Florida Sportsman - "A Second for the Shallows" This Dreamboat is easy on the flats, and even
easier on the bank account.
Larry Miller never realized that a boat could change his lifestyle—or rather,
his fishing style.
Larry Miller's specialized craft was designed and rigged for running in ultra
shallow water. Hygraulic jack plate and tunnel hull configuration permit the
operator to raise the engine so that the prop clears the bottom.
Miller, a transplant from Ohio to the Dunellon area, began his Florida west
coast fishing believing, as many of us do, that one boat would serve his every
need. His 21-footer was certainly adequate to fish offshore of Crystal River,
Homosassa and Yankeetown. It also worked just fine on nearshore flats in the
area. But there were drawbacks. For one, he was limited to using improved
launching ramps, few and far between in the area. He was also restricted from
those mysterious and fishy creeks and backwaters separated from navigable water
by oyster, shell and sandbars.
Miller began looking for a second boat to use closer to shore. He considered
several possibilities, including canoes, kayaks, aluminum and fiberglass
johnboats with jet drives, technical poling skiffs and even airboats. Each had
its advantages, but looking around, Miller still wasn’t satisfied. A combination
of these boats was what he really wanted, one that would launch easily at
primitive ramps, run shallow with a couple of fishermen aboard, provide lots of
interior space and operate economically.
He found what he was hunting for in a 20-footer built by a Citrus County fishing
guide. Captain Billy Henderson began selling his Micro Draft 20 a few years ago,
and it has created a stir among Big Bend anglers for its ability to run and fish
shallow and efficiently. After reading some reviews of the boat on the Florida
Sportsman On-line Fishing Forum, Miller saw Henderson running over shallow flats
near the hot water discharge of the Crystal River Energy Complex. Impressed, he
contacted Henderson for a test drive. Already convinced that the boat would do
the job, Miller admits that the test ride in the treacherous Ozello backwaters
“sealed the deal.”
