# Beaver tail skiffs



## AlanKulcak

Hi, i was looking at getting a beaver tail and wanted to ask you guys about the boat.. How dry is the B2?? is it drier than a HPX-T?? my neighbor just got a hpx and it is a little bit wet when ur going against a cross chop.. Is it a stable platform?? as stable as a mav.??? Also in the osprey model, the little step that runs the wires/controls back to the motor , does it hold mud and dirt grim after a years or so of wear and tear?? it looks like it would be hard to wash out... and how does the none skid "sea deck" hold up after years of use???? does it peal up?????? or hold dirt or skuffs from shoe marks???


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## NW80

I think that is a little drier ride. Found myself in 3-4ft stacked waves in Port Mansfield ( caught in a norther at the east pass) and it wasn't dry but it did get me home.
The platforms are larger than the aforementioned skiffs and therefore more comfortable (IMO).
Have them put the "seadeck" on the polling platform AND the casting platform - it adds to the comfort and stability.


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## Stuart

My Beavertail is pretty dang dry. I'm not going to lie to you, I have been sprayed, but not soaked. Running straight into a chop, it's very dry. Other angles of attack, if you slow down and play with the tabs, you can stay dry. Call them and get the new, free DVD. There are several shots of that massive reverse chine doing its job deflecting chop back down to the water. No aftermarket spray rails needed here. 

Don't have an Osprey so can't answer your question about the step-up holding dirt. There are a couple of Osprey owners on 2cool, maybe they can address that. My guess is that it is not a problem.

My Seadek has held up well for the year I've had my skiff. No peeling so far and I hit it pretty hard at the car wash.

Call Capt. Jim at Beavertail. He'll be happy to answer your questions and send you the DVD. Beavertail's customer service is top notch.


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## kdumas

I just received my Osprey w/ tunnel the first of this month. After 5 days on the water this month, I cant say enough great things about Beavertail.

To answer some of you questions;

Yes, this is a dry boat for the size and freeboard. Tab the bow down just a little and the ride is great, spray is thrown down & out, not up, then wind blow back in your face. (I haven't been on the water with higher than 20kts wind yet)

Stability; is great, I cant wait to get it off the end of the jetties, next summer to cast at some Maks and Bonita's. I wouldn't think twice about going out a few miles in the right waves and weather.

Mud: I haven't wade-fished out of it yet, Haven't had to. Its dead silent in the water, polls so well, that I have caught +10 reds every day on the water. On the best day to date, over 20 (98% sight casting, 45% on a fly rod) (shots at over 40 reds in one day)

{no boat can make them eat when they don't want to, even if you talk nice to them}

Sea Deck; I have a darker color in mine and its great. I have heard a few comments on the lighter colors showing marks. Probably from someone wearing black soled shoes. Remedy ~ keep anyone that shows up wearing street shoes out of your boat. No mater what boat you have, there is increased chance they will fall out / hook themselves or someone else, or break something. (or a combination of)

I personally love the Osprey. I can comfortable stand and read the water when running through the back lakes. The added storage and overall boat balance works for me. I haven't keep up with the running hours, but estimate @ 200 miles in only 5 days of fishing on the middle Tx coast. The average fuel per day has been 5~6gal.

If you are in Houston and want to see the Osprey, let me know. I'm on the NW side of town. Or if you are in S. Tx, I can hook you up with the Corpus Rep. who has an Osprey.

Lastly; Ditto on the Customer Service, everyone is great to work with. Jim, Scott, Mark.


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## AlanKulcak

thanks for the quick replies guys!! kdumas, ya i live in sw houston, ill be sending u a pm.


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## BOCA PAILA

*Beavertail - Number 1*

WELL LET ME START OF WITH SAYING, I WAS VERY SKEPTICAL ABOUT ABOUT A BOAT FROM A FACTORY DIRECT...... LET ME FUTHER SAY, IT WAS THE SMARTEST THING THAT I HAVE VEVER DONE.... WHY? BEACAUSE THERE IS NO MIDDLE MAN AND I DEAL WITH THE PRESIDENT OR THE V.-P. WHENEVER I HAVE HAD A PROBLEM..... I HAD TWO VERY SMALL PROBLEMS AND THEY WERE ON TOP OF IT..... I FISHED THE TEXAS REDFISH AND THE I.F.A. OUT OF IT AND IT WAS WONDERFUL......MY BOAT IS TRICKED OUT AND YOU CAN SEE PICTURE OF IT AT THE BEAVERTAIL WEBSITE UNDER TESTIMONIES..... IT WILL BE THE "******'S" MEXICAN FOOD BOAT. THEY ARE ONE OF MY SPONSORS...... FEEL FREE TO CALL ME : 281-842-3157

JEROME


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## beavertailrep

I have to say I love seeing all the positive comments. It makes selling these boats even easier than it is. If anyone has any questions at all, please feel free to give me a shout.

