In a world full of frou-frou boats it’s rare to come across a fishing machine, even a center console, that truly lets an angler do battle with no restrictions. Contender has a rep for building offshore boats that focus on the fishability, period, but up until now its fleet consisted of only one offering designed for inshore angling, a 26-footer. Enter: the 24 Bay, the newest Contender on the water and a bay boat that’s designed for serious fishing and nothing but.
The foredeck provides an excellent example of the no-holds-barred angling attitude. Most bay boats incorporate a pair of cushy forward-facing seats in the bow, usually with removable backrests. But those perches for your passenger’s posteriors come at a cost. They’re generally a foot or so lower than the upper foredeck, so you lose elevation on much of the casting territory. When the cushions are in place your casting area shrinks precipitously. In many cases getting into the stowage compartments below means fumbling with cushions, and removable backrests take up a bunch of stowage space. If you were designing a boat for fishing, period, you’d do away with the seats entirely and instead create an entirely elevated casting deck—which is exactly what you’ll find on the 24 Bay. Added bonus: with this area all the same level you now have the ability to build long port and starboard rodboxes into the sides so you can carry even more rods.
The console is kept minimal to maintain maximum fishing space, and rather than integrate a seat into the front Contender opted to add a 70-quart cooler/seat that can be removed when maximum deck space is needed. Again we say leave it in the garage when you’re out to fish and fish hard, and besides, there’s a 70-gallon fishbox in the foredeck for chilling down the catch. At the helm you’ll find a flat for a 12” MFD, a panel of push-button switches, and a glove box, and under the wheel there’s a blinker-style jackplate switch.
The aft deck is also 100-percent focused on fishing, with a 35-gallon livewell in the center and oversized bilge access to either side. There’s a cushion and backrest package you can opt for to add seating back there (remember, Contender is a semi-custom builder and there are lots of potential add-ons you can order and tweaks you can make), but we say don’t get it and risk messing up this unmitigated fishability one bit. Note the use of friction hinges on the smaller aft deck hatches so they stay up when you lift them, while the larger foredeck hatches swing up on gas-assist struts. Also take note of the hatches themselves, which are fully finished on both sides, guttered, gasketed, and dog down tight.
Those are nice construction touches, and they jibe with the way the boat is built. The hull and deck are resin infused, cup holders and rod holders are stainless-steel, and detail work is excellent. Just as important, all are centered around a slick double-stepped hull bottom that performs, well, like a Contender. With a 300-hp outboard on the jack plate top-end speeds are in excess of the 60-mph mark and you can cruise in the 40s. Or go for the max power of 350-hp and you’ll see wide-open speeds in the mid- to upper-60s and a cruise in the upper 40s.
You want gobs of poofy seating, hot water transom showers, and a mini-cabin inside the console? Look elsewhere. If you want to enter the angling arena with no holds barred, check out the Contender 24 Bay.
Contender 24 Bay Specifications
- LOA – 23’10”
- Beam – 8’4”
- Displacement – 4500 lbs.
- Draft (min.) – 1’0”
- Transom Deadrise – 15.5 degrees
- Fuel Capacity – 80 gal.
- Max. Power – 350 hp
- Area Dealers – Legasea Marine, Yorktown, VA (757) 898-3000.