Buddy Davis 28

Start a discussion about Carolina sport fishing boats and, nine times out of 10, the name Buddy Davis will come up. Davis’ name is legendary when it comes to sport fishing craft built to ply the rough-and-tumble waters.

The first thing you’ll likely notice about the Buddy Davis 28 center console is that it has a lot of flare. Bow flare, that is. What that flare means for you is a dry ride no matter what, providing the ability to hop from port to port in the worst conditions the Great Lakes can serve up. But a dry ride isn’t any good if you’re banging and bashing against every wave that comes your way. To contend with that, the Buddy Davis 28 has a whopping 24.5 degrees of wave-splitting transom deadrise, which means your dry ride will also be on the smooth side.

As you’d expect, there are a ton of fishy features on the Buddy Davis 28. In addition to the huge transom-mounted fish box and livewell, there’s a set of forward lockers, which can also be used for general stowage. It’s also worth mentioning that there’s a head situated beneath the center console for when nature calls.

Two of Yamaha’s excellent 250-horsepower F250 four- stroke offshore outboards (twin Yamaha F300s are also an option) provide power, which can propel this hardcore machine to just under 60 mph at 6,050 rpm. Dollars will vanish quickly from your wallet at this speed, however — a little more than 50 gallons of gas at today’s fuel costs. A more reasonable cruise speed settles in at around 33 mph at 3,500 rpm, where the two outboards sip only 15.1 gallons of fuel per hour. Pair this efficiency with the 200-gallon fuel capacity and you’re talking more than 400 miles worth of theoretical cruise range. That means Cleveland to Buffalo, with more than 170 miles of fuel to spare.

“Though some will do a little fishing in this boat, the majority use it for hopping safely and quickly across open lake waters. This is an extremely durable hull; there’s not a splinter of wood in it anywhere,” says Lake & Bay Yacht Sales owner Ted Patrick (yachtworld.com/lakeandbay; 419-656-0408).

Factor in her Carolina heritage, Buddy Davis design and  impressive performance, and the Buddy Davis 28 center console is a hard package to beat.