BigBendFishing.Net

So I purchased a skiff from Three Rivers, a dealer in Crystal River almost a year ago.

This morning I emailed a question to the manufacturer, down in Sarasota www.pangamarine.com and within 30 minutes I had a response with an answer to my question, from the owner no less.

I just wanted to do some free advertising, that is all.

How does that old saying go? ...something like "provide good service and maybe the customer will come back; provide bad service and the customer will tell everyone." Well, I am spreading good news instead.

~ thats awesome & great to hear, good service is a rare thing these days.
So ya have a Panga skiff? How do ya like it? Lets see some pics? I've read good things about those Pangas hulls on other forums, like fuel consumption, ride, fishibilty.

What's your rig? thread, page 8 under boating.

Good to know!

At least three board members have 'em. Boggob, sharkman, and I all have Panga Marine versions of the Panga design. Absolutely love mine. I have the 22' Marquesas and love the ability to get in shallow and chase reds with a boat that I also feel safe taking offshore on nice days. Also love not having to have a huge hoss of a motor... have a 90 e-tec on mine and am able to hit 35mph WOT... granted not going to win any speed trials but gets the job done.

Do have a few pics of mine, as well as one of sharkman's posted at this link...
http://www.bigbendfishing.net/phpBB3/vi ... =2&t=16496

And in keeping with Boggob's comment, was quite pleased with Panga Marine's service. Owner's brother delivered the boat to my home and we took the boat down to Econfina for a long test ride before he headed back to Sarasota. And while the boat was a big purchase for me, I had haggled on pricing for every possible penny I could save and Panga Marine easily could have said due to price breaks that they wished for me to pick up the boat, but they didn't.

Am curious if anyone else on the board has a Panga, be it of the Panga Marine variety, Andros, etc...

big bend gyrene wrote: Do have a few pics of mine, as well as one of sharkman's posted at this link...
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16496
Am curious if anyone else on the board has a Panga, be it of the Panga Marine variety, Andros, etc...

Big,
nice boat, I like the set up ... I'm interested in the Panga's, is it true that they are more fuel efficient than alot of other other bay boat hulls? Maybe, next year I would like to find a nice 22ish foot bay boat that can run semi~shallow too.

Richy, it's economical from a fuel efficiency standpoint and from it's lower power demand. Again, mine's a 22' and I only have a 90hp and it's able to run at about 35mph with full gear and a couple of folks on the boat (and the t-top I've got is pretty heavy duty, adding a bit more weight). Couldn't swear on a Bible the exact mpg I'm getting but has to be around between 5.5 and 6. Most of my trips I run out to depths between 20' and 30' to snag a few grouper and cobia and then come in and run to multiple oyster bars in order to catch reds. Best guess is I usually run at least 30 to 35 miles and rarely does it take me more than about 6 gallons to top my tank off.

The 22' handles bad chop quite well due to the flared bow as long as I'm cutting the waves. Part of getting the great mpg and lowered power requirement is the narrow and curved beam. The trade off is that you do want to watch the way you pilot the boat to avoid purposefully sitting/riding sideways through the waves. I've been out in some nasty stuff and NEVER had water roll in, but turned sideways you WILL do some rocking and rolling and the bigger concern I've had is keeping my footing if moving around.

Also will say I LOVE the dryness of the ride the flared bow provides. Been out in many different styles of boats but can't recall a one that gave me a drier ride.

Not going to tell you it will go shallow into 2" of water, but for a 22' boat I put it in waters between 1.5' to 3' on a VERY regular basis. Have gone a bit skinnier a few times by trimming up the motor and poling, but honestly just haven't felt the need to often go skinnier - got a beat-up canoe I use for times I get any itching to explore creeks when grouper season is closed and I want to get REALLY skinny .

Really do love the diversity it provides.
BBG

My 18' Skiff with a Honda 40 gets right at 30mph wide open. I haven't done any tweeking with tabs, props, or hydrofoils, or anything. I have a portable 6 gallon tank and sometimes carry a 5 gallon reserve for safety when I know I am going far but have never really needed to tap into the reserve. A typical, long-distance trip for me would be from Econfina to Dog Ballard, the racks, Rock Islands, Hick-Mound, and back.

Boggob, would say you're being mighty generous sharing hot spot information but everyone on the board surely knows you're joking as NONE of the spots you reference are very productive .

Many more fish to be caught out of St. Marks, Carrabelle, Keaton, and really just about anywhere else other than Econfina . Not to mention the HORRIBLE task of monitoring tides, hitting limestone rocks, underwater debris, etc... would definitely recommend to anyone who never has fished the Econfina area, look for opportunities just about anywhere else... bad water and mojo in that area . I only fish out of Econfina from time to time as a challenge since the fishing is oh so much easier and productive at the other local landing areas.

Boggob, NO NEED TO REPLY... don't you have anything else to do?

Would you guys comment on the width and stability of the boats for flats drift fishing. How does an electric work with curved bow? Thanks much!
I'm used to an 8' beam on skiff and just wonder how the Pangas compare?

Saw at least 3 of these boats just in passing at St Marks yesterday. Must be something to 'em

big bend gyrene wrote:Boggob, would say you're being mighty generous sharing hot spot information but everyone on the board surely knows you're joking

Yeah, I was wondering why I get skunked all the time; don't waste your time there. I was just showing how far I can run on less than 6 gallons.

RHTFISH wrote:Would you guys comment on the width and stability of the boats for flats drift fishing. How does an electric work with curved bow? Thanks much!
I'm used to an 8' beam on skiff and just wonder how the Pangas compare?

The manufacturer specified that a 48" to 50" shaft and 80lbs would do be pelnty of power. I messed around with a transom mount 30, and found it was wholly inadequate. I have plans to purchase a 55lb bow mount which I am hoping will work fine.