A nice example of a custom casting platform on the bow of a Maverick HPX-T

For those who don’t have a casting platform and looking to kill two birds with one stone, a Yeti Cooler is a great option.  The coolers are stable enough to stand on and fish while doing a great job of keeping things cold.  A 35 QT Yeti Tundra cooler fits nicely in front of the console on either Maverick and easily can hold a trips worth of food and drinks.  If you are looking a little larger cooler the 45 QT Yeti Tundra can be turned to run length wise in the cockpit and it still fits nicely in front of the console.

Yeti Tundra Coolers work great as a casting platform

Maverick Boats have used carpet for a long time on the under gunnel areas on their boats.  One of the most common jobs I do on Mavericks is replacing that old carpet with SeaDek.  Unfortunately from boat to boat placement of the rod holders seem to vary slightly so there isn’t a one size fits all kit.  If you would like to order a set for your boat, just contact me and I can work through the details with you.  We can do almost any logos you would like on the under gunnel areas and this really dresses the boat up nicely.

The owner of Maverick Boats, Scott Deal's personal boat

Maverick Boats are known for being very stealthy and quite, but one thing that ruin it is a client or friend stomping around in the boat.  We all have been on a boat with someone who isn’t exactly light footed.  A cockpit kit for the floor of the boat dampens sound and makes it more stealthy when trying to sneek up on a school of skittish fish.  Most layouts for our floor kits cover the helm area of the boat creating a helm pad and making it more comfortable when driving the boat also.

17 HPX-V floor kit

Depending upon where you are fishing in your Maverick sometimes staking out with your push pole isn’t a good option.  For instance, many places in Mosquito Lagoon have a harder sand bottom and trying to stake off with the push pole wont work.  If you are fishing down in the Everglades over a soft or muddy bottom, a push pole may work out just fine.  Either way, we always find ourselves in situations where having the capability to stake out is nice.  A great shallow water anchor system I recommend to my clients is the Wang Anchor.  There are different mounting systems depending upon you need.  They make a transom mount system and also a quick release deck mount system.  Both systems have their place in certain instances.  Even just purchasing the pole works great and you can just tie off to the pole with a rope.  The 3/4″ solid fiberglass pole penetrates hard bottom easily allowing you to stakeout and it can easily be stored in the under gunnel rod tubes of your Maverick.

This is the transom mount system on a HPX-V

Every technical poling skiff needs one thing and that is a push pole.  Castaway Customs has you covered there also as we carry many different push poles.  The pole that I’m currently using and for the price can’t be beat is a Loop push pole.  The Loop push pole is made from carbon fiber and is extremely stiff and lightweight.  It can also be made up to 25′ 9″ allowing you to pole more efficiently.

The Loop push poles work great

When it comes to tricking out your skiff, these are only a few of the most popular options and products my customers ask for.  The possibilities are endless and many time the only limits are created by the size of your pockets.  No matter what type of skiff you have, just remember that the purpose is to get out on the water and make some stories of your own.

New to the push pole game is Loop Tackle.  Loop has been around for a while in the fly fishing world and made a name for themselves making fly fishing rods and reels.  They are now producing a multi-piece carbon fiber push pole.  In general I think most people always been a little leery of multi-piece push poles.  Depending upon who assembles them, and how they are assembled they have been known to leak and allow water to intrude into the pole which adds weight and is annoying.  Push poles also take a lot stress and abuse, most people only put a ferrule into a pole to repair it and are afraid of breaking a multi-piece poles which have multiple ferrules.  Once again this comes down to the person assembling.  Depending upon which epoxy they use, how long they let it cure, and several other factors, this can literally make or break a pole, no pun intended.  Luckily for everyone, most every Loop Tackle push pole that is around or assembled is put together by Joe Welbourn from Carbon Marine.  Joe specializes in carbon fiber products for the marine industry and specializes in working with epoxies and composites.

I recently picked up one of these poles to try out for myself.  I choose to use a 21′ push pole which is constructed of 4 separate pieces made out of carbon fiber.  I have poled with a Temple Fork Outfitters multi-piece pole, and in my opinion the pole had to much flex and felt to “whippy”.  The TFO pole is quite a bit cheaper though, so for people on a budget or those who don’t pole all the time, it may be a great option.  As soon as I picked up the Loop Tackle push pole, I knew it felt better.  They come with two different grips, one is ribbed similar to a Stiffy Hybrid push pole, but the ribs aren’t quite a large.  The other finish is smoother.  Both the smooth and ribbed finish have shark skin texture to them.  This shark skin texture is smooth when sliding the pole through your hands and gives you good grip when pushing.  It took me a little while to get use to it, but it helps if the pole is wet.  I tested out the pole poling around the Hellsbay Skate.  The pole worked great and I poled several miles into and with the wind.  Overall the performance of the pole was great.  For the Hellsbay Skate which is just under 13′ the 21′ push pole worked great, but the nice thing is the poles can be made up to 25′ .  I’m sure the the longer you extend the pole the flex characteristics may slightly change, but the flex in the 21′ pole seemed perfect.

I liked the poles so much that I decided to add it to the product lines carried by Castaway Customs.  If you are looking for a push pole feel free to call me at 321-537-2039 or email me at tyler@castawaycustoms.com and I can get you exact pricing or answer any of your questions.

Loop Push Pole Product Testing

Loop Tackle Push Pole Foot

21' Loop Tackle Push Pole