Randy Charba
Texas Beavertail Skiff Representative
Corpus Christi, TX.
(361) 960-5011


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## Backcast

Hey Alan,

I have the Mitzi 15 tiller. We should get together and fish Brown Cedar Flats. I briefly met you at the April outing in West Bay with Chris Phillips leading the group.

Just another boat to try. 

Joe


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## Backcast

the Mitzi does have a higher profile than the Beavertail. She sure sails in high winds. I have tow drift anchors.

Joe


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## Gottagofishin

I'm thinking pretty hard about getting one this Spring. I talked to Jim at Beavertail yesterday and he answered all my questions. 

I've become addicted to fly fishing and the Drifter won't get me where I want to go.


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## Stuart

I really do love my Beavertail, lets just keep things in perspective for those thinking of switching from a more traditional bay boat. My boat, on the water ready to fish, full of fuel weighs less than 1,000 pounds. With that said and a freeboard of 18" (that's 18" from the bottom of the boat to the cap) if you think you are going to take off across west matagorda bay during a gale, you may want to think again. This thing ain't Capt Scott Reeh's 26 foot South Shore.







It has it's limitations. :wink: Another example. I can remember rough winter days drift fishing in our old Flats Cat, taking a wave over the back every few minutes. On days like that, I won't be out there on the Beaver. I feel safe in it and all, but that's just not the enviroment for it. On winter days like those I'll look forward to fishing my local rivers if they are not washed out. I can't think of another type of boat more suited for something like that.

What it is designed to do, it excels at. Poles great, floats shallow and silent, doesn't get blown all over the place, low power requirements etc....


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## Gottagofishin

Stuart said:


> ...if you think you are going to take off across west matagorda bay during a gale, you may want to think again. This thing ain't Capt Scott Reeh's 26 foot South Shore. ...


That's what I'm looking for. My current boat will handle rough water, but I've gotten to where if the wind is blowing too hard to throw a fly into it, I find something else to do.

I also like the idea of being able to push it off a sand bar by myself on the rare occasion I do get too shallow.

I'll probably go ahead and order one after the first of the year. Now I just need to decide on Osprey or B2, tunnel or no tunnel, and color (white, yellow, or seafoam green).


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## Stuart

Yeah, just depends. The side console would give your more wide open cockpit space and allow you to seat 3 across on the bench if needed. The Osprey would have a more cluttered cockpit, but give be a little better balance front to back and side to side. Plus the tackle boxes are cool and being able to comfortably stand and run is also good. 

Oh man, boat shopping is fun. Let me know if you want to meet at Christmas Bay some time and I'll give you a spin. Mine is a tiller, but you can an idea of how she runs and handles.


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## skinnyme

I concur with with everything Stuart has said. I don't own a beavertail, I have a ranger banshee, but they are both light weight poling skiffs. Little skiffs just aren't made to take big rough water and keep you dry and comfy. They can take big water safely but it might not be pretty at times. Get them in the skinny stuff and your smile will start getting bigger and bigger. 

Think of poling skiffs as a specialized tool. If your passion is stalking fish in very shallow water, then they might be the ticket for you. I have found that wading is still the best method as long as the bottom is solid. But get over some nasty mud and start poling. You'll likely have the area all to your self because no body wants to wade it and most people in TX don't own poling skiffs.


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## AlanKulcak

hey guys, thanks again for all the replies!! Iv been fly fishing for quite some time now and i currenly own a 16' carolina skiff that i have rigged up with a polling platfrom and casting platfrom that i fish out of every weekend in east maty out of sargent. Iv learned over the years how to deal with crossing rough water and am not relly concerned about it, I just what a boat that i can cut accros a 1 foot cross chop and stay dry and still be able to pole in shallow water... Like my carolina im attracted to the price of a mitzi but not its high freeboard. Iv learnd from poling my boat that i need a boat that has a low profile and is dead quiet when poling into the wind and cross wind. there isnt much poling/fly fisher friendly waters in east maty and i need a boat that can make a full day out of it now matter what wind conditions... even in a 20+ wind... the osprey looks like a boat for me cus of the comfortable standing\driving position you have for looking for poons in the surf, but at the some time the b2 has a lower profile and no cluter whats so ever! The only concern i have with the osprey is the raised deck behind the consel. I know in my carolina that dirt and every day fishing grim gets stuck under the craks of the rised portions and never gets really clean. Im scared that this may happen in the osprey, at this time that is my true only consern about getting the b2 instead of the osprey.. and also the consel seems a little to high from the deck, seems like it may catch some wind.. 


