Flats Boat vs Poling Skiff: What's the Difference? Hewes Redfisher 18 VS Ankona Native 17 Compariso

Flats fishing can be one of the most interactive and exciting forms of fishing out there. Flats fishing is also one of the most affordable types of fishing, making it more accessible to more people. One common question that boat buyers ask is, “what’s the difference between a flats boat and a technical poling skiff?”. The Ankona was a 2015, 17ft 2 inches and had a 50 hp Yamaha 4 stroke. This boat has a beam of 5 feet 7 inches, making it super easy to push through the water. This boat was super light, easy to trailer, cheap to take out and fun overall. It had its limitations though. This boat had a top end around 32 mph, did not run very well in chop, and couldn’t comfortably take out more than 3 or maybe 4 people. It also lacked storage space, and many other comforts we now have on the hewes. This boat was perfect for the flats, we could take it super shallow and could sneak up on just about any fish we found on the flats. It had a 12-gallon gas tank, which meant it wasn’t great for long runs. We did however still take it out spearfishing when the weather was right, and we always got some looks from the big center console guys out on the reef. We had a ton of fun lobstering and spearfishing out of this boat, but in retrospect it really wasn’t the best idea. Justin and I were caught in a handful of summer storms that taught us that the ocean was nothing to play with, especially in a skiff. I grew up on a hewes, my dad owned an old 1995 hewes redfisher that we took...