It's no secret that increasing your elevation on a boat adds a distinct advantage to your ability to see objects both on the surface and below the water. Anglers have used this fact to their advantage for many years to improve sight fishing effectiveness. Offshore boaters have long enjoyed the benefits of raised bridge and tower combinations for spotting distant fish but anglers plying inshore coastal waters and on the flats have relied more on stealth, good polarized glasses, and a little luck to get close enough for a cast without spooking fish. Action Craft Boats of Cape Coral, Florida offers inshore anglers a solution inspired by the Gulf Coast raised helm style boats popular on the Texas flats. The GCX 2050 combines the raised helm concept “shoal boat” style with a more open water friendly hull design that is suitable for bays, beaches, and skinny waters alike. The simple addition of a pipe fabricated helm tower to this beast of a flats to bay hull takes your visibility to the next level. The design process was clearly well thought out on this model, providing an elevated yet stable tower that doesn't swallow up any usable fishing or storage space. A single driver sits above a gunnel to gunnel width bench with fold up seating for two below. The forward tower legs accommodate an additional wide comfortable seat with a backrest and a drink cooler fits neatly, dead center behind this seat. From a visibility standpoint, once you ride in this raised position it's awfully hard to go back to deck level if you enjoy sight fishing. The ride of this boat is very solid and stable yet soft and comfortable, even from the raised helm.
As a fishing platform the 2050 GCX lacks nothing you'd want in a coastal boat. Up to four live wells are capable of holding enough bait for even the most hardcore live baiter. The foredeck features two very large storage compartments as well as an anchor locker and an additional large storage space is located aft, beneath the bench seating. The deck and gunnels are very easy to move around on for 360-degree mobility and the model we tested featured SeaDek trim on all walk surfaces which was an additional benefit for grip and esthetics. A 36V trolling motor forward along with twin Power Poles aft rounded out a tool kit you might find on any serious inshore anglers wish list. Anglers along the East and West coasts of Florida and beyond will enjoy these newly discovered advantages that Gulf Coast anglers have long utilized for many different fishing applications. This is a very serious fishing platform that brings a new twist to Florida based boat designs that will almost certainly become more widespread as time goes on.
This tower offers elevation without occupying too much deck space.
Rods not in use store neatly out of the way.
More storage and livewells are located under the aft deck.
A rear casting deck offers plenty of room to work around on.
A wide and comfortable rider seat rests below the tower.
A flip up bench behind the tower reveals matching rider seats.
Full controls, switching, and electronics fit together neatly on the best view in the house.
The elevated helm seat is extremely comfortable at any speed.
Every available inch of deck space is utilized for storage.
Up to four available live wells will handle all of your live bait demands.
Smart trolling motor addition makes quiet position control simple.
The height advantage of this tower design greatly enhances visibility to the driver.
The height advantage of this tower design greatly enhances visibility to the driver.
