Okay
First of all I do like the looks of the mako skiff. The problems come in on several areas. Tracker marine has a bad rep for service after the sale/warranty work. The hardware (lids, latches, hinges, gas cap, cleats, instruments) that mako uses is pretty cheap and will fail with any decent amount of saltwater use.
Another issue is this, IF you go with an 18 footer, you will find that the length of the boat in a lot of our open bays just isn't long enough to span the typical day to day chop. This makes for a lot slower and ROUGHER travel. 20 to 21 foot is a good length for this.
Will you actually pole the boat? how much?
What will you be doing 80 percent of the time? How many people will you have onboard? will you fish livies a lot in the summer? what bay system do you fish most?
Do you realize what kind of depreciation this rig will have, ESPECIALLY with Mako's newfound bad repuation. I would look into getting a rigged out saltwater boat that is 1-5 years old.
IF i were buying a 18 foot flats type skiff I would look into getting a 18 foot maverick master angler or 18 foot hewes redfisher. There's a good chance that a "bay" boat might fill your needs better, in that case, the options are endless. A lot will depend on what type of deal you find.
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