Coming off of late fall and early winter striper fishing, many Chesapeake Bay anglers are having the same thought: GEEZE it was cold out there! Racing around looking for bird shows here, there, and everywhere in an open, unprotected boat gets very chilly, very quickly. Add in some spray, and you’re paying a hefty price to be out there looking for the fish. The answer to your comfort woes is obvious—all you need is a pilothouse boat. That answer, however, is an extremely costly one. Relatively affordable, small, trailerable pilothouse boats are few and far between. That’s why the MayCraft 2300 is a stand-out offering.
The 2300 Pilothouse is an all-composite boat, which can be had with a full bulkhead aft or side and aft curtains. It’s also a relatively simple boat, built to go fishing rather than being jam-packed with a bunch of frou-frou stuff that drives up cost. The lower cabin has just a berth with stowage compartments underneath and a spot for a portable MSD. The pilothouse has seats with stowage in the bases, and a helm station. And the cockpit is just as straightforward with open acres of angling territory and little else.
That simplicity has an advantage beyond keeping the sticker price low, too. It also means that there’s very little to go wrong, and as a general rule, the more complex a boat is the more issues you’re likely to have with it. But don’t think that means the 2300 Pilothouse isn’t equipped with the items you really need, like flush gunwale rodholders, a windshield wiper at the helm, and a stainless-steel bowrail. Also note that the extended hard top comes stock, adding some shade to the cockpit for those angling adventures taking place when the temperatures are way up instead of way down. One option we’d definitely recommend getting is the rack of six rocket launchers for the back of that hard top—you can never have enough rod holders, and this will allow for setting out plenty of lines on planer boards. Some anglers will also want to add the bait station, and a raw water washdown will certainly come in handy when the fishing gets epic.
One big downside to a lot of pilothouse boats is an inability to fish the shallows, but remember that the 2300 Pilothouse has a modified-V hull design and tips the scales at just 2800 pounds. This keeps draft quite svelte at 1’1” with the engine up, so it can creep into spots with even less depth than some center consoles can get to. The downside to any mod-V is that you won’t want to go blasting across rough seas at high speeds, but there’s an upside here, too, in that you can rig the boat with just 150 or 200 horses and enjoy incredible fuel economy. Or, slap on a max-power 225 and blaze across the Bay when conditions permit. Heck, if you keep the boat on a trailer and haul it from hotspot to hotspot you won’t be worrying about long cruises in the first place. If there’s a pilothouse boat better suited for this role we sure can’t think of it, because combining that relatively light weight with the eight-foot beam you’ll find it among the easiest pilothouse boats to tow, period, whether you’re crossing the Bay Bridge or navigating the beltway.
Did you find yourself pining for protection from the cold, wind, and spray when you were fishing this winter? Did you gaze upon the pilothouse boats and wish you’d opted for a cabin? If so, you might want to consider checking out a MayCraft 2300 Pilot. Remember, the warmth that’s heading our way soon will only last for so long.
Maycraft 2300 Pilothouse Specifications
- LOA – 22’6”
- Beam – 8’0”
- Displacement – 2800 lbs.
- Fuel Capacity – 81 gal.
- Max. Power – 225 hp
Contact FishTalk supporter Beacon Light Marina, in Middle River, MD (410) 335-6200, for more information and to check out a Maycraft 2300 Pilothouse in the FishTalk readership area.