# Carolina Skiff Tunnel



## bjmillet (Apr 9, 2012)

I saw that Carolina Skiff has a tunnel hull for their 198 DLX. They say it floats in 3" and runs in 3".

http://www.carolinaskiff.com/Downloads/198DLXTUNNELv1.pdf

They're gonna offer it in 17, 19, 21 and 24 ft versions.

I wonder how they run

I know the cost is gonna be low.


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## MajekMike (Jan 27, 2011)

*Carolina Skiff*

Don't know much about them but I saw this at the dealer I'm buying my new boat from. Looks nice


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## Fishtexx (Jun 29, 2004)

Nice looking boat, but I would have to see it float and run in 3" to believe it. If true, that is a serious game changer and they stand to sell a bunch of 'em.


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## Winters97gt (Jun 20, 2013)

When not fishing out of my boat on the weekends, a lot of time I fish with Captain Gencho Buitureira's 24ft Carolina Skiff. He took the boat many years ago directly to a fiberglass company and had them cut a tunnel in it while the boat was brand new. It will run in spit.


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## pmgoffjr (Jul 30, 2009)

Pray tell how is it going to run in 3" of water with 9" of skeg hanging under the bottom?

Oh darn there's that logic thing again.


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## Jerry-rigged (May 21, 2004)

I can't see it floating in 3"... At least, not with a motor, gas, and two fisherman. Pic on the website seems to agree...


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## bjmillet (Apr 9, 2012)

Well lower cost has a hidden price, you're still gonna wet, and beat to death.


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## Jeff SATX (Jan 18, 2011)

those skiffs draft in nothing. from your picture where the hull makes a step up, i've seen the waterline below that step.

but of course....



bjmillet said:


> you're still gonna wet, and beat to death.


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## CBP (Mar 18, 2014)

Jeff SATX said:


> those skiffs draft in nothing. from your picture where the hull makes a step up, i've seen the waterline below that step.
> 
> but of course....


My skiff did not draft in nothing. It was actually a pretty crappy shallow water boat. I would never recommend any of their products. They are cheap, wet and ride/handle terrible. And there is no way it would draft 3 inches.


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## texasislandboy (Apr 28, 2012)

I know of about 4 or 5 guides down here that use them. They never leave port isabel. And I never see them in less than a foot of water(running yes stopped no). They also only run 5 miles from the dock 90% of the time. Great boats for some but never for me... Unless it was a 12' tiller.. I have no clue why I want one.


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## Winters97gt (Jun 20, 2013)

texasislandboy said:


> I know of about 4 or 5 guides down here that use them. They never leave port isabel.


That's funny, I've been 25 miles north with those same guides. I actually text with them and have also run past them fishing north of the shacks. Same guides you are talking about?


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## texasislandboy (Apr 28, 2012)

Winters97gt said:


> That's funny, I've been 25 miles north with those same guides. I actually text with them and have also run past them fishing north of the shacks. Same guides you are talking about?


Who knows. I never see a C skiff up there. I have seen them up by long bar, channels in south bay, ship channel. Not saying they do not fish well. Just saying they do not fish shallow


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## Capt. Chip (Jun 28, 2011)

There are a few videos of the new 198DLX I think on the Ron Hoover You Tube channel. There will also be one for demo at the Rock The Dock Show at Redfish Bay this weekend. It's a great time to try it out. I have driven the boat quite a bit, and can attest that it handles good and runs pretty darned shallow. What it will float in and get up in is always subject to variables, but from my experience it is a great value for a quality fishing boat.


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## bigspeck68 (Dec 22, 2013)

At would point should you just buy an airboat instead?


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## coachlaw (Oct 26, 2005)

I was a naysayer before I took a ride in my 17ft. DLX. Aside from a Shoalwater Flats, I can't think of a better boat for the SLP area where I fish. Wet? Never. You must be thinking about the J models. They are wet. Rough? Of course, it's a flat bottom boat! My boat is a '96 and it's still rock sturdy. I use it darn near every weekend and I've used it HARD transporting huge loads of materials. Everything about my boat says, "Go ahead, ain't gonna break me." Cheap, simple, tough. I simply couldn't ask for more out of a boat than what I've gotten from her. Fast? No with a 60 horse, she'll do 32 max.

