I looked at building a custom skiff for the past couple years. After owning five different production flats boats I learned a lot about what was essential to me for the type of fishing I do up here in NE Florida. Being a custom home builder, I was attracted to the notion of building my own flats boat to my liking. In a way it’s very similar to building a custom home compared to what you can buy from a regional or national production home builder.
After considerable research and some preliminary phone calls to a couple boat companies, I felt something was different after initially talking with Liz at Beavertail. Her personable manner was noticeably different than the other custom boat manufactures. I was interviewing at that stage of the process. I liked her approach to finding out what I was looking for in my skiff versus the hard sell approach I got from some of the other boat manufactures I’d interviewed. The idea that sealed the deal for me was when Liz suggested I hire a local Beavertail BTV guide to see how the boat performed in action before committing to anything. She even said Beavertail would reimburse me for the expense if I went forward with my purchase. How could I go wrong with that offer? She helped me get connected with Captain Buzz Brannon of NE Florida Angling for a 1/2 charter where I not only got to see how well the boat performed in the same fishing area where I fish, but I got to interview Captain Buzz that helped me glean a ton of insights on the boat. Needless to say, the experience was so positive that I called Liz the next day and told her I was moving forward with building my BTV (Vengeance). Now after having the boat for a couple months, I can honestly say not only does the boat perform beyond my expectations, but I’m also amazed at how many people stop me to ask about the boat. Fishing is definitely better from my Beavertail, we slammed the red fish this morning. My BTV was the only boat able to reach the schools and it paid off big time. We had a one hour window to fish before the tide got up too deep in the grass. We got eight slot Reds polling the mud flats. My buddy Steve couldn’t believe it and kept thanking me for taking him fishing. Pride of ownership #LoveMyBeavertail.