Outboard-powered center console boats became popular shortly after they appeared on the scene in the late 1960s. The design was a departure with wide-open decks and a centrally positioned, stand-alone helm. Hardy anglers learned to appreciate the fishing room and new builders like Boston Whaler, Mako, Sea Craft,Aquasport and Pro-Line rode the wave of popularity into fishermen's hearts as the center console became a mainstay in the saltwater boat market.

For the first 25 years the design remained mired in the 18- to 25-foot range, even though adventurous anglers were running further offshore in their watch-pocket fish boats. It seemed center console evolution had stalled until a silver missile of a fish called a king mackerel burst on the tournament scene. Promoted by the Southern Kingfish Association, the SKA Tournament Trail has grown into the largest saltwater tournament series in the world and, along the way, caught the attention of boatbuilders who saw it as an unprecedented opportunity. Builders never associated with fish boats began cranking out center consoles in an arms race driven by tournament fishermen who flocked to them like kingfish to a chum slick.

Top: A Fountain on its way to the fish; Middle: Plenty of space for electronics; Bottom Left: What it?Ĵs all about.

Faster!

The purse in kingfish tournaments is given to the biggest fish. Therefore competitors began running farther to find them making the need for speed a driving force. The first high-performance builder to step up to the plate was Fountain Powerboats with a poorly laid out center console that was faster than a speeding bullet! The poor layout didn't last long as Reggie Fountain hooked up with top competitors and let them design outrageous fishing machines on his outrageous racing hulls. Florida builder Contender Boats was already building relatively fast, extremely seaworthy center consoles for offshore fishing and SKA competitors latched onto them in a big way. The next convert was race boat builder Donzi, which had no presence in the fishing boat market until they started building tournament kingfish boats. Today it builds more than 400 screaming center consoles a year. More companies were to follow, including Yellow Fin and Baja.

Bigger!

As fast became commonplace, bigger became better. The initial 28- to 30-foot models just weren't cutting the mustard for long runs in rough seas and pretty soon the average boat in competition was 32 to 35 feet, but like today's SUVs, they were still growing. Most recently Fountain, Donzi, Contender, Yellowfin, Baja and other builders have introduced center consoles pushing 40 feet!

Faster and bigger required more horses. Involvement of both Mercury and Yamaha in SKA tournament fishing helped push the envelope even farther. The first dramatic step was competing with a pair of 300-hp outboards from the Mercury Racing Division. Then, as boat sizes inched up, one enterprising competitor showed up at an event with three outboards strapped to the back of his ride and the arms race went into overdrive again! It didn't take long before all tournament boats over 34 feet sported triples and last year the Hooters Restaurant sponsored 38 Fountain showed up at the SKA Nationals with four, count 'em, four 250XS Optimax outboards for a cool 1000 horses!

Tougher!

Obviously, with the increase in horsepower and speed, center consoles had to be built much stronger. In a conversation with Mike Collins, president of Donzi Marine, who fishes SKA pro tournaments, he explained what it was all about.

Donzi grew up building ocean racers, he said.When we decided to get into SKA competition in the late 1990s we took our 30- foot racing hull and modified it into a center console. It was fast and we thought it was tough. Wrong! In no time SKA anglers started breaking things we'd never seen break before. It was back to the drawing board to meet the challenge from the bottom up.

Did it work? According to Collins the result is the best running, best riding, strongest boats Donzi has ever built. Their 29, 32, 35 and brand new 38-footer are deep-V, stepped hull rocket ships that can take an incredible pounding tournament after tournament.

Built to Fish

Above all else, a center console is a fishing boat and along with the other improvements, fishing amenities were upgraded dramatically. Helms grew into command centers with room to mount oodles of electronics and controls for three engines. It was made taller and wider for more protection for captain and crew. The T-Top became a functional part of the fishing equation with rod holders for storage and also for trolling rods while fishing. Storage for PFDs moved overhead for quicker access and to free up space elsewhere.

The rocket launcher, leaning post was made into a housing for twin racing seats with drop centers for back support while running. Cavernous live wells were added because live bait is tops for kings and some can weigh two pounds or better. In fact, most boats have two live wells along with redundant pump systems that can move a thousand gallons-per-hour of raw water through them to keep the bait frisky! Greater below and above deck storage, tackle centers and rigging stations found their way aboard.

Trickle Down

Today big, high-speed center consoles are commonplace wherever fishermen congregate, however there has been a reverse trend developing. In an effort to attract more anglers to SKA events a new division called the Class of 23, limited to boats 23-feet and under at the waterline, was instituted.With it came a rush by builders to shoehorn as many of the advantages they design into the big boats into these new generation midsize center consoles and they are pulling it off. The latest 23s are every bit the match for the unlimited class boats and just to prove it a team fishing a Contender 23 Tournament Model bested all the big boats in the 2004 SKA Nationals.

Better Fish Boats

What does all this mean for you? The bottom line is tournament fishing pushed manufacturers to improve their designs and has led to the widest selection of center console fishing boats ever offered. You can buy these tournament-ready boats right off the rack at your local dealers whether you compete or not. As we approach the 50th Anniversary of the center console, it is alive and well and thriving in sizes from 18- to 38-feet. If you love to fish you owe it to yourself to check out the boats that are living on the cutting edge.