New To Me 150 Sport Boston Whaler

[JAWallace]

I bought this 2005 model in the spring, spent about 90 days doing glass work, filling holes (30 to date), cleaning, rewiring, and adding some components in an attempt to make this a close to perfect fly fishing skiff.



It's minimalist for sure, but mostly clear of fly line catchers and now with plenty of room to move around as needed. it fishes two easily, and can hold four for cruising, messing around, swimming, tubing etc.

The iPilot addition is just too cool with the anchor feature. I had to swallow to put that much into a trolling motor, but now I understand why everyone says it's worth it.



This is the first generation post-classic 15' Whaler. The previous 15' version is arguably the coolest Whaler ever built, looks better than mine, too, but unlike the 13 and 17 Whalers, the hull is designed to cut through chop and has rounded chines and pad with a much greater deadrise, rending the boat quite unstable at rest which of course is not what we fly flingers are looking for.

I've only had her out 3 times--once on Lake Washington in very calm conditions for the water trial, and twice on Folsom. This is my 4th Whaler. I've had a 13' non-smirked 1967, a Dauntless 13, and a 2008 170 Montauk. The 13s were either too rough or too small. The 170 Montauk was a mistake. WAY too big for most freshwater fishing, and the intimacy with the water has been lost with the new hull--the classic Montauks are much better for our use, in my opinion. This hull and boat quickly became my easy favorite of the Whalers I've owned.

The new 2009 and later Whaler hulls are a disaster for most fly fishermen. They look more like a Sea Ray and are clearly targeted towards the youth sport market first, fishing secondary. they have been described as a new option for waverunner buyers, and I think that's accurate. They are much better than the previous hulls for a family all arounder though, and will certain work--you just won't be very close to the water and there's no room aft of the pilot thwart in the 13' model. I would not buy one, and I'm a Whaler fanatic.

This 2003-2008 generation of 15' hulls is the best Whaler has ever built, in my opinion. They are exceptionally smooth even in moderate chop, totally stable, and will give you either side of 35 mph--my top speed to date is 36.7 mph, solo, 34.5 mph with two. It sips gas too. I have yet to refill the 6 gallon tank as it's still over half full.

While I still miss Bill Kiene's old 12' Olympian which was a highly soulful and fun skiff, this one gives me more room and the needed speed to move around. So far, I could not ask for anything more, and it didn't break the bank.

The 2003 and newer 15' hulls have not been a big seller. New, as equipped, this boat would be near $25K. That's a lot of dough for a 15' skiff. The 13s are around $13K--the 17s will top $30K, so this one looks expensive in comparison. Still, if you can find one, I would highly recommend taking a strong look for larger freshwater lakes, deeper rivers, the Delta, and mild salt.