Wellcraft 262 Fisherman (2017-)

Brief Summary

Anglers will never run out of bait aboard the Wellcraft 262 Fisherman (formerly the 262 Scarab Offshore); she's got two aerated wells in the corners of the cockpit, a third in the leaning post/rigging station. There are rod holders everywhere, large fishboxes and lots of space to swing a rod. She's also family-friendly, with exceptional cockpit depth, a hardtop providing shade, a full set of cushions for bow seating and removable chaise-type seat backs.

Key Features

• 5 gallon bucket in holder
• Bait well/livewell, 17 gallon with bluecoat, light and timer
• Removable cooler under leaning post
• 23 gallon Bait well/livewell with bluecoat
• Rear folding bench
• Storage/Fishbox with macerator and overboard drain
• Porta-Potti
• Fiberglass T-top with rod holders

Test Results

Specifications

Length Overall	26' 4'' / 8.03 m
Beam	9' 2.74 m
Dry Weight	5,500 lbs. 2,494 kg
Tested Weight	7,053 lbs. 3,199 kg
Draft	29'' .74 m
Deadrise/Transom	21-deg.
Max Headroom	open
Bridge Clearance	N/A
Weight Capacity	Yacht
Person Capacity	Yacht
Fuel Capacity	158 gal. 598 L
Water Capacity	N/A
Total Weight	7,053 lbs. 3,199 kg

Acceleration Times & Conditions

Time to Plane	4.0 sec.
0 to 30	8.7 sec.
Ratio	N/A
Props	21p 3-blade Mirage +
Load	3 persons, full fuel, no water, 50 lbs. of gear
Climate	89 deg., 76 humid.; no wind; seas: calm

Engine Options

Tested Engine	2 x 250-hp Mercury Verado XL
Std. Power	Not Available
Opt. Power	Not Available

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Mission

Wellcraft’s 262 Fisherman is a fishing boat through and through, designed to maximize the enjoyment of a day of casting. It isn’t a Spartan vessel without an interest in comfort or accommodations -- the bow and stern seating spaces are comfortable and roomy, the option for a day head in the center console exists. Further, Wellcraft offers options packages that slide the boat’s identity ever so slightly in the direction of “entertainment boat,” without surrendering its core capabilities as a fishing boat.

Major Features

• • 34 gallon live/bait well. On the aft side of the 262 Fisherman’s center console is a 34-gallon live well/bait well with bluecoat, an LED light, and a timer. The well has a clear panel front, allowing you to monitor its contents with ease. The top is a cutting board with a latch for access into the well.

• • Rod holders, gunwale mounted. The 262 Fisherman has a dedicated space for fishing rod storage mounted in the gunwales, keeping them secure and out of the way until the time for casting arrives.
• • Unique windshield design. The 262 is a center console fishing boat and rests under a hardtop designed for fishing expeditions. The windshield design is unique -- a single pane, curved at the edges with no view-obstruction or blind spots.
• • T-Top Deluxe. The 262 comes standard with a T-Top Deluxe hardtop. The hardtop has rocket launcher rod holders, LED lights, and spreader lights.

Features Inspection

Hull and Deck

Fiberglass stringer. The 262 Fisherman has a fiberglass stringer system, designed to withstand more wear and tear over the life of the boat. Wellcraft also uses foam flotation alongside the fiberglass stringer. The boat has an all-white gel coat scheme, and uses stainless steel through hull fittings.

The 262 Fisherman has stainless steel throughout in addition to the through hull fittings, including the bow and stern eyes, bow grab rails, pull-up cleats, and the inserts in the rub rails.

Cockpit

The 262 Fisherman’s cockpit is, like many center console boats, a single space flowing more cleanly from stern to helm to bow. There is a boarding door in the gunwale to port near the stern, leading you onto the boat right near the fold-out bench seating.

Live-wells and rod holders. Flanking the fold-down transom seat are two live-wells with clear lids and LED lights. Just aft of the seating are a row of six stainless steel rod holders, one of many areas on the boat for rod storage or rest.

34-gallon centerpiece. One of the 262 Fisherman’s design centerpieces is the 34-gallon live/bait well just off of the helm and center console. Stood up against the back of the captain’s chair and facing aft, the live/bait well has a look-in clear front panel, tackle storage on the sides, and a top that operates as a cutting board. Access to the well comes via a hatch on the cutting board top. There are two stainless steel cup holders on the well top, too.

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As mentioned, facing forward on the other side of the live/bait well are the captain’s chairs. It is a double-wide seating space via two bucket seats, both of which have flip-up bolsters and armrests. The 262 Fisherman’s helm is designed to accommodate a seated captain, but with the likelihood that this won’t often be the case.

The captain’s chair is up high, and the seating footprint is small. The center console has a lip at the bottom with diamond-pattern non-skid surface, which, coupled with the flip-up bolsters in the captain’s chair, suggests Wellcraft knows its owners will be driving the boat standing up and on-the-go.

Spread-out dash. The dash has a spread-out design with a stainless steel steering wheel angled up in deference to a standing captain. The controls rest on a sleek black surface, designed straight-up-and-down for, again, the likelihood of a standing captain. A GPS chartplotter can be added as an option at purchase.

Center console. The 262 Fisherman center console anchors the T-Top deluxe, which can be outfitted with a bimini top and has LED lights, spreader lights, and rod holders along its aft edge. The 262 Fisherman’s center console has a simplified windshield design that improves visibility a great deal and minimizes its design impact.

