[nestorpr]

When I was a teenager in Puerto Rico my elder brother and I used to go marlin fishing about 35-40 miles out on a new 1973 18' trihull Orlando Clipper bowrider with a '73 115 hp Evinrude and a 6 hp kicker. We learned to fish on her and she had 18 gals. built in and 2 6-gal portables, 15' outriggers, a VHF radio and a compass, that was all so we navigated by charts, magnetic bearing and dead reckoning. We were both graduates of the CG Auxiliary Seamanship school so that helped a lot! We caught about 7 blue marlin on her, the largest weighed 418 lbs (we boated it on a larger boat of course) and won 3 fishing tournaments, always being the smallest boat in the fleet. We also caught countless dolphin, tuna, wahoo, mackerel, etc. We were also very careful with the weather and kept a close watch on those sudden storms that blew in from the West. We later upgraded to a 1970 Bertram 25 with flybridge and twin Mercruiser 165's but we always remember those first fishing experiences with fondness, always being the underdog but usually coming out on top.

I agree, as long as you're careful, do your homework, know your equipment and keep it shipshape, you can perform wonders in small boats.