| It was fun zooming around Port Aransas in a Lake & Bay 20 Backwater, but the dealer I was with wasn’t so amused when the 62.1-mph headwind we created ripped his prescription sunglasses right off his head. If you’re looking for a flats and bay boat that can tear across the water’s surface so fast you leave a trail of glasses and hats in your wake, this is one you have to see. Our test boat was powered with a 225-hp Evinrude E-Tec, and as we zipped through the bay I thought the wind-blast would pull the hairs right out of my head. Hole-shot and handling are just as exhilarating as top-end performance, and with our test boat’s dark blue hull, low profile lines and curved poling platform pipework, it looks just as good as it runs. Same goes for the boat’s interior, which features touches like fully finished hatches inside and out, all of which dog down. In fact, I didn’t find a rough, unfinished edge anywhere on the boat.
The down-sides? Top-shelf boats don’t come cheap these days, and a fully-rigged Lake & Bay 20 Backwater with the 225-hp powerplant and a trailer lists in the upper 40’s. Is the upper 40’s reasonable for a 20’ boat that’s limited to relatively calm inshore waters? To me that sounds like an awful lot of cash, but hey – it’s a personal call. One more thing: the console is pretty small. That means more fishing room in the cockpit, but it also means you don’t get much protection from the wind and spray.
Even though this boat won’t get you into big water, it will take you places no man has gone before. Draft is a mere 10” so you can run into the skinniest backwater fishing holes around. And poling this rig won’t break your back, because it hits the scales at 1,150-lbs. You’re a competitive angler, and you make long runs in search of better hotspots? Then you’ll also appreciate the 48-gallon fuel capacity, which will keep you going full-tilt for hours.
Interior design is straight forward, with an anchor locker on the forepeak, a foredeck livewell, and a fishbox/icebox just behind it. Gunwales are wide enough to walk 360-degrees around the boat, and they ring a flats boat-sized cockpit with a small center console. There’s also a livewell in the large aft deck, flanked by a pair of stowage compartments. Which, of course, are a necessity—you’ll need that space to secure your hats and sunglasses, before nailing the throttle.
See the manufacturer's take at www.lakeandbayboats.com.
LOA - 20'1"
Beam - 7'9"
Draft - 10"
Weight - 1,150
Fuel capacity - 48
Max. HP - 250
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| If you feel the need for speed, the Backwater delivers. |
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