Caymas 281 HB: Hybrid Heaven

The bird circling us was black with a hooked beak and white wing patches. Smaller than a frigate but larger and more imposing than the terns and gulls harassing our chum baits. It did not have the white belly of a shearwater, which was my first thought.  

“Could be a jaeger, shaped like one,” I commented to the captain, George Gozdz. Gozdz, angler Terry Magnusson and I were fishing about 12 miles offshore. “Funny color,” I added.

My photos and later research would confirm a pomarine jaeger in a dark morph color pattern. Like an airborne black panther. The proverbial “rare bird.”

In some ways the jaeger was like Gozdz’ boat: ocean-capable, distinctive, big and small at the same time. Gozdz, host of Unfathomed TV and a popular Stuart fishing guide, was running a twin-engine Caymas 281 HB. The HB is short for hybrid.

The hybrid boat, in today’s parlance, is larger than a flats skiff or bayboat, but smaller and sleeker than a conventional deep-vee offshore boat.

ABOUT HYBRID SALTWATER BOATS

A hybrid is built to do a lot of different things. A good hybrid does a lot of different things and does them well. It stands out in the flock.

Engines up, the manufacturer indicates the 28-foot HB draws about 16 inches, and in my experience that seemed accurate. Gozdz had begun the day as he begins a lot of his days: engines up, moving about shallow flats looking for pilchards and other live baits. Being able to access knee-deep water without grounding the keel is not a characteristic of offshore center consoles from back in the day.

The Caymas 281 HB is equipped with twin 35-gallon stern livewells, very handy for a fishing guide. Gozdz aimed to “black out” the port well with small chum-size baits, and then stock the starboard well with larger baits such as a mullet.  Keeping the two separate greatly simplifies the day: The supply of chum baits would demand frequent access on the fishing grounds. Mullet—impeccable escape artists—require a closed-lid policy.

Gozdz threw a 10-foot, ¼-inch mesh castnet and soon had enough for the run offshore.

HOW TO SET UP A DRIFT ON A HYBRID BOAT

The captain had a pretty good idea where to start looking for blackfins, the notoriously structure-loving tunas. He soon began marking good bottom on his Raymarine Axiom Pro. Schools of fish were revealed by the high CHIRP RV30 sonar. A 2-knot north current was rolling over the spot, necessitating a little run to the south.

“Great conditions for drift fishing,” Gozdz said.  There was 5 or 10 knots of north wind and a 2- to 3-foot swell, spaced out nicely.

With a small dipnet, Gozdz scooped a half-dozen of the small pilchards and threw them astern, waited a few minutes, and repeated.

 He then put two pilchards out on light spinning rods, fished from stern flush-mount rodholders. “We hook them crosswise in front of the nose, Terry,” he advised. “There’s a hard spot right there.”

I noticed the hooks seemed tiny, and I asked about them.

“I like these little 1/0 Mustad circles,” the captain said, extracting a fingernail-size hook from the box for me to inspect. “Occasionally one breaks, but we get the bites.  The 20-pound-test Yo-Zuri Super Fluorocarbon leader also seems to get more bites with these tunas. They can be wary fish.”

Magnusson—an expert fisherman from Chicago, Illinois—picked up one of the rods. “Looks like it’s getting nervous,” he said.

Magnusson does a lot of trolling for salmon in Lake Michigan, pulling spoons, flies and other hardware. He also casts lures for musky on Illinois and Wisconsin lakes.  

“When a tuna eats, it’ll slam that bait and try to pull the rod right out of your hand, Terry,” Gozdz said.

That instant, the other rod doubled over as 15-pound braid spun out into the clean blue water.

The identify of the fish was never in doubt: It turned around, ran slack in the line for a moment, then surged deep, thumping vibrations into the light graphite rod in Magnusson’s hand. Soon we had a 12- or 13-pound blackfin tuna sloshing in the forward icebox of the boat. Soon we had them practically eating baits out of our fingers.  The seabirds—including the aforementioned jaeger--found us but politely stayed away from our hooked baits.    

ESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT ON A HYBRID

The 281 is a bit over 9 feet wide, and I could feel the inherent stability as the three of us shifted around the boat fighting and documenting tunas. The T-top with its eye-comforting black tubing and accents was there for shade and rod storage, but thanks to its proportions and the geometry of the boat, the stern and forward casting decks were well clear. There was plenty of room to cast. Gozdz did just that, pulling out a spinning rod with a small Yo-Zuri topwater, exactly the kind of lure we’d use for seatrout inshore. He had tunas blowing up on the lure immediately.  

Tuna being best enjoyed fresh, we limited our take, stopping a fish shy of the two-per-person limit. We released some for fun and then racked the rods to watch the blackfins merrily pick off the remaining chum baits. Magnusson had indicated his interest in catching a sailfish, and Gozdz was happy to shift gears.

“We’re going to run inshore a bit to 150 feet,” he said. “There’ve been a few caught the last few days.”  

Mounted on the T-top, Gozdz has 20-foot collapsible Taco Carbon Fiber outriggers with control levers mounted below. When he’s using them, he clips the halyard pulley on an elastic cord to a midship cleat.  The freeboard of the 281 HB is a bit higher than what you’d find on a typical bayboat; meeting the leg slightly above the knee gives a secure position for attending outrigger lines, gaffing fish and other chores.  Gozdz began bridle-rigging live mullet to send back.

“These are circle hooks and you want to feed the fish, Terry,” he said. “Ideally you’ll see the fish first and get there first—open the bail and let him eat, then reel up to let the circle hook do its work.”

Gozdz put four mullet out, one on each rigger, two straight astern from deck-mounted rodholders. He then sent a pair of mylar strip teasers into the wake. The teasers streamed on 400-pound-test mono on PENN Fathom electric reels mounted on short rods with articulating Winthrop butts. The butts, angled port and starboard, provided a bit of spread outside the turbulence of the twin outboards. It looked like a nice little natural bait spread, ideal for sailfish, dolphin, potentially more tunas. Not that we needed more tuna fish!

We trolled along at 4 mph under the Mercury Verado Smartcraft autopilot feature, with the captain making occasional adjustments to our course.

“Twin engines on these boats really feels right,” he said. “On days when we have a heavy sea—and especially if we need to be running somewhere at 15 or 18 knots--twins seem to hold their rpms, chugging along, whereas the single engine sometimes sort of falls off.”

“The Mercury autopilot is great for slow-trolling, and the joystick steering option makes it so anyone can dock the boat, if needed.”

No sails arrived in our spread to finish the day, but we did get a pair of small mahi and a couple of LBS, little brown sharks, as Gozdz called them.

At one point a huge leatherback sea turtle, easily over 1,000 pounds, surfaced off our port bow. I studied the turtle, watching for cobia, but saw only a remora. It seemed the turtle was studying us, sizing us up.

HYBRID BOATS: IN SUMMARY

Hybrid boats like the Caymas 281 HB aren’t the answer to every saltwater fishing situation. They draw a bit too much and weigh a bit too much for sight-fishing reds or bonefish in tailing depths. A somewhat sharper vee and higher freeboard might be appreciated for all-season offshore fishing. Gozdz simply picks his days, or puts together ocean trips on a big 34 catamaran. But as an all-around platform for snook fishing in the mangroves, tarpon fishing along the beach, snapper fishing on wrecks, even tuna fishing on a good day, there’s a lot to be said for this evolving boat design. A GPS trolling motor on the bow offers quiet mobility to stalk fish, or secure position-holding. Powered stake anchors at the transom (Gozdz has the Power-Pole brand) give rock-solid holding in shallow water. Big livewells, options for removable seat cushions and sun cushions, enclosed heads and all sorts of features can be built into these versatile platforms.   

Originally published in March 2026 print edition of Florida Sportsman. 

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