I had a chiquita and they are unbelievable. Very dry, the only time you ever get wet is if you accidentally submarine through a wave. You have to be going with them and they need to be big. Rough warer isnt bad but going dead into a small chop can get old.

 

IMO the Baby cat is a much better ride in chop and waves. I have seen those Chiquita plow nose first into relativly small waves and wash anything loose off. They will probably run a tiny bit shallower than a BC but a BC will run in 3-4 inch if properly proped and loaded. Mine would float in about 6" and with the crossroads viper prop and if it was floating at all I could get it up on plane.
Both are good boats ......just be sure that you really want a boat that small. Neither one is going to be a pleasant dry ride crossing a rough big open bay like aransas, Copano or many others. The BC will do it a lot better but It will still be a chore. I really liked my BC but moved up to a 21 ft cat for a better ride more speed and range and for a wade fisherman I really didn't give up so much in the shallow water performance area
Good luck

 

If you trim the boat correctly it will only plow a wave if you are going with them and they are BIG. When it happened to me I was crossing San Antonio Bay from the land lock to Hoppers. This is obviously not what this boat was intended for. Other than that you NEVER get wet. I would not believe it unless I owned one myself. They are really fun and you will tend to test their limits a lot more than you would with a larger boat. I wish I still had mine but I decided to go with a larger boat because of the family. Knowing how to drive a boat like this is important also.

 

I had a Chiquita and sold it because it was to rough in chop. It will run stupid shallow but it got old having to worry about slowing down to keep waves from washing the deck. If you plan on only fishing the back lakes its perfect on calm days. Also its very weight sensitive. I am having a Baby Cat built right now. One thing is for sure the customer service with Tran Sport is far better than Forrest With Marine Service. I would not buy another boat from Freedom Boats because of that reason. I also, have a 20' Boatright for the days I want to take more people and its rough.

 

Baby Cat

I am having a Baby Cat built right now. One thing is for sure the customer service with Tran Sport is far better than Forrest With Marine Service.

I bought a used baby cat direct from the owner and have called Tran Sport for questions and they have treated me like I bought the boat directly from them. The baby cat it self is a great boat for what it was made for. I've ran through plenty of marshes not worrying about getting stuck. I've drifted on top of an oyster reef one time and was able to use my stake out stick to push me off. Once I cleared the heavy shell, I turned the wheel, lowered the throttle and it jumped up. I've only been in rough water one time and it handled it like a champ. I did get wet that day because of the wind and probably of my driving but I felt safe.

I was in your position too before I bought my baby cat. Do your research and compare it to what you want to do the most. I have no regrets buying mine.

 

I had a Chiquita for back bays and duck hunting and I loved it and I just sold it for a 19 foot shoalwater, but they will run stupid shallow and I took long trips on it and they are bigger then they feel but you do have to worry about takeing waves over the bow, I use to have to pan my routes on choppy days or if I had a lot of gear on it, but it did what I needed it to do and caught lots of fish and got me to the duck spots

 

Running shallow wise how do they compare?

 

I use to get up in mud in 4 to 6 inches in my Chiquita and have ran for acouple hundred yards in 1.5''-2'' I was not scared at all, just needed a bigger boat to do more deeper water fishing and to carry more people to blinds. I ran a 50 tohatsu and with a new prop loaded own 6 dozens decoys 2 people and a 18 pack 30mph all day long

 

I hunt poc almost always and hunt mule slough and pick pocket a lot and it got up in there on low tide days

 

In the Chiquita if you run around it is because there wasn't any more water between the bottom and the hull of the boat while you are on plane. I kissed the bottom a lot and it feels like an air boat when it touches the bottom. I never stopped to see how shallow that was. The engine is above the hull so it never drags. I was know to jump it across land from time to time. Just make sure there is enough water on the other side if you stop!! I am not sure with the baby cat but the chiquita has more surface area which makes the hydraulic pressure push it farther out of the water in super shallow water. You can actually feel it when you run from deep (12") to shallow (3-4").