She drafts about 5 inches with my fat butt in the boat. What I really love about it compared to a tunnel though, is that if I'm running flat out and I get stuck, I just pick up the motor and push pole off. A tunnel hull and a jack plate can get you stuck beyond help. 

I'm 40 years old and my boat is 18. At the present rate of wear, this might be the last boat I ever own. I can't say enough about it and I've run everything from a pirogue to a 28 foot Halter. It's the best boat I've ever owned or run.


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## Winters97gt (Jun 20, 2013)

texasislandboy said:


> Who knows. I never see a C skiff up there. I have seen them up by long bar, channels in south bay, ship channel. Not saying they do not fish well. Just saying they do not fish shallow


They fish long bar to put fish in the boat with families with young kids. That's why Gencho, puts more fish and guides more trips then any guide out of Port I besides V. Russell is getting a kick out of this, owner of R&R. I've only fished SPI for 27 years, and 2-3 days a week, and still have a lot to learn. But I will say, last 3 trips in the last weekend I've brought in more, bigger fish than a few popular guides out of SPI in my little POS Mako Skiff to Jim's, which I grew up as a toddler hanging out on.

As for the Guide's Carolina Skiffs with a tunnel being cut and not running shallow, I can assure you that with a medium load, they run plenty shallow, as shallow as the few older Shallow Sports I grew up on. You don't need to burn 3 inches if water to catch fish. Pulling up to 6-8 inches of water, getting out wading or drifting off works just fine depending on the conditions. I'll measure the draft on Sunday in Captain Gencho's boat vs my skiff and my old man's boat. Here are a couple of pics where we drifted up behind or even(east) with the shacks and drifted off in 7 or so inches of water, 20 miles north of port I or long bar as you suggested.







Be humble, kind, and not act like a know it all as a young guide getting his feet wet. It will serve you dividends in the long run. I own 2 businesses I started after I graduated from college, and a wise man told me business is always a learning process, and it has paid off.

Tight lines.


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## texasislandboy (Apr 28, 2012)

Winters97gt said:


> They fish long bar to put fish in the boat with families with young kids. That's why Gencho, puts more fish and guides more trips then any guide out of Port I besides V. Russell is getting a kick out of this, owner of R&R. I've only fished SPI for 27 years, and 2-3 days a week, and still have a lot to learn. But I will say, last 3 trips in the last weekend I've brought in more, bigger fish than a few popular guides out of SPI in my little POS Mako Skiff to Jim's, which I grew up as a toddler hanging out on.
> 
> As for the Guide's Carolina Skiffs with a tunnel being cut and not running shallow, I can assure you that with a medium load, they run plenty shallow, as shallow as the few older Shallow Sports I grew up on. You don't need to burn 3 inches if water to catch fish. Pulling up to 6-8 inches of water, getting out wading or drifting off works just fine depending on the conditions. I'll measure the draft on Sunday in Captain Gencho's boat vs my skiff and my old man's boat. Here are a couple of pics where we drifted up behind or even(east) with the shacks and drifted off in 7 or so inches of water, 20 miles north of port I or long bar as you suggested.
> 
> ...


Not sure what you were trying to do here. I have nothing but good things to say about those guys. I just said I never see them up north. And I grew up on the island and I do not know any of the guys you are name dropping. And yes I am a young guide getting my feet wet and I did learn from some of the best in the area and I will say I do not know anything compared to these old salts. BTW I thought you sold your pro skiff


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## bjmillet (Apr 9, 2012)

Well okay now..............how 'bout y'all who see it a Rock The Dock tell us how it handles. If it's cheap enough it might be what some folks (and guides? young guides?) might want. When all I could afford was a Carolina Skiff, I was happy to have her despite her baggage.


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## nsea (Feb 25, 2013)

I have a 17 dlx and agree with coachlaw. You get way more boat for your money than any other major manufacturer out there. Super easy to run, cheap to maintain, and easily customized. They also handle surprisingly well, I run all over green's and carancuhua lake with little concern for depth and have never slid through a turn. I have a foil fin on my motor which helps a lot to stay on plane at slow speed and get up quicker. I'll admit there are a few places back in there where I can't get right on plane but if I find a gut with 18" I can sling shot up on plane real quick. 

As for the tunnel and its shallow capabilities I'd like to experience it for myself. Running in 3" of water? I guess you'd have to be running light and dialed in with jackplate, trim tabs, prop etc but that's a too fine a line for a me.


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