Designed to skim through shallow waters and push through rough seas, this 20-footer is a favorite with anglers up and down the coast. The coast of North Carolina shares at least three characteristics with the Northeast:rough waters, a proud tradition of boat building and excellent inshore fisheries, especially for fly- and light-tackle anglers.
Suppose an angler obsessed with finding the best possible fly-fishing craft teamed up with a couple of talented experienced boatbuilders to develop a 20-foot skiff that fished well in shallow water but still had seaworthiness to handle inlets and other rough waters safely. Would the result work well in the Northeast?
Yes, it would, if it were a Jones Brothers 1910 LT.

In just a few years, the 1910 LT has become a standard for the hard-core fly-fishers and guides from Carolina up through the Chesapeake to New Jersey, Long Island Sound and Cape Cod.

To do my homework for this test, I fished one on the Chesapeake with a friend Chris Coile, the president of the Coastal Conservation Association in Maryland, then I talked with Donnie Jones, who builds the boats with his brother, Rob. I also caught up with Tom Earnhardt, the aforementioned obsessed angler (a lawyer in Raleigh. North Carolina, in his spare time), and Dave Chouinard, a guide from Red Bank, New Jersey, who sells Jones Brothers boats out of hid shop, The Fly Hatch. Do these folks love their boats? Oh, yes. Here's why.

Donnie and Rob Jones were already working on the 1910's hull when their friend Tom Earnhardt approached them with a request to adapt it especially for fly- and light-tackle fishing. Earnhardt was convinced that there would be a market for such a boat from Carolina to the Northeast, and he used his skills as an advocate to win over the Joneses.

The brothers started with familiar formula: a modest transom deadrise (14 degrees) for stability, easy planning and shallow draft; a sharp forefoot to cleave open choppy seas; high freeboard and self bailing cockpit with scuppers for seaworthiness.They include a broad "Carolina flare" in the bow to keep the passengers dry.
Working with a plywood/fiberglass plug as their test boat, the Jones brothers tweaked the bottom till the combination of the 20-foot length and seven foot, seven inch beam gave them the soft, dry ride they were looking for, still combined with shallow draft. Then they built a mold from the plug.
Construction includes hand-laid, high-tech, bi- and tri-axial fiberglass cloth. These fabrics supply strength while requiring less resin than conventional woven roving, resulting in a strong, light hull that drives easily with modest power. The deck is sealed to the hull with adhesive, then fastened with stainless steel bolts, washers and lock nuts. Next, the hull is injected with closed-cell foam flotation. On the water, the 1910 LT's solid feel inspires confidence.

While Rob Jones finished the hull, Donnie Jones and Earnhardt began looking for strong, flush mount hardware. They designed hatches that wouldn't snag fly lines but would provide plenty of secure, dry storage for gear. Earnhardt fished several prototypes with different casting platform heights and added lips to their back edges to keep the line from blowing off onto the cockpit sole.

.
Rod storage was an obvious issue. The design team built in racks and rod tip tubes for up to 12 fly rods, along with vertical rack for three casting or spinning rods on the port side of the console. They also developed a collapsible leaning post that can fit into holders on both the bow and stern decks, for casting and running respectively.
One particularly important feature that Earnhardt worked out is the "bridge" that spans the cockpit from the aft storage locker to the port live/release well. Most flats boats have a large stern deck here, with small cockpit drains plumbed to scuppers in their transoms. This arrangement is fine in calm seas, but such systems drain relatively slowly and are prone to clogging. Earnhardt had seen too much green water on the Carolina coast and wanted to ensure that any seas that came aboard would flow right back to the transom and out through the generous scuppers there. At 26 inches, the bridge is plenty wide enough for good footing while casting, while allowing a clear path astern for water. It's hinged on the starboard side for easy access to the live well when it's up.

Most 1910 LT's come rigged with a stern platform for "poling/sighting," according to the Jones Brothers literature. However, Tom Earnhardt emphasizes that this is not a flats boat. He uses the push pole for correcting drifts and casting angles, but he does not pole the 1910 LT in the classic sense. He feels that the platform's sighting function is the most important use.
New Jersey Captain Davis Chouinard agrees, adding that it makes a great temporary leaning post for the angler casting from the stern.

Both Chouinard's and Chris Coile's boats are rigged with dual electric motors mounted on the trim tabs, and they often pilot their skiffs from the stern platforms. The quiet electrics give them excellent maneuverability when working tide rips, points, bars, beaches and schools of fish.
The trim tabs are essential parts of the equation. Earnhardt emphasizes that the Jones brothers balanced the prototypes carefully before the tabs were ever installed. "The tabs don't cover up any design flaws," he says.
"Instead, they give the skipper ways to balance the boat, both fore and aft and side to side, according to load, sea conditions and passenger comfort. I dearly love to run a boat that can be tweaked with tabs and motor trim to a point of perfection. You can do so much to add to the enjoyment of a day on the water, but you have to learn to run your own boat, to get the best out of it for the crew you have on a particular day." Dave Chouinard also likes to play the tabs. When guiding, he often runs through nasty chop coming out of New Jersey's Navesink River. "This river has a six foot tide," he says. "When it starts to dump out against a strong northwest wind, it can be ugly. I throttle back to 13 to 15 knots and work the tabs to hit the seas with the hull's sharp forefoot. That way, I can keep my clients comfortable and dry in quartering seas."
. SEA TRIAL .
On test day, Chris Coile, our friend, Neil Solomon, and I ran speed and fuel trials, then worked pods of schoolie stripers with flies and jigged weakfish with spinning gear. With southwest winds of 10 to 12 knots, the 1910 LT rode the one-foot chop like a big Cadillac. The feeling was the same as on a trip I took a couple of years ago in another Jones Brothers, that time in three-foot seas. Donnie and Rob Jones got this hull right.
Jones Brothers Marine rigs its boats with Yamaha outboards. While the 1910 LT is rated for 200 horsepower, the 150 offers the best combination of performance and economy.
Chris Coile's boat runs a year-old carbureted 150, which gives it a top speed of 33.7 knots and a wide, cruising-speed range of 15 to 32 knots.
Yamaha's Ox 66 fuel-injected 150 will give the same power with lower fuel consumption, and the new 150 HPDI (High Pressure Direct Injection) engine should be spectacular on the 1910 LT.
. CONCLUSIONS .
Dave Chouinard says simply, "For me, the 1910 LT is the best compromise of shallow-water capability and seaworthiness. I've been spoiled."
Tom Earnhardt is a perfectionist. "This boat does a lot more things well than some other boats," he says. "I'm still looking, though." As he does, he talks a lot with Donnie and Rob Jones.
For coastal fly-and light-tackle anglers, the Jones Brothers 1910 LT is a very good boat now, and it will only get better.
.
Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price ........................$41,663