Are you searching for your next boat and wondering if you should get a bay boat or an offshore center console? Are you curious how shallow offshore center consoles can go versus center console bay boats? Day Break Marina and L&M Marine offer all kinds of center consoles and we’d love to help you find the best boat that fits your lifestyle and share our 40 years of experience. These are the different types of center consoles and their pros and cons, including just how shallow they can go.

‘Center Console’ Is a Broad Term

‘Center console‘ is a broad term that describes the layout of the boat, with the helm/console located in the center of the boat. Center consoles can be used to describe both bay boats, offshore boats and hybrid center console boats as well.

The Difference Between Bay Boats and Offshore Center Consoles

Bay Boat Center Consoles

Bay boats have a low profile, lower gunnels which are about knee height, typically with a large front fishing deck, rear seating, and two live wells of some kind. The ideal fiberglass center console bay boat is 21-24 feet long with a heavier V, a 13-16 inch deadrise, an aggressive bow that’s not low profile, and significant bow flare - a great example of this would be the Blazer Bay 2400. 

There are a lot of 22’ bay boats out there and a 12” draft is necessary to truly have the edge over the competition.

Bay Boat Center Consoles:

• Flatter deadrise

• Lower Bow

• Lower gunnels

• Lower draft less than 14 inches

• Weighs less

Offshore Center Consoles

Offshore boats have higher sides, higher gunnels (that typically come up to at least your waist) and lots of fishing space within the boat. Offshore boats won’t have a big fishing deck up front that’s flush to the gunnel like bay boats do. 

Offshore center console boats typically always have a 15-20 inch draft and the deadrise is usually around 20 degrees or heavier. The lower the draft, the flatter the boat, and the higher the degree of deadrise, the steeper the angle of the hull.

Offshore Center Console Boats:

• Aggressive deadrise

• Aggressive bow

• Higher gunnels

• Higher draft between 15-20 inches - more than 15 inches

• Weighs more

Hybrid Center Consoles

Hybrid center console boats like the big 27s’ and 28’s’ are laid out like a bay boat but have large gunnels and perform more like an offshore center console boat. The average draft for a hybrid center console is between 15-18 inches. These kinds of boats (example: Blazer 2700)  can around $75,00-$80,000 pounds by the time you get everyone on board with all of their gear.

Center Consoles: How Bay Boats Ride Different Than Offshore

If you were comparing an offshore center console versus a bay boat center console, for example, a Cobia 240CC versus a Blazer 2440, the Cobia 240 CC outweighs the Blazer by over 2,500 pounds. The ride quality of these two boats is different because they were built for two completely different things. The Cobia has more horsepower and due to the weight, provides less of a rocking motion. 

Bay boats and offshore center consoles are built for different purposes. You wouldn’t take a 26’ Edgewater, an offshore center console, in the marsh to fish for redfish and you wouldn’t take the 24’ Blazer, a bay boat center console, 60-70 miles offshore to fish tuna.

How a Couple of Feet Makes a Big Difference

There’s a big difference in the makeup of a Blazer 2400 versus a Blazer 2200 and is a prime example of how much of a difference a couple of feet make:

• The bow is much more aggressive on the 2400 versus the 2200, which features a more low-profile bow. 

• The draft is also different, the 2400 features a draft between 12-14 inches depending on what’s on the boat while the draft of the 2200 is between 8-10 inches

Where Bay Boats Can Go Versus Offshore Center Consoles

You wouldn’t run your 28’ foot in a couple feet of water to trout fish, you could take your bay boat offshore, but you wouldn’t take your bay boat all the way out to catch tuna.

Bay boats are set up a different way and for a different type of fishing, inshore fishing, while deep v offshore center consoles are built for offshore fishing. 

Cobia 240 and up, are heavier, the heavier deadrise and high gunnels help with bigger swells (and keep you inside the boat) and do better in deeper, rougher water. Some bay boats do fairly well offshore with 2-3 feet seas, like the Blazer 2440. But if you really want to get out 30-40 miles offshore comfortably, an offshore deep V center console is going to be the way to go.

Summary

We’ve had customers come in who love the idea or loved going fishing for redfish or trout and really enjoy it but don’t know what boat they need to be able to do that themselves. Then they ask about offshore boats even though they say they don’t plan to go offshore. The number one and the first question we always ask our customers is ‘what are you using the boat for?’. 

After we hear what you’ll be using the boat for the majority of the time and where you plan to take it, we’ll point you in the right direction to find the best fit for you. We’ll also explain how features like a lower draft is going to be useful for your intended use because customer education and satisfaction are our priority. In this case, the customer doesn’t plan to go offshore and likes inshore fishing, therefore a center console bay boat would be the best kind of boat for them.

The main difference is bay boats: the lower gunnel, lower deadrise and offshore: higher gunnel, heavier deadrise:

• Offshore Center Console: A Cobia 240CC would be great to use for beaching it on the sandbar, cruising through rough inlets, and doing some offshore fishing.

• Bay Bay Center Console: A Blazer 2400 would be great to use to go fishing for trout and redfish in marshes and could go a short distance (10-15 miles) offshore.

Set a time for your Sea Trial for any time of center console, bay boat, offshore, or hybrid here. Feel free to stop by or call either of our locations (Day Break Marina in Pensacola and L&M Marine in Baldwin County) to take a look at our inventory in person and ask our team any questions.