I am not a real big fan of any express boat. My reasoning is that the Captain should always be up high to direct the cockpit, watch spread spot slicks,bait,fish,etc. In an express boat it's a real pain to sit up in an uncomfortable tower all day, the smaller marlin towers are alright, but still no comparison to a flybridge.
Author, writer, marine artist, charter captain, lure manufacturer, ind. consultant
Beauty remains in the eye of the beholder and variety remains the spice of life. I certainly wouldn't deny anyone their reasons for not liking towers and preferring bridges.
Not me, though. We had a nice, fairly high bridge with Star Bright glass windows that rolled up and out of the way for an exceptional, 360 degree view, but to me it still wasn't anywhere near high off of the water enough and of course it attracted lots of passenger presence and subsequent distractions that I simply do not want to have when I am hunting or watching the spread. To me that's kind of like having someone in a tree stand with you when you are deer hunting in wet woods: "Leave me alone...I'm hunting!"
Much probably depends on the waters that one fishes, too. Cabo features pretty consistently calm waters. Of course, they also kick up something fierce at times, but that did not deter me or my crewman, Captain Meme, who like me, loved the tower and could care less about sea conditions. He was and is one tough hombre. One of us was up top, no matter what the conditions and in fact, we found the ability to see up and over big waves a really good way to adjust running angles and avoid debris and even moreso, the whale sharks that are common down there and that are usually slightly submerged, but high enough to remove your running gear and thus sink you if you ran over them.
I admit that I am pretty intense when it comes to this tuna tower thing. In fact, I was and still am extremely intense when it comes to anything that has to do with fishing, including the books that I write. I was once up there when I shouldn't have been. Waited too long while really bad conditions built. The action was hot and heavy and when I finally realized that it was time to bail out, it was too rough to risk climbing down the ladder. Wound up cracking three ribs and staying up there dealing with the pain (and man, cracked ribs hurt!) until we got into the harbor, where Meme came up and took over. I still couldn't get down the ladder because it just hurt too bad, so they had to sling me down from the tower, which was no easy task because I am a big gorilla. After being taped up and having a flexible cast put on, I was back up top the next day, but it was a typical calm one, or I wouldn't have been able to do that.
I was intense and I suppose half-maniacal when it came to that tower and the need to be in and see from it, but I can't tell you how many times that was the very thing that put us on some great fish that we never would have seen otherwise, even from the bridge. And as a lure designer and maker, I couldn't have asked for a better up close "test track". And I don't care if it's a big battlewagon, either...you can still see further and better and watch the spread better from there than you can from even the kind of high bridge most feature.
So again, for me, tuna towers rule, period! And towers on smaller boats too!
I'm a firm believer in the premise of “hunting” fish.
When I go out I'm always looking for signs and sometimes those signs are very subtle. At times when there are no birds around the slightest splash or flash that stands out from the sunlight reflecting on the wind driven waves can be just enough of a sign for a person to turn the boat and get the lures over a school of fish that you may not have noticed from a flybridge.
The added height can be a great asset to find fish or working birds further off in the distance.
I've fished on flybrige boats and boats with towers. I've caught fish on both. But the comfort of the bridge can lull you into a complacent mode. That being stated I do know of a boat with a fly bridge that does very well in the local waters but I attribute some of that to a good crew.
But the last time out I thought I saw a large yellow fin following a fish in that we had hooked. If I were in a tower it would have been easier to spot and someone could have tossed a bait out to it. By the time I noticed it the hooked fish was within 6 to 8 feet of the transom.
I’ve seen more marlin in the spread from a tower.
Full tuna towers provide an excellent vantage point from which to spot the signs that lead you to fish.
It’s much easier to set or adjust the spread from the tower. Yes sometimes it can be hard to communicate, but that can be easily rectified with a small amplifier and a microphone.
One thing that wasn’t mentioned or I haven’t seen it mentioned is placement of lights on the towers for lighting out the area around the boat if night fishing. You can have better control of areas that you want to light.
I’m with captain Archer. Sometimes it’s just nice to be away from the crowd.
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