:

---

I’m not a fan of catamarans

---

Curious to hear why? I know you fish a bunch and we are obviously fishing the same area if you’re running out of Camanda.

I’ve caught everything from bream to blue marlin in a 26’ twin vee. And a metric ton of trashy arse kings.

quote:

---

26’ twin vee

---

Probably that or a Calcutta

SeaCat 262 Hybrid. built in Gulfport, Ms.

Costa 264 cat if it’s in your budget. Hands down best fit/finish/quality in that size range and one hell of a boat. Only thing that would beat it is maybe the 28 freeman but that’s almost double the price.

Eta - in the catamaran category.

Monohull is different story. I ran a 28 blue wave Makaira and wasn’t that impressed at all. That’s about all I can offer. I am a pretty big fan of contenders so I’d probably go with that for monohull.

I don’t have any experience in one but am definitely intrigued by the mexican pangas. If you looking for cheap and bare bones they could get the job done just don’t expect to go over low 20’s in any kind of slop.

Get a Parker 2300 SE.

Pair has a build and price tab on the website.
I’ll have $165K in mine but that is loaded out with
Forward seating, leaning post live well, twin 1243 xsv, 87” minn Kota, twin digital Suzuki, and a lot of other stuff. It actually priced better than a Robalo 250, Sportsman 262, Cobia 262, Contender 25T, comparably equipped. I know it sounds like a lot but they build about 100 boats per year. They don’t depreciate like a production boat.