Hey backcast, yes i remember you, you where fishing with wes, right? ill pm you and talk to you about fishing east maty, we need to do it sometime soon!!


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## munson

ever since I got into fly fishing, the idea of a poling skiff sounds very appealing. A good buddy of mine used to have a poling skiff. When we would go out, he would sometimes want to take his own boat (when gas was cheap) and ride in the smoothed out wake of my boat. The funny thing was watching him take water over the sides when he would get outside the wake. Then we would hop outta my boat into his and pole around. It sure was fun, but a ROUGH ride at times.


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## Stuart

A few of us are working on Capt. Jim to put together a Beavertail tournament, gathering, get together, whatever you want to call it. Aiming for maybe next June? in Rockport? I don't know exact numbers, but by then there should be 30 or 40 boats in Texas. 

Any thoughts, preferences? I figure Rockport because it is centrally located, actually has nice water and between there and Port A there would be more hotel choices than say some place like Port O.

Anyway, I'll try and keep everyone updated.


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## BOCA PAILA

*Rockport Tourney - Hot Dam -*

*I ALSO HAVE BEEN TALKING TO JIM ABOUT THE SAME THING. LET'S DO IT. WE ALSO NEED A OWNERS FORUM SITE ON THE BEAVERTAIL WEDSITE..... CANNOT WAIT UNTILL NEXT WEDNESDAY - LEAVING FOR P.O.C. FOR FIVE WONDERFUL DAYS...... HAVE NEW 3 BLADE PROP FROM BAUMANN PROPS.....*


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## scubaru

BOCA PAILA said:


> *I ALSO HAVE BEEN TALKING TO JIM ABOUT THE SAME THING. LET'S DO IT. WE ALSO NEED A OWNERS FORUM SITE ON THE BEAVERTAIL WEDSITE..... CANNOT WAIT UNTILL NEXT WEDNESDAY - LEAVING FOR P.O.C. FOR FIVE WONDERFUL DAYS...... HAVE NEW 3 BLADE PROP FROM BAUMANN PROPS.....*


Dude, lower your voice there's kids trying to sleep in here.


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## Stuart

Jerome,

Tell us about that 3 blader. Have you run it yet? You running a 50 or 60?


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## NW80

I would favor the POC area or Port Mansfield area vs. Rockport.








mansfield rather than


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## Stuart

NW80 said:


> I would favor the POC area or Port Mansfield area vs. Rockport.


I don't think anything has been decided. POC would be fine. Mansfield would be great too, but quite drive for a lot of folks?


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## Capt. Lowtide

I vote for Rockport/Aransas Pass area, think about it plenty of places to stay, good eateries and a huge variety of water to sample


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## Stuart

Just and update. Capt. Jim has told me that he and Mark are committed to making this thing happen. Jerome and I are going to get together and start hammering out some details.


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## NW80

Stuart, make sure I've got a lead time on this, as I have to make sure I'm not on call.
I'm really looking forward to it !


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## kdumas

Count me and J.A. in (J.A. is the other Osprey,Tunnel in NW Houston)
I like POC, but PA also works.
Stuart, if you need help with anythng, let me know.


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## Stuart

Okay ladies and gents. I finally got around to talking to Boca Paila (Jerome) and kicking some ideas around about an owner's tournament. We are leaning towards the last weekend in March at POC. This would put us after spring breaks and Easter. Nothing set in concrete yet though.


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## NW80

I'm in!!!


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## beavertailrep

If my 2 cent are worth anything I would recommend Rockport or Port A. We have just as many if not more skiffs in South Texas and the likely hood of getting these guys involved would not be that good if they have to drive that far up the coast. Also that time of year is highly subject to adverse weather in South Texas. Wouldn't late May or early June be more forgiving in the weather dept?? Just some thougths.


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## Stuart

beavertailrep said:


> If my 2 cent are worth anything I would recommend Rockport or Port A. We have just as many if not more skiffs in South Texas and the likely hood of getting these guys involved would not be that good if they have to drive that far up the coast. Also that time of year is highly subject to adverse weather in South Texas. Wouldn't late May or early June be more forgiving in the weather dept?? Just some thougths.


Those were my thoughts originally, but I like I told Jerome, I'm open to anything. Jerome thought POC would be more centrally located for one, but now that I think about it, Rockport is just as fast from the Houston area, considering all the zigging and zagging it takes to get to POC. And yes the weather at the end of March would definitely be a **** shoot, more so than say June. I looked at some of the major redfish tournaments and couldn't find any scheduled for June in Rockport.

Jerome, what say you?


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## Flaco

Looking forward to it. It will be great to get to know some other BT owners! Sounds like fun. I'll have to agree on the June timeframe for weather concerns.


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