Catch'em have you found out any information about the Caolia Skiff? I'm curious what the pros and cons are of this brand. Speed, ride, durability.
Hopefully someone out there will comment give there 2 cents!

As far as weight the hull can handle and draft they are the best you can get. A 20 ftr shouldn't draft but 5 or 6 inches and will carry more weight than any other hull because of its incredible surface area. I met a crabber in the ship channel with a 20 ftr with a 90 Honda and he crabs from Bayou Bienvenue to end of channel and back all on 10 gallons of fuel. He also said it will run just over 40. Very solid and stable just not great in big open water when rough as it is a flat boat but great shallow water boat and camp boat and hunting boat and carry large load boat.

A friend of mine has , I think a 24 ' Carolina skiff . He just got the boat and has some work to do to the motor . But I was looking at the boat this past weekend . Nice ! Huge ! 8 inches of foam in the bottom . It is a center consol with a Bimini top , with a radio , cb , and lots of lil extras . Its so big it looks as if you could play a game of football on both sides of the consol . That's what I liked about it so much , not to mention its unsinkable ! I know the titanic was unsinkable too but dude , how can you sink 8 inches of foam across the whole floor .? its self bailing also , two 1 inch holes in the back of the boat . If its a rough ride ... Well I would be able to live with that just because of all the extras it come with . Definitely my next boat .

A skiff is a skiff. For fishing the marshes and shallow, should be great. Thats why most of these don't need a lot of horsepower to push it. Try running that in the bays with a decent chop and you better have a good back or doctor to treat it.

I guess it depends on what you'll be doing the most of . If you'll be fishing open water the most , get something V bottom . For me I'll cross lake Maurepas in the winter for hunting and run lines in the spring .
I have an aluminum crawfish skiff and like it a lot . It's a do all boat and you can't hurt it . But when I saw my buddy's new carolina I really like it . I'm sure you can't cut through the woods in the Carolina cause its so wide . Or try to fish lake P when it's got 4 ft white caps .
So ... It's got it's pros and cons , depends on what you'll be using it for the most but as for as roomy, and fish ability and depending on what motor you have on it , it can be cost efficient also .

My freind has the 24 with a 90 hp. It will haul a ton of people. Drafts very shallow. It will pound like a hammer in big chop. Any flat bottom boat will do that. The boat is so big, as long as there are only 3 or 4 people in the boat, we all just sit toward that back. He has a center console with a bunch of ice chests with padded tops for seats.

I have had my Carolina Skiff since 99. Its a 19 foot with a 2001 90hp Mercury. Its equipped with large center console, 70lb thrust Minnkota Riptide trolling motor, GPS, am/fm/cd/mp3 player, Bimini top. It carries 28 gallons of fuel. Fully loaded I can get about 38mph. If I get into any areas that is more than a medium chop on the water then i'm getting wet and bounced around alot.
Fishing inside in the marsh and canals it is an excellent boat. I do fish the bays and along the coast in it but I have to pick the good weather days. I have been caught out when mother nature decided to change things but I have never worried about not making back in. The skiff is still solid and in good shape but does have some battle scares from fishing around oyster beds in the shallows. The one thing I really like about it is I can also fish fresh water also. There are days I get an itch to go fish fresh water in the basin and it does very well there also.
I am looking at getting a bigger bay boat for fishing the bays and coast but I will keep the skiff for when I fish inside during the winter.
What ever you decide to get remeber one thing..That the life of a boat & motor depends alot on how well it is maintained.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email me.

how do they compare to an aluminum flat in chop? same? what about how skinny they can get compared to an aluminum flat? thanks

...what ever happened to the cathedral bow-riders...shame, shame, shame somebody missed 'da boat !!!...two bow seats each w/wells,two back-to-back seats plus a double bottom and a splash well w/all fittings backed w/SS washers and machine threaded SS bolts and nuts (no pan screws) and the mold is somewhere collecting dust in a mysterious Florida warehouse...cheers