About
Cool boats. Cool people. Cool places. Great gear. Awesome fishing.
If it happens on a center console, we’re on it.
Our Mission
Center Console Angler was built on a simple idea: the center-console boat is one of the most versatile, beloved vessels on the water, and the people who own, build, guide out of, and rehab them deserve a place to tell their stories.
Since sometime in the mid 1960s, one boat design has quietly taken over marinas, backcountry flats, and offshore canyons everywhere: the center console. What started as a simple layout for fishermen has become the go-to platform for weekend anglers, offshore tournament crews, divers, and family cruisers alike. Center Console Angler exists to cover every corner of that world — the boats, the builders, the guides, the destinations, and the gear that makes it all possible.
We bring you the latest new center-console models hitting the market alongside classic boats from decades past. We profile the guides who run these boats for a living, the builders behind them, and the owners who’ve customized their rigs or brought a tired old hull back to life through a full rehab. We chase down the best places a center console can take you, dig into the fish you’ll find when you get there, and keep an eye on the gear and news that matter to anyone who loves this lifestyle.
Cool boats. Cool people. Cool places. Great gear. Awesome fishing. If it happens on a center console, we’re on it.
What You'll Find Here
- Boats — New models straight from builders, plus profiles of owners’ personal center consoles and boats getting a second life through restoration (“In Rehab”).
- People & Places — Profiles of the fishing guides who run center consoles professionally (“Guide’s Rides”), the best destinations to point your bow toward (“Best Places”), and the other notable figures in the center-console world (“Players”).
- Gear & News — The latest marine electronics, gear, and industry news relevant to center-console owners.
- Long-Form Features — Deeper dives into the history and culture of the center console, like A Brief History of the Center Console: How an Electric Screwdriver Changed the Course of Boating History.
Meet John Brownlee
Veteran outdoor journalist John Brownlee owns and operates CenterConsoleAngler.com. A renowned fishing writer and light-tackle expert who has spent decades covering all aspects of saltwater fishing and fishing boats, Brownlee has served as Editor-in-Chief for top publications like Salt Water Sportsman, Marlin, and InTheBite magazines. He has also hosted the Sport Fishing TV, Anglers Journal and Ocean Legacy television fishing shows. He and his wife Poppy, also a serious angler, currently live in Jupiter, Florida.
He has fished out of center consoles since 1971, when his father bought his first one, a 22-foot Mako. He’s a lifelong disciple of the center-console lifestyle, and this site is his effort to share that world with fellow owners, guides, builders, and anyone who’s ever fallen in love with these awesome boats. He has continuously owned at least one center-console boat himself since 1980 — sometimes two, and occasionally three at once, and his father’s later 22 Mako, a 1975 model (the ’71 version got destroyed in a car wreck…long story), is still in the family. That now belongs to John and Poppy’s son, Ben.
Join the Community
Center Console Angler is built by and for the community. If you’re a builder with a new boat to show off, a guide who runs a center console for a living, or an owner with a rehab story or a boat you’re proud of, we want to hear from you.
Hop On Board or reach us anytime at info@centerconsoleangler.com.
Editorial Standards
Everything on Center Console Angler is written from firsthand experience on the water — not press releases rewritten for clicks. We only feature boats, gear, and destinations we’d actually use ourselves, and we say so plainly when something doesn’t measure up. New boat coverage is based on manufacturer specs, sea trials, and dealer conversations where possible; guide and builder profiles are based on direct interviews. And if we get something wrong, we correct it.
Show Us Your Boat!
If you’re a boat builder, tell us about your latest new boat. If you’re a guide who works in a center console, tell us about your ride, and if you simply own a cool center console, we want to hear about that too. We look forward to hearing from you, and we’re glad you’re here. Thanks!