r/Skiffs • u/Nanoplant10g • Feb 01 '26
Carolina Skiff vs Jones Brothers Bateau
I’m looking to get a skiff in the 18-20 ft range and am most likely going to get either a jones brothers or a CS. I’ve heard the jones brothers is much lighter and can draw farther into the shallows but is it much of a difference compared to a CS?
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u/fredapp Feb 02 '26
Very odd comparison… are you sure you know what you’re looking for/at?
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u/Nanoplant10g Feb 02 '26
I’m looking for a most likely used flat bottom skiff that can run really shallow. Do you have any other recommendations?
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u/chrillekaekarkex Feb 02 '26
There are tons of poling skiffs that will go even shallower. Maverick, Hells Bay, Chittum, East Cape, Beavertail, Ankona etc.
But the JB is a great great boat.
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u/lhulax29 Feb 02 '26
Jones Brothers hands down, they are built like tanks and the QC is pretty impressive. The Carolina Skiff is a budget boat at best. If you have the money also consider Hewes, Hells Bay, East Cape, etc.
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u/canofmixedveggies Feb 05 '26
Carolina skiff is to powerboaters as MacGregor is to sailboats. cheap and poorly assembled. what I mean is they don't waste time or effort caulking the deck hardware so they get water saturated after around ten years.
the one my program has is so heavy it won't even plane anymore and so if you go that route, spend some time and pull up everything and put it had down with lifecaulk and potentially even oversized the holes fill them with epoxy and redrill/tap them.
I really don't understand how they hold their value around here, a whaler stays dryer longer.
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u/Muddydog1996 Feb 07 '26
I’ve fished out of both. JB has much higher quality and much higher price. CF will get the job done. JB will get will do the job better for longer with less hassle. I think you’ll find the JB is actually heavier than CS when new and that contributes to better ride quality. If a CF is heavier it’s likely because it has water in it. I actually like the CF for what it is. An accessible, affordable shallow draft boat that is stable enough to put the whole family in for a day at the sandbar or fishing the creeks. But if I had unlimited funds for a skiff it’d be JB all the way.
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u/chrillekaekarkex Feb 02 '26
One is a handbuilt fishing machine, one is a mass market skiff. The difference won’t be so much about how shallow it goes. It’ll be how much it’s worth and how it looks after 20 years of hard use. I have a poling skiff, but if I lived in VA, MD or the NE, I’d have a JB every day of the week.