Lake Boating - The Growth of the Inland Center Console Market

Bryan Greenwood

Regional Sales Manager - Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Mid-West

It was a few weeks ago that I had to get my boat out of the water for the winter. October in the Northeast is the time of year when boats and removable docks need to be taken out before ice has the possibility to set in. In the northern coastal markets, it is less about the threat of ice as it is the threat of freezing temperature and snowstorms. After removing my boat from the lake, I walked down to my community dock to remove the last of my dock lines. I pride myself on being one of if not the last boat out every year. Same goes for getting the boat in the water as soon as possible in the spring. This year though I realized that there were still 4 boats remaining. Three center consoles of varying sizes and a deep-v aluminum fishing boat. Not a surprise that anglers were trying to eke out as many days on the water as possible. The surprising thing to some though may be the fact that there were 3 center consoles on just one dock of my lake. I boat on Lake Wallenpaupack in Northeastern Pennsylvania. A 15-mile-long lake predominantly dominated by pontoon, runabouts, and wake boats. Over the past few years though there has been a significant uptick in the amount of center console boats on the lake. I can say the same about many inland lakes across the country. Boat styles are cyclical and right now the center console is becoming a sought-after design in boating areas previously reserved for the more common lake style boats.

There are many reasons for this. As mentioned above boating styles are constantly evolving with different style boats moving in and out the spotlight. Just look at the pontoon market over the past 15 years. A boat once considered the “minivan” of boating has become once of the top selling boat models in recent memory. There are many reasons for this but the biggest one is that pontoons evolved. No longer just a slow lake cruiser for grandma and grandpa these boats started offering better layouts, increased horsepower, and better overall designs.

Something similar has been transpiring in the center console market recently. Boats that were once utilitarian in nature are now designed to be a well-rounded vessel capable of much more than just fishing. Designs like integrated windshields, plush interiors, ski pylons and stereo systems are making this style of boat something that is now capable of many uses. A boat that can easily pull wakeboarders in the morning can be anchored in party cove by noon and used as the shuttle to waterfront dinning that night. Not to mention a fantastic freshwater vessel to fish from. Whether it's targeting striped bass, walleye or any other freshwater species any of our center console models can handle the challenge. For smaller lakes our bay boat lineup may be a perfect vessel while larger lakes may benefit from the designs of deep-v Open and Heritage models.

It’s not just styling and amenities though that make the center console a great candidate for your next lake boat. The hull of a center console is designed to tackle a variety of water conditions including many that you will see in inland boating. Boats designed for the Chesapeake Bay also perform really well on Lake Michigan where you may move from glass calm to white cap conditions pretty routinely. If you think about it, most of the features we find useful in saltwater areas are also attributes that benefit inland boaters.

Our Heritage 231 and 261 are two models I look at in our lineup that would hold their own on any lake. Designed to be a boat you can fish hard out of but also spend hours on entertaining friends and family. These models come with standard Seakeeper Ride, integrated windshields, pop-up ski pylons and many other design elements that would make for a great lake boat.

Any well-rounded lake boat also needs a killer stereo system. Another feature designed into all Sportsman models that is constantly progressing. Just look at the standard and optional Garmin Fusion stereo packages on any of our models and you will see that we take our tunes seriously. Not yet mentioned is that center consoles come in a variety of fun colors and with options such as the hardtop underside color selection along with hull and side color options, you can make your boat unique to your personal style. Because if you can’t look cool while blasting your favorite boating play list what’s the point?!