Bay Boats for Sale

Bay Boats: what to know

A bay boat is a center console built for shallow inshore water: a low profile, a flatter hull that runs in a foot or two of water, big casting decks at each end and room for a trolling motor. It is the boat for redfish, trout and flounder in the bays and marshes, and it will run a short way offshore on a calm day.

What to check before you buy

• Check the trolling motor and the shallow water anchor. Both do a lot of work on a bay boat and both are costly to replace.
• Ask how the boat has been kept in salt water. Look for corrosion on the jack plate, the steering and the trailer.
• Open the livewells and the hatches under the casting decks. Pumps, plumbing and wiring all live there.
• Look at the hull bottom and the keel for the scrapes a bay boat gets from oyster bars and sand. A few are normal, deep ones are worth asking about.
• Hours on the outboard and a service record matter more than the year on the title.

Common questions

What is the difference between a bay boat and a center console?

A bay boat is a center console built for shallow water. It sits lower, draws less, and gives up some of the freeboard and hull depth an offshore center console has. It is the better boat in the bays and the worse one offshore.

How shallow can a bay boat run?

It depends on the hull and how it is loaded, but most will run in a couple of feet of water and float in less. A jack plate lets the outboard sit higher so the boat can get into skinnier water.

Can a bay boat go offshore?

On a calm day and not too far. It is built for protected water, and the lower sides and flatter hull that make it good in the shallows make it a wet, rough ride in real seas.