There are a million cool center console fishing boats, plenty of totally awesome fishboats, and a handful that qualify as unequalled uber-cool utterly awesome totally SICK fishing machines. The Phenom 34 is one such boat.

phenom 34 center console cruising in the ocean
The Phenom 34 is a center console unlike any other fishing machine on the ocean.

The 34 is the smallest in the Phenom fleet, which also includes a 37 and a 43 (which we reviewed last year in Phenom 43: Pelagic Magic). But it’s no less intensely awesome than its larger siblings. Start with performance. The boat rides on a hull with an aggressive 65-degree entry tapering back to 23 degrees of deadrise at the transom. Two steps have “shutter steps” in front of the hullside vents to prevent water from wrapping around and entering behind them. And three chamfer-edged (beveled) strakes further reduce water adhesion with the hull. The design also incorporates a keel flat and transducer pocket. The net result? Drop triple Mercury V10 400-hp Verados on the transom and top-end reaches a blistering 76.5 mph. Cruise at 4500 rpm is 54.9 mph, significantly more speed than most boats deliver at wide-open. Even if you opt for twins rather than triples (banish the thought!) you’ll still see a top-end in excess of 60 mph and a cruise in the low 40s.

Phenom matches the epic performance with epic luxury. Rocking and rolling is a thing of the past thanks to the standard Seakeeper 3 gyroscopic stabilizer. You’ll find ladder-back seat backs with diamond-stitched Sileather multi-texture fabrics up front, and triple-wide sportscar-like heated chairs on electric slides at the helm. You’ll listen to tunes via a 14 speaker, twin subwoofer stereo system with a pair of JL Audio MVI amps with digital signal processing (DSP). And you’ll step into a console head compartment with six feet of headroom, rod holders in the sole, and cabinetry that comes pre-stocked with emergency tools and a first aid kit.

lounger on the phenom 34 fishing boat
Every detail is accounted for on the Phenom, right down to a slide mechanism on the lounger that allows easy access to the cooler underneath.

All that ooh la la makes for a comfy day on the water, but doesn’t have a darn thing to do with stuffing the fishbox. Luckily, the people at Phenom don’t just pay fishing lip service but actually put a priority on it. The livewells are a great example. Each 30 gallon well has two pumps, a primary and a backup, fed via a sea chest with high-speed pick-ups. They’re pressurized to eliminate sloshing, and to prevent water from spilling out the pressure is controlled with Phenom’s own custom algorithm which maintains 0.1 PSI at all times. Added bonus: the wells also have viewing ports on the front so you can eyeball your baits whenever you’d like.

Once you reel in the catch you can slide it on ice in the aft 62-gallon fishboxes, which are surrounded by over four inches of insulation. Plug ‘em, and you have a pair of 35.5 gallon fishboxes forward. Each gunwale houses three Gemlux screwless mounted rodholders, there are seven rocket launchers on the hard top, overhead teaser reels are in the hard top, and Hubble electric reel outlets fore and aft in the cockpit on both sides. And electronics are already taken care of with a stock pair of 17” Garmin 8617 MFDs at the helm. The piéce de résistance, however, may well be the tackle station in the back of the leaning post under the integrated cooler/rigging station. There are three bulk stowage drawers flanked by four tackle boxes plus another drawer to either side. If you can’t fit all your gear in there, it’s time to open up your own tackle shop.

tackle station on the phenom 34
You'll find plenty of room for all that fishing tackle aboard the Phenom 34.

There’s actually quite a long list of uber-cool details about this boat that we still haven’t touched upon: a chaise lounge with cushions on a slide so they don’t bunch up or have to be removed when accessing the cooler underneath, underwater lighting in the hull steps, Joystick Piloting, OnDeck remote monitoring… the list goes on and on. But there’s so darn much to cover on this boat, we simply don’t have enough room to talk about it all. And if you find the Phenom of interest and plan to go look at one we’d recommend clearing your schedule for the entire day. And also plan for uber-cool utterly awesome totally SICK.

Phenom 34 Specifications

  • LOA – 33’6”
  • Beam – 10’5”
  • Displacement – 9700 lbs.
  • Draft (min.) – 2’3.5”
  • Transom Deadrise – 23 degrees
  • Fuel Capacity – 350 gal.
  • Water Capacity: 30 gal.
  • Max. Power – 1200 hp

For more information visit Phenom or in the Chesapeake region see FishTalk supporters Legasea Marine, Yorktown, VA (757) 898-3000.

Or, if the 43 is more your style, check out this video: