Defiance Yellowtail 195 Review – Small but Capable Fishing Boat

I’m now going into my third summer as the owner of a Defiance Yellowtail 195.  This boat is a huge upgrade in a relatively small package from my old 18′ Westerner Bayrunner.  It is a boat that often thinks it is bigger than it is, delivers on what it is and is a joy to regularly use.

In this review:

• Fishability
• Details and Specifications
• Pros and Cons
• Conclusion
• Images
• Performance

↑

Fishability – Key for a Fishing Boat Review

The Boat and Layout

This is a small fishing boat/skiff designed to fish the left coast of the US.  Defiance Boats are located at Pt. Defiance outside of Seattle, WA where rain and wind are common.  Contrary to popular belief, Southern California isn’t warm all of the time and these boats fit in nicely here.

Most avid anglers like center consoles because of the 360-degree fishability.  When you add a cabin in the form of a walk around or a pilothouse, you make a compromise.  So why would you want a pilothouse on a boat so small?  Well, for protection from the elements.  First, my previous boat was an 18′ aluminum Westerner Bayrunner.  A great boat, but you wear your foul weather gear the whole time.  On your average day here, you get wind, spray and a bit of cold.  Yes, cold.  While Southern California is relatively far south, the water here gets its nutrients from the deep water and the California current which comes down from Alaska.  For a month or so, the water may get above 70 degrees, but even in the summer, it is not uncommon for water to “roll” and dip below 60.  Wind on 60 degree water for any length of time is cold.  So, the pilot house provides protection from the elements.  Protection from the wind, rain and sun are great features of this boat.

What about the compromise?  Yes, you loose 360-degree fishing access because of the pilothouse, but Defiance did a great job of leaving some space to walk around it.  This boat has a custom waist-high bow rail which makes fishing up front very comfortable even in the big swells.  The next nice thing is that Defiance pushes the house way forward leaving a lot of space for the cockpit.  By mounting the motor on a bracket, cockpit space is maximized and you get a closed transom protecting you more from waves over the stern.  The sides of the cockpit are high enough that you feel secure in the boat, but you don’t feel oddly high from the water either.  All in all, you get a very usable fishing platform with some larger boat features.

This is only a 20′ fishing boat.  The cockpit is one area that it tends to think it is a little bit bigger. Even when staying just in the back of the boat, there is room for two people to cast.  Three is doable and when one is on the bow, it works well.

I do a combination of fishing plastics and fishing bait.  Mostly I fish plastics.  Casting artificial plastics is one of my favorite things to do.  This boat handles that well and it was one of my concerns when I got the boat.  In addition to the large cockpit, the boat will drift sideways to the wind.  Most outboard boats will point their stern into the wind.  The pilothouse starts to act as a sail and by turning the motor hard over, you can steer it to drift sideways.  This is great for all types of fishing.

With ample space for a 20′ fishing boat, being able to duck out of the sun or wind is great.  While not a family boat, there is a little cabin that the kids love.  I’m 5’10 on a good day and when I lie in the cabin my feet stick out.  You can overnight on it, but it is not a five-star hotel.  I try to keep the cabin cleaned out, but it does provide great dry storage for gear and things.

I should also mention that the house is nice, but it is not designed for tall folks.  I think up to about 6′ tall would be ok in it, but my tall friends need to duck down.

The Ride

The boat is lite and a bit narrow with a deep V hull.  It knifes through chop and generally lands softly when coming off bigger waves.  Again, this is a small boat, but the ride is pretty nice.  I don’t get beat up too often and it has handled some pretty rough stuff.

One characteristic of the boat you notice it can be “tippy” when not moving.  The deep V is great for slicing though waves, but when you aren’t moving, the boat likes to tip 20-degrees (hull’s deadrise) either way until that side becomes flat and level.  It is sort of like a teeter totter and for some it can take a bit to get used to.

That tippiness also means the trim tabs are very valuable while running.  Either due to wind or gear placement, I’ll often need to trim one side a bit to keep things level and comfortable.  Should I be pounding directly into it, a little bow down makes the ride pretty nice.

Going down swell can take a bit to get used to.  To maximize the cockpit space, you are driving pretty far forward. I liken it to a n old VW bus.  Add that to the view of coming over a 3-6′ swell and it can feel like you are going to fall into a huge hole.  But, the deep V and the flared bow keep the ride nice and comfortable.  That said, I find this boat runs well in all directions relative to the swell.

The boat is pretty dry. I know that is an odd comment to make about a pilothouse as that is the purpose of the house.  But, the hull itself does a great job of knocking down spray.  Yes, we do get spray into the windows every now and then and I appreciate them immensely.  But, compared to other fishing boats I’ve ridden around here, a lot less water comes back that could spray you.  This also keeps the corrosive salt water off your gear which is a bonus.

Fishing

I think I’ve hit on a lot of the key points here already.  The boat fishes well.  It is small and nimble for things like being tight to the rocks or holding position over a stone.  It drifts very well and has great space for casting.  There is no question that it is designed for fishing.

I would not say this is a great rig for tolling.  It is right at the size where  it is fighting a plane for a lot of the offshore trolling targets, so economy goes down.  For slow trolling live baits, it is great.

I also like to lobster Southern California style with this boat.  It almost seems like it was designed to be a mini-lobster boat.

All in all, it is pretty easy to configure this for your fishing style and it is comfortable to fish from.

Running and Economy

This is a 20′ fishing boat with a 115 HP Yamaha 4-stroke.  In my opinion, with the bait tank, railing and some people, it is a little underpowered.  Getting up onto a plane with a load or into bad wind chop can be a little slow.  Once there, it goes pretty well.

I’ve been keeping stats on fuel burn and fuel flow pretty much since I got the boat.  San Diego Boats installed a fuel flow gauge for me which is a great tool.

Cruising speed is from 16-20 knots.  Full speed is about 30 knots.

Since I got the boat in 2010, I’ve put roughly 630 hours on the motor, burned 1,100 gallons of gas and averaged just over 3 nautical miles per gallon.  Loaded with people and gear in big waves, that will drop.  In the bay, it goes way up.  The average trip is 10-15 gallons of gas making this an economical boat to use.  Averaging over 300 hours per year, it does get used.

I played with props a lot and currently use a 4-blade aluminum 15″ prop.  I moved the motor up a notch that also seemed to help.

See the table and graph at end for more on performance.

↑

Details and Specifications

From the manufacturer’s site:

Specifications

Features

My Options and Customizations

The boat was a bit of a showroom model so I got it dialed with the nice railings that I think are a huge part of the overall package.  Ultimately, I added the bait tank and electronics to have it fish ready.  I’ve tweaked and improved a bunch of things, but that is part of dialing in your boat for your fishing style.

• Raw water washdown
• Custom Stern Rail
• Custom bow rail
• Custom cabin top mounted rod racks with light brackets
• 40 gallon fiberglass bait tank – Big Salt tank that is great.  It even has a light in the bottom.  It is not the reason my bait ever dies (and it rarely does).

I’ve added a number of rod holders where they make sense which has also increased the fishability.  Some are to hold rods, some are for fishing and some to hold gear (bait table, bait net, gaff etc.)  The cabin top mounted rod racks are only set back 5-degreess so they don’t hang over the the cockpit much (good for casting space).  I’ve mounted some rod holders to the bow rail angled forward to also keep then out of the way for casting.

In the electronics department, I went with a Lowrance HDS-8.  At the time, it was the best 8″ model with a focus on fishing.  It is a great tool that I’ve added radar and sidescaning sonar too which just make the overall packaged better.  For a VHF, I got an ICOM M422.  I also added two speakers wired to a marine amp that interfaces to my phone via bluetooth.  This gives wireless sound for slow times or when running to the offshore grounds.  I replaced the halogen spreader lights with LED from Coastal Night Lights which gives much better light and draws a fraction of the power.

For creature comforts, a few well placed hand holds have come in very handy both for running at speed and for when drifting in rougher conditions.

↑

Pros and Cons

I’m trying to include as many cons as possible.  I am biased as I really like this boat and it fits my needs very well.  My needs are based on my current situation, so I’ll try to not influence the pros and cons with them, but obviously they are a factor.

Cons

• With the additions custom features, the 115 HP motor is a little weak.  It is ok when solo, but you want more hole shot with more load or into the breeze/waves
• Can be a little tippy when not moving
• Cabin is a bit more of a storage area than a cabin
• Stern cooler was not insulated
• Batteries are in the bilge.  This is common on little boats, but is a risky point of failure should you take on water.
• 50 gallon gas tank limits the range a bit, but then again, it is a small boat.

Pros

• A small boat that can do a lot with a focus on fishing
• Comfortable ride
• Great protection from elements; sun and cold
• Trailerable boat under 3000 pounds – it even fits in my driveway saving me storage costs (this was a big factor in my decision).  I can easily launch it on my own too.
• Economical to run – I’ve been averaging close to 3MPG since I’ve had the boat (Nautical Miles per Gallon.)
• Composite construction, so limited rot to worry about.

↑

Conclusion

This is a solid little fishing boat that can do a lot in the right conditions.  It fishes the bay well, it fishes the local kelp well and it can run offshore when the conditions are right.  The ride is comfortable and shelter from the elements is great.  I can even do family cruises on it which can be a blast.

Being able to store it in my driveway (I only have an inch or so to spare) helps to make owning this boat a reality for me.  Being able to tow it with a Toyota 4-Runner also helps a lot since I don’t need a dedicated tow vehicle.

There is a lot for me to like in the boat.  Like all boat owners, I dream of more sometimes, but for the most part I am very happy with my Defiance Yellowtail 195.  It is versatile enoughto fish every week and doesn’t break me or the bank in doing so.
↑

Images

Performance

Fuel Flow Chart: