Trailerable Cold Weather Offshore Fishing

We fish and cruise in the Northwest and Canada. 5% of our fishing would involve traveling 25 miles offshore for halibut and salmon.

Please advise your ideas on optimum hull design.

Following are a few of our considerations:

Towable with an 03 Ford F150 supercrew w/ tow package. rated at 7300 lbs.
Spacious, self bailing deck with washdown pump and hose.
Outboard or I/O. 2 stroke or 4.
Comfortable for 4 persons fishing all day in the wind and rain.
Head, portable or fixed.
We will install a shrimp pot davit with motorized puller and elec. downriggers.
Heater is optional as we can install.
Fishbox (removable or easy clean)
Baitbox (not a high priority)
Sink
Dash space for chartplotter, radar, radios and more...
Trolling kicker motor.

Am I asking for too much in a trailerable boat with a heavy half ton truck?

Regards,

Scott

 

Not at all, but to you have a size range in mind?? Desired Beam??

 

You didn't say if you were looking for homebuilt or production.

For production boats, one of my favorites is the Sea Sport 27' Pilot http://www.seasportboats.com/27pilot.html . They have other models at http://www.seasportboats.com/27line.html and the whole family at http://www.seasportboats.com .

It is 27' long with an 8'6" beam so it is trailerable without a oversized load permit. It looks like a good cold weather boat with an open cockpit area for fishing and self bailing deck. I especially like the pilothouse version. It has an I/O drive and Approx. weight with 8 cyl. 350 C.I.D. engine is 6350 lbs, so it should be towable with your truck with almost a full load of fuel.

Regards;
Mike Schooley

 

Tolman Alaska Skiff

I'd suggest that you take a look at Renn Tolman's boats. Many folks are building their own - about 600-800 hours depending on how good ya are. Plywood/epoxy and designed/built for safe fishing in the Gulf of Alaska. I will not include all the various URL's but try these two for starters.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tolmanskiff/

and

http://www.foggybayboats.com/

Let's do mention costs - how much do you want to spend? Some folks have spent $25K and other folks only $10k for basically the same boat. Depends on what "stuff" and level of finish you want.

Uses a ~100 HP 4 stroke outboard with ~100 gallons of fuel. Most folks also have a small kicker. Maximize the cockpit for lots of fishing room or have a very snug cuddy and pilot house - your choice.

Total weight is under 3000 pounds and needs only a single axle trailer.

Lots of folks have been ~100 miles offshore for tuna and strippers. Someone did a circumnavigation of some island in Alaska where they encountered large seas and strong winds and the comment was "felt safe."

Also do a google for Renn Tolman - Alaska skiff - Tolman Alaska skiff. You'll find several dozen hits.

Best,

Leo