New Years Day Recollections of Skiffs Past

I've tried to avoid the association, but my memories of my skiffs are just a tiny bit like recalling old girlfriends- that sense being that through all the fair and foul weather, I'm grateful for each and every one. And, I do realize that each and every skiff was special, as is their memory.

The skiff on top was my second vessel - a round-chined 16-foot Challenger rigged with a Johnson 35H.P. SeaHorse electro-start buttoned, tiller handle engine. I had Ed Getterman (who rigged my first boat, a 16-foot Starcraft) mount two huge livewells aft of the transom. Ed was the manufacturer who built one of Bill Curtis' earliest skiffs out of a FiberCraft mold. Bill Curtis is my mentor. This boat took me through the mid- seventies to mid-eighties. My Challenger floated in 6 inches of water. The only other angler that I knew of at that time that had this kind of skiff was a genius guide by the name of John Emory. John died at a very early age.

The skiff on the bottom is called a Doyle Spinfisher. It was 18-feet long and also had 2 huge livewells aft of the transom. The closest kind of hull to compare it to today is a Carolina Skiff. This barge of a skiff was sturdy-though wet- in open waters, but it burned very little gas. It drew about 8 inches of water. I loved the spaciousness of my Doyle and it's millions of compartments. This boat saw me through the mid-sixties to the mid-seventies.

Thanks to these skiffs and my current 16-foot Hewes Bonefisher...it's been a gas- and now some ethanol too!