Extending up from the console in much the same way as a windshield seen on a motorcycle, the windshield on the 262 Fisherman is a single pane of glass, curved around minimally at the side and with no mullions. This provides cover for the navigator while posing no obstruction to views in any direction. This doesn’t mean there are not occasional view obstructions -- the legs of the T-Top do come down on either side and can come minimally into ones view. The windshield design helps mitigate that and avoid a bulky design for the windshield.

Changing room/day head. On the forward side of the center console is a lift-up hatch accessed via a metal handle at the bottom. The 262 Fisherman comes standard with a changing room and head with the option for an electric toilet with holding tank or one with overboard discharge.

Bow seating. Just forward the center console is the bow seating area. It is a U-shaped section in the shape of the bow itself. The middle, conjoining part is an aft-facing bench seating with backrest, while the two spaces extending on each side have forward-facing backrests.

One of the 262 Fisherman’s options packages is the “Family Package,” which primarily addresses adding a more social element to the bow seating area. It adds a removable bow table and fill-in cushions that can convert the space to a larger sunpad-like lounging area.

Storage

Fishing-centric storage options. The storage availability on the 262 Fisherman would be evidence alone that this is a fishing boat -- no ski lockers or big hatches for water toys. Instead, the 262 focuses on providing space primarily for rods, bait, and fish.

Mentioned above are the live/bait wells in both the transom and center consoles. The gunwales have rod storage molded-in, providing space to keep them steady and free from damage, as well as out of the way when the boat is on the move. Further rod holders abound on the boat -- behind the transom seat, on the deluxe T-Top, to port and starboard.

In-floor fishbox. The 262 has an in-floor fishbox with overboard drainage, ready for the day’s catch and all the ice needed to preserve it. The changing room/day head space also has tackle storage.

Finally, there is dedicated storage for a cooler in the bow seating area, just under the aft-facing bench seat. Additionally, the boat comes with a 72-qt carry-on cooler, as well as a third cooler that comes with the optional leaning post in the cockpit.

Entertainment/Miscellaneous

Raw water washdown. The 262 Fisherman’s cockpit is self-bailing, and so Wellcraft as included a raw water washdown system standard -- a big addition to a fishing boat that will certainly earn the occasional cockpit bath. This is where the stainless steel through-hull fittings come into play as well.

Stereo: The Wellcraft 262 comes standard with a Fusion stereo with two speakers, and as an option is the premium sound system which includes a JL audio amplifier, JL audio speakers, and JL subwoofer.

Power

The 262 Fisherman offers a wealth of options in the power department. Dual outboard engines are standard with these as the options to choose from:

• • Twin Evinrude E-TEC 250 DPZ G2
• • Evinrude E-TEC 300 ZU G2
• • Mercury 250 XXL Verado
• • Mercury 300 XL Verado Warm White
• • Mercury 300 XXL Verado
• • Mercury 300 XXL Verado Warm White
• • Twin Evinrude E-TEC 150 DPX
• • Twin Evinrude E-TEC 200 DPX
• • Twin Mercury 150 XL 4S
• • Twin Yamaha F150 XB
• • Twin Yamaha F200 XCA
• • Yamaha F250 UCA
• • Yamaha F300 UCA

Performance

With the twin Mercury 250 Verados turning 21p, 3-bladed Mirage + props, we reached our top speed of 56.8 mph at 6150 RPM. Best economic cruise was reached at 3500 RPM where our speed was 32 mph, fuel burn was 16 gph, and our range came in at 284 miles while still holding back 10% of the boats 158 gallon total fuel capacity.

Handling

Her handling characteristics left us feeling impressed. For starters, we reached planing speed in 4 seconds, accelerated to 20 mph in 6.1 and continued on through 30 in 8.7 seconds. Sadly, we had a flat calm test day so we couldn’t verify the capabilities of the Scarab offshore pedigree, but she did handle our self-generated chop with no hull slap whatsoever and a smooth transition on through. In our turn tests, she had a quick response and showed good authority like she was on rails, and there was no hint of prop ventilation at any speed.

Options to Consider

Wellcraft has a number of options available for the 262 Fisherman, but first let’s look at the options packages they offer.

Bow Seating Package

• • Bow sunlounge cushions
• • Aft-facing backrests

Family Package

• • Removable bow forward-facing backrests
• • Bow seating package
• • Bow Table

Seaside Trim Package

• • Beige cockpit interior
• • Seaside mat
• • Mat package, helm floor and rod storage

Here are some further options available on the 262 Fisherman:

• • GPS Plotter with Depth Sounder
• • Bimini Top
• • Premium Sound System
• • Anchor with rope & chain
• • Windlass, with anchor, rope, and chain
• • Wellcraft custom trailer, tandem axle with brakes and Galv/Gatorhyde

Observations

Customers looking at the 262 Fisherman should be in the market for fishing boats only. This is not a boat that can reliably entertain a group, nor can it accommodate those not interested in fishing. The flip side of this is that those looking for a boat on which to go out and do serious fishing can rejoice -- this is a boat that addresses needs, conveniences, and the likely type of expedition of the fishing enthusiast only. There’s no paying for features you’ll never use, capabilities you won’t avail yourself of. Those looking for an elegantly simple and affordable fishing vessel are being targeted by Wellcraft here, and there’s a lot to like about what they’ve provided.