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I have a 18'6 key west bay reef and I'm realizing I may have bought the wrong boat, but it's too late, my wife would kill me if I told her I needed a different one. Anyway I love fishing for reds and often I can't get as skinny as I need to be. I am looking for any sugguestions as to how to make my boat get into the really shallow stuff. Any ideas?

5 gallons of fuel...no anchor...no food or drink...no bait...no rods...no net... one battery...a full high tide.

buy you a kayak and put it in your key west. Park the key west in an area you want to fish and splash the kayak.

or sell the key west and buy you a Carolina skiff or a high tech poling skiff.

or build you one of these http://bateau.com/proddetail.php?prod=XF20

Incoming tide helps for me. Mine drafts 11 inches and I can get skinny enough. You can always push off an oyster bar or push it out of the grass if you need to.

Along with what RC said, but look at the 1st, 3rd and 4th boats on this page. If the wife asks what you're building you can always flip it upside-down and tell her it's a 14' coffee table.
http://bateau.com/products.php?cat=28

For the least hassle and expense you could shop around for a used canoe or kayak.

Blue22, unless you're ONLY going to fish for reds and are looking to enter creek mouths I must be missing something. I fish both offshore and inshore out of a 22' Panga and I've caught double digit reds more than once and RARELY get skunked if I run in to grab one. I do pick my times carefully and as I run out of Econfina I'm careful not to let the water get under 1.5' before I head for the ramp.

The above said, finding the right spots is what you have to do... quite a few out there you can approach and snag a red off in your boat. If you don't have spots you trust, give Jumptrout a call...

Only would be thinking about another boat if you're looking to do some hardcore redfish tourney fishing... otherwise you CAN definitely find enough to get your limit.

If you're worried about dinking up your boat, you could always get a Matthew's Fishin' Styx launcher and cast to where you can't go.

Put a Porter rock gaurd on you KW and go slow I also would suggest a keel gaurd.
Captain Pat Mc Griff goes all the way to the bank and in the creek at times with a Parker that drafts more then you do for sure. Most days he gets his Reds. If the tide is rolling out anchor off the end of the bars. Or ease up to the bar and get out and wade. I have broke props, skeg gaurds, & punched holes in my skiff it has more to do with the driver. I am getting better but it is part of the game. Also two of the best I know fish a 24 Ranger bay & a 22 Skeeter bay both need more water than I do them boys get plenty of Reds and seen em get Kings on the same day.

This may help

Blue22, you know its hard to get one boat to do everything well. Well, except for Big Bend Gyrene's Panga.

Sounds like you've found where you want to spend 80% of your time on the water, skinny for Reds.

Hey, man, trade that awesome Key West to somebody with an awesome poling skiff that wishes he had bought a bay/reef boat.

I don't think you could get the K/W light enough to really fish skinny. you're gonna have to leave the troller at home and get on the pole.

Harmsway wrote:Blue22, you know its hard to get one boat to do everything well. Well, except for Big Bend Gyrene's Panga.

Harmsway, could have sworn I remembered you saying some time back you had a panga too?

Darn tootin', BBG. I'm not knockin your Panga. Just jabbin a fellow pangamaniac (friendly-like). Definitely as close as it gets to go-anywhere do-anything affordable coastal fishing boat. Doubt Blue22 is gonna find any panga-owner willing to trade.

Mothership a kayak, park and wade, get a gheenoe.

Hire Helga as your personal fitness trainer. She weighs in at 300 lbs of muscle, has the face of an old boston terrier and she is always horny. Guaranteed to chase the weight off of you!