Blue Wave joins Sportsman TV team

Family-owned Oklahoma bay boat company signs on as sponsor

Blue Wave has long been the vessel of choice for many Louisiana fishing guides, and now the family-owned Oklahoma bay boat company has signed on as a sponsor of Sportsman TV.

“We’ve been working with the fishermen along the Louisiana coast for 14 years now trying to find out what they want, and we listened to them,” said Tim Long, Blue Wave’s national sales manager. “That’s why the boats are like they are.

“We’re all about custom, high-performance fishing. And we’re at the top of the leaderboard in speed, fuel economy and draft. We’re pleased to team up with Sportsman TV and be a part of sharing all that the Louisiana outdoors has to offer.”

All Blue Wave boats are fabricated at a state-of-the-art 165,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Seminole, Okla., he said.

“We’re the No. 1 selling 24(-foot) from Texas to Alabama, the No. 1 selling 22(-foot) from Texas to Alabama and if you combine the 19- and 20(-foot models), we’re No. 1 in that, too,” Long said. “And that’s over anybody in the bay boat category.”

Sportsman TV producer and videographer Jared Serigné, who works hand-in-hand with show host Greg Hackney, is excited about the ample room onboard that Blue Wave is famous for.

“It’s going to be so much better for us to have a large, comfortable boat to film on,” Serigné said. “A lot goes down in a day of shooting a fishing episode, and when you have a great boat like a Blue Wave combined with the accomplished guides who run them, that could be the difference between having just a good day, and a great day.”

One guide who’s on his fourth Blue Wave, a 24-foot Pure Bay 2400, is Capt. Mike Gallo with Angling Adventures of Louisiana based in Slidell.

“It handles rough water very well and gets in shallow water, and I have to have that because I fish in Lake Pontchartrain, where it can get a little bouncy,” Gallo said. “Then I cross Lake Borgne, where it can be rough sometimes, and get into the Biloxi Marsh, where I’m fishing in 12 inches of water.

“My normal trip to the Biloxi Marsh is probably between 60 and 75 miles round trip, and I”ll burn somewhere between 16 and 19 gallons. I’ll average about 3.5 miles to the gallon – that’s super for a boat of that size.”

Gallo, who’s on the water about 200 days a year, is a big fan of the tight tolerances in the Blue Wave’s construction process, and said the boat was rock solid.

“When I first got my Blue Wave and started running charters with it, I compared it to a luxury car. It’s very solid,” Gallo said. “In some boats, when you hit waves, there’s banging and clanging around and flexing.

“You don’t hear any of that in a Blue Wave. It’s solid construction.”

Capt. Marty LaCoste, with Absolute Fishing Charters in Dularge, is on his fifth Blue Wave, and also uses the 2400 equipped with a Yamaha 300.

“It’s the best boat on the water — handling, performance, speed, storage, layout — everything about the boat is wonderful,” LaCoste said. “And all the customers praise the boat everyday. Everyone loves it.

“I mean every customer that gets on the boat, when they get off, they’re amazed at how great the boat rides, handles the waves, the dry ride, the maneuverability. Everyone’s just amazed by it.”

And the access he has with the boat in skinny water is a plus around Dularge, he said.

“I’ve gotten into 10 inches of water. The books say the boat drafts 12 inches, but I’ve been in 10 inches of water many times,” LaCoste said. “So you can get shallow, and the boat handles the seas incredibly.  And I think it’s one of the few boats that comes standard with a hydraulic jack plate and trim tabs.”

For the money, LaCoste said a Blue Wave just can’t be beat.

“They’re the best boat on the water. You can go buy a Yellowfin or a Shearwater, and all you’re paying is more money for less boat that can’t do what this one does,” he said. “You’re just paying for the name.”

About Patrick Bonin 1315 Articles
Patrick Bonin is the former editor of Louisiana Sportsman magazine and LouisianaSportsman.com.