Miller had the motor mounted by the dealer, but he tackled the rest of the work, including the rigging. The layout is fairly straightforward. There’s storage under the forward deck, and two lockers straddle the ice chest sunken into the middle seat and the driver’s seat in the rear. One of the back seat lockers is a potential livewell project for later on. Henderson usually mounts trolling motor batteries in the middle seat compartments, but Miller opted to not install an electric motor. Should he add one later, the boat’s open configuration will allow quick and neat installation and wiring.

Chasing redfish in the vast backwaters of the Big Bend is this Dreamboat's specialty.

Miller extended the rear seat top to allow him to walk all the way to the transom. Henderson had not decked the area behind the rear seat on previous boats, and was pleased to see the modification, which adds to the fishing square-footage. Without this covering—actually a set of hinged plywood doors concealing pumps, wiring and storage—the stern area served only as an open motor well. The fuel tank is mounted amidships, centering its weight. The 12-gallon tank easily provides several days of fishing and Miller claims to have run 36 miles one day on 3 1⁄ 2 gallons of fuel—not bad for a 650-pound hull, rigged, carrying two anglers. The forward fishing area and rear deck are joined by 10-inch-wide gunwales—wide enough to walk on and chase a boat-circling bull red on light tackle. Miller also added a white plastic rub rail, a practical accent to the red hull color and appropriate addition to the hull’s original Starboard bow plate.

Rounding out the layout is an aluminum seat with built-in footrest. The seat top can be used as a platform while running the boat with the extended tiller. The combination of the throttle and jack plate switch on the tiller gives the standing boat driver complete control and unrestricted sight lines while running at speeds well in excess of 20 knots. The tiller is a telescoping affair built locally to Henderson’s specifications. It matches a standard Mercury grip and grip handle to aluminum tubing. Henderson mounts controls for the jack plate on the end and connects it using coiled cable. He designed and built the unit, as most commercially available extensions are for trolling use only, and he needed one substantial enough to handle 40- to 60-horsepower outboards at high speeds. For those few times he runs the rig in water deeper than his head, Miller mounted a depthsounder under the edge of the seat in a position that can be seen even while standing.

The bottom and sides are fiberglassed and gelcoated. The interior and decks are painted, providing a protective and non-skid coating. Encounters with rough bottom are an issue with any skinny-water boat. Rocks and oysters will do some damage to this boat, but minor scratches are easily fixed and large hull damage can be simply cut out and replaced.

In the first six months of ownership, Miller has fished at least three times a week, and only three of those days have been in his “big boat.” The economy and ease of owning and operating his no-frills boat have encouraged this inshore angler to explore areas many feel are almost inaccessible to power boats. Low tides, marshy backwaters, shell and sandbars are no longer obstacles to his inshore fishing adventures. Most of the action here is sight fishing to fairly large schools of reds, or casting for seatrout over grassbeds. Taking a page from other local anglers, Miller rigs up 7-foot spinning rods with 8- to 15-pound-test braided line. Gold spoons, pearl-colored soft plastics (floating and slow-sinking) are popular lures here, and cut, fresh mullet is an ideal bait for redfish. Live baits, which may soon find their way into Miller’s livewell (when it’s completed), will be pinfish and shrimp.

FS