The 2300 Bay Bolt Delivers the Ride and Mileage You're After



All new for 2003, Hydra-Sports released a new bay boat, the 2300 Bay Bolt. Yes, Bay Bolt, not Bay Boat. When you look at the lightning bolt graphics down the sides, you’ll understand where they may have come up with the moniker. They have only used the lighting boat in their trademark for thirty years.

Hydra-Sports used Kevlar to reinforce the hull so you can take her into the rough stuff and expect it to hold up over the years. The one-piece stringer system is fused to the deck and hull for extra strength. At 2575 pounds, she rides on the water smoothly and handles well at low and high speeds. She is stable when walking around and casting from the front or back, in part due to her beamy 8’ 10” width. With only 10” of draft with the engines up, you should be able to troll many places you couldn’t before. The deck is protected with non-skid so you can safely move about the deck and stay concentrated on fishing. You should have many years of worry free use, but you do have a 10/3 warrantee to help you sleep at night. The hull is covered for ten years and most component parts are covered for three years. The hull warrantee is transferable.

Up front, you have standard navigation lights with an added fish light for seeing the hook when baiting it at night. The anchor locker has a slot molded in to hold a standard Danforth type anchor securely. The forward fishing deck is enormous! The cast net locker also stores the front navigation light and optional dive ladder. Just aft of the cast net locker is a huge fish locker. Mounted in the cast deck is a three-drawer tackle box to port. Lockable rod storage is in the port and starboard sides up front. In the floor just in front of the helm is a slick locker with a molded-in five-gallon bucket. My test unit had a large cooler/seat combination mounted in front of the helm.

The center console helm is very comfortable starting with the leaning post style seat. The tilt wheel has four positions. There is plenty of space for additional electronics. Standard gauges include trim, tachometer, speedometer, fuel, voltage, water pressure and systems check. Toggle switches are moisture protected. Hydraulic steering with a steering knob is standard (don’t use the knob at top speed!).

In the stern area, you find more rod storage under the gunnels. Baitwells and storage compartments along with access to the pump room is at the stern. Remote oil fill is standard with two stroke models. My unit also was equipped with a Flats Jack which is really handy is the shallow water areas around Tampa Bay. You will notice on the video that my test boat also was equipped with the optional fresh water wash-down system with 18 gallon tank, dive ladder, console mounted stainless steel rod holders and trim tabs. You can add pre rigging for a trolling motor as another option.

We shared test day with few boats, some lightning (the real stuff!) and some rainsqualls. We didn’t go out in the lightning, but we did challenge the rest. Our test boat was outfitted with a Yamaha 200 horsepower OX66 Saltwater II outboard motor. The 2300 Bay Bolt was nimble, getting on plane in only 3.7 seconds. She jumped up to 30 miles per hour in only 7.5 seconds in the 1-2 foot waves of Tampa Bay. This Bay Bolt cruised along giving us a nice dry ride at 3000 rpms. At this speed we achieved 3.62 miles per gallon and ran at 25 miles per hour. We pushed her up to maximum for our conditions at 4800 rpms. We reached 38.6 miles per hour achieving 1.84 miles per gallon. She was pretty quiet for an open center console boat. At cruise she registered only 84 dBa and only 93 dBa at peak speed. With her 77-gallon fuel capacity, she will go 251 miles at cruise and still go 127 miles at peak speed. This model will deliver plenty of mileage for a day of fishing.

With a starting price in the $28,400 range, this is really a versatile, affordable multi species fishing boat. See for yourself. Check out the rest of our site.

By Capt. Robert E. Smith

Test Captain

• Top speed for the Hydra-Sports 2300 Bay Bolt is 38.6 mph (62.1 kph), burning 21.0 gallons per hour (gph) or 79.48 liters per hour (lph).


• Best cruise for the Hydra-Sports 2300 Bay Bolt is 25.0 mph (40.2 kph), and the boat gets 3.62 miles per gallon (mpg) or 1.54 kilometers per liter (kpl), giving the boat a cruising range of 251 miles (403.95 kilometers).


• Tested power is 1 x 200-hp Yamaha OX66 SW II.