 

if you like having booze slough cruises get the Chiquita that is what ill miss about mine

 

this my old boat

 

I will say a Chiquita is meant to be used. Run over exposed shell, over mud, get stuck, ect. If you try and stay "safe" you will not like it. I have a redfish line now and do not run it like my Chiquita. Railbird would say i am not pushing it like i should but if i stick my redfish line in the back of some lake i have a real problem. One thing to consider is a baby cat doesnt weigh much less than a redfishline. That is with no motor though. A 150 weighs a good bit more than a 90

 

Oh and i bought mine off another person. It was an older model and did not have a riser for the engine cables. I talked to Forrest and be offered to install one no charge. I would deal with him again in a second

 

Chiquita 14.6" 450lbs
Baby cat 16.2 800lbs
Something to think about

 

I have pushed a chiquita before cause I ran it solid once and with me and my woman we did it and kept going it takes a lot to stick one

 

If you have any concern whatsoever of ride in chop.....do yourself a huge favor and go ride in both of these hulls in chop conditions.No comparison in cat vs flat when comparing these two hulls in chop. And regarding hole shot.... 4-6"???... I call BS on any outboard driven prop hulls including Chiquita and Baby cat unless you're talking muddy soup and you're willing to sacrifice your motor! Now a true 10-12" yeah doable on soft bottom. On plane, I'll accept 3- 4" for short distances but remember if you stop your hull will be sitting on the bottom. No doubt both these hulls are great when used as they were designed.

 

I've been running a Babycat for 3 years and I've been really impressed with its ability to handle chop. It's my first cat hull so maybe it's just the nature of the beast, but it seems to easily keep its nose high in sloppy stuff.

It runs plenty skinny for me -- with either of the hulls you're looking at, I think if you soft-grounded you could probably push it out pretty easily.

 

Depends on if you want to go "really shallow" or you want to go "scary crazy airboat shallow" The Chiquita is like an airboat with a prop motor and will run anywhere you can see water standing. It's flat bottom so it's rough riding in chop and you have to be careful idling in big chop because waves will come over the bow. It's also very weight sensitive on the motor so try to get one with a 2 stroke instead of a 4 stroke. My buddy has one with a 60 Yamaha 4 stroke and I think it's too heavy of a motor for that hull, that's my only complaint about his boat. It's cool to run because you never have to worry about going too shallow because it will run anywhere water is standing since the motor is completely above the bottom of the boat. The Baby cat is better in chop and sits a little more level and your feet aren't always wet like the Chiquita. It's doesn't go as shallow but it will still run very shallow. Ride in both and pick your favorite, can't go wrong with either one though. Both quality builds.

 

I've been running a BC for about a year and a half, stuck it twice, once hard sand about ankle deep while being nice to someone fishing the "channel" wasn't easy for wife and I to push off, but had two full coolers I could have taken off to make it easier. The other time just slowly went into the mud till it wouldn't move (zero vis water and hadn't been there before) mama stayed on the bote and I just turned it around and powered out. I probably could have powered out without turning around. I think its very dry, but probably get the wettest going very slow in bigger waves.

 

There are quite a few small scooters that run shallow (some very smooth and almost completely dry), like the Baby Cat, Payton, Dargel 136, South Bay 160 and the Chiquita. But, between these two (BC and Chiquita) I'd have to go with the Baby Cat for its better and overall drier ride even though the Chiquita might draft and run a hair skinnier. If I owned a BC, I'd just allow for the difference and pay attention to tides and just enjoy the ride.

 

Cost on these boats?



I am looking in the 14' length for a flats boat and a lake boat. I am having a hard time getting real cost to buy for any of the smaller boats does anyone have real #s?

 

Depends on what you want to do. Be able to run maybe 4 inches more shallow if that or be able to get out in a windier bay.

The BC can run a lot of places and I have had mine out in lot bigger winds 20-25+ down south than I care to fish in but only have one problem. CHOP

The problem with either boat would be the chop. Big wind 20-25 SSE down the LLM will tear you if you have the chop that you find above PM in redfish bay. It is a checker board wave chop from all directions with the above winds and it will beat you to death running in it in a BC for 5-6 miles up the llm. I managed to break the power button on two Garmin 545's running in this chop down there in two different years. Garmin gave me a 546 after the second one and I had had no problems but did redo the garmin mount too.

Big waves in the BC can be eased thru. First time I got caught with a buddy trying to beat a norther to east maty was a trip in his BC. We launched and got across the bay as the norther appeared in the distance. Beautiful, slicks popping all over one of the coves but by the time we waded 150 yards the norther hit us with 25-30+ or better winds and in a minute the water was mud and we had a fun trip back across with 2-3+ ft waves on the way back across. The little BC took it time but we eased back across with no problems other than getting wet on the way back from the waves.