Gulf Coast - How does the 17 or 19 foot Montauk work inshore along Gulf?

I see lots of true flats boats and very skinny water boats. Does anyone want to comment on how their 17 or 19 foot montauk handles the bays and flats along the gulf and short off shore trips?
thanx

Not sure about the new ones but those older 17 montauks would beat you up in any kind of chop! For the kind of money that those hulls still command, there are MUCH better options.

Not sure about the new ones but those older 17 montauks would beat you up in any kind of chop! For the kind of money that those hulls still command, there are MUCH better options.

i was actually more worried with how thin they run. I figured they could handle a little chop, but maybe I am wrong. Maybe a smaller dauntless or outrage is better to go, but those are even more expensive.

Any reason you're stuck on Whalers? Plenty of small fiberglass boats that are "unsinkable" these days.

Any reason you're stuck on Whalers? Plenty of small fiberglass boats that are "unsinkable" these days.

Not stuck, but considering all options. A used whaler may be one way to not lose my shirt on re-sale.

I have an 86 17 montauk and have done quite a bit of speck and red fishing in it over the past 6-7 years. I fish around cat island and the marsh with runs between 7-20 miles each way. As mentioned above, in the chop, it can get pretty jarring and rough. Don't get me wrong I love my whaler but that hull was just not built for the kind of stuff I put it through. They are well built and can take a beating and I'll likely be able to sell it for more than I paid for it in '05.

my 10-15k would probably buy a pathfinder 19

A better question is why do you want a whaler? Gift or inexperienced? You can get about 20 boats that are better for the same price. I wouldn't waste my time unless you want it for a very specific reason.

Man, resale won't mean a thing when your fillings are coming out and you're soaked. It's a rough riding, wet but tough boat. It's your money to spend but listen to others when they say there are better options for coastal fishing.

thanx all. maybe there is a reason i see so many older 17 footers for sale.

Man, resale won't mean a thing when your fillings are coming out and you're soaked. It's a rough riding, wet but tough boat. It's your money to spend but listen to others when they say there are better options for coastal fishing.

i guess one person's trash is another's treasure. i was unhappy in the chop in my old deep-v mako ... so anything including pathfinder, champion, etc is going to be rough at some point.

one situation in the Montauk 17 is weight distribution ... i love mine and while it does bounce in the chop ... they can be had pretty cheap and provide more years of service than you might imagine.

i've been out on days that battleship would be a bad ride.

I have an 86 17 montauk and have done quite a bit of speck and red fishing in it over the past 6-7 years. I fish around cat island and the marsh with runs between 7-20 miles each way. As mentioned above, in the chop, it can get pretty jarring and rough. Don't get me wrong I love my whaler but that hull was just not built for the kind of stuff I put it through. They are well built and can take a beating and I'll likely be able to sell it for more than I paid for it in '05.

ditto that...I fish the same area now, prolly put 45 mi on my Outrage 19' last saturday around Isle au Pitre (the trout run there is on fire!). I think any boat is rough if you insist on pounding through head seas...

I used to fish a lot with a friend on his 17 montauk, it did ride rough but then that was prolly cause he never slowed down when it got choppy! Then we both picked up the next version of the whaler, he got a 18' Outrage and I got a 19' Outrage II...same identical hull. The whaler marketing dept magically grew a foot of hull length on the outrage between '84 (his) and '94 (mine). The outrage hulls ride a lot better than the montauks; they're heavier, the outside sponsons end further back and they have more deadrise/deeper vee in the stern.

I like the whaler's qualtiy hardware and the fact that it doesn't rattle or flex when the going does get rough. I never worry about it delaminating or falling apart either. Maybe that's why the gov't buys them?

Either way you go, Montauk or Outrage, you're getting a workhorse boat at a fraction of its original acquisition cost.

I assumed that the Outrage and Dauntless would be pretty smooth, but they are significantly more expensive.

We have a montauk 19 for a bay boat and a cape horn 31 for offshore. The Whaler is a very stable boat. It is also built very well. For cruising around in a bay it is great. But, it is slow. If I needed a boat to fish in the bays I would get something else.