Bay boats and flats boats are shallow-draft open fishing boats, typically 5–8 metres, designed for inshore and nearshore saltwater fishing in estuaries, grass flats, tidal shallows, and protected bays. They are purpose-built for fishing species that inhabit very shallow coastal environments — redfish, bonefish, permit, and tarpon in North American and Caribbean waters — where draft and stealth are critical.
Flats boats are the more specialised of the two: extremely low-profile, with minimal freeboard, a completely flat and open deck, and draft of 20–30 centimetres when the engine is trimmed up. The open deck allows casting in all directions; a polling platform above the outboard gives the guide an elevated position to spot fish. Bay boats have higher freeboard, greater beam, and more structural volume, which improves their capability in light offshore chop and allows more passenger capacity and storage — effectively a compromise between a flats boat and a small center console. Neither type is suited to open ocean or rough offshore conditions.
Hulls are fibreglass or aluminium, with fibreglass standard on higher-specification production flats boats and aluminium common on budget-oriented utility bay boats. Hull forms are extremely shallow-V or modified flat — the geometry is driven by draft requirements rather than rough-water performance. Outboard petrol engines are standard, with a primary engine on the transom for transit and a small electric trolling motor at the bow for near-silent positioning while fishing. Most examples are road-trailerable.
