200 Best Fishing Boat Names: Funny, Classic, And Unique Names

A fishing boat should be named to reflect the fact that fishing is what it’s for. Every boat needs a name. It’s a rite of passage. But not every boat needs the same kind of name and fishing boats need good fishing boat names. You’re not calling your fishing boat Windancer or something if it’s not a sailboat, right? But finding the perfect name can be hard, and maybe you don’t always want a funny boat name, so here are some solid ideas to help you along or at least inspire you to perfecting the fishing boat of your dreams.

Funny Fishing Boat Names

Most fishing boats are either going to have clever or funny names because they lend themselves well to that. Sailing and cruising vessels sometimes get the more serious names, but anglers know how to have a good time and that’s why they put the effort into names with more puns and wordplay. This seems especially true with sport fishing boats.

The criteria here is that it has to identify the vessel as a fishing vessel. So no puns about docks, ropes, knots, or anything that would work just as well on a sailing vessel or even a tugboat.  Instead, we’re looking at fish puns and things that may include references to rods, reels, sinkers and so on.

With that in mind, here are some of my favorite funny fishing boat names, many of which rely on puns for that quick joke. They’re not all knee slappers, but they’re light and fun and show you’re just out on the water to have a good time.

1. Laurence Fishboat
2. Death From Above
3. The Bassassin
4. Beeracuda
5. A-Fishy-Nado
6. Artifishal
7. A Salt and Battery
8. Fin and Tonic
9. TJ Hooker
10. The Happy Hooker
11. The Shameless Hooker
12. Error 404: Fish Not Found
13. Chum N’ Go
14. Fishy Business
15. Breaking Bass
16. Bass, Gas or Grass
17. Bass Kicker
18. Bass Dismissed
19. Bass Knuckles
20. Bass the Dutchie
21. You Shall Not Bass
22. Heart of Bass
23. The Bass Menagerie
24. The Cod Father
25. The Rod Father
26. Codzilla
27. Cods or Evens
28. Cods in Your Favor
29. In Cod We Trust
30. Cod Help Us All
31. No Diggity No Trout
32. Trouting Thomas
33. Twist and Trout
34. Trout and About
35. Perch and Rescue
36. Perch and State
37. Prawn Shop
38. Prawn Star
39. Prawn of the Dead
40. A Shrimple Plan
41. Shrimp My Ride
42. Shrimp Bizkit
43. Absolutely Crabulous
44. Lost and Flounder
45. Flounder Pounder
46. Catfish Got Your Tongue
47. Catfish in the Hat
48. Marlin the Magician
49. Marlin Monroe
50. Sharks and Rec
51. Raiders of the Lost Shark
52. Shark of the Covenant
53. The Surreel Life
54. Fortuna
55. The Tuna Wagon
56. Tuna Helper
57. Bait and Switch
58. Bait Crime
59. Baitorade
60. Fishizzle
61. Super Grouper
62. Benny Fishall
63. The Casting Couch
64. Test Tackles
65. Lure and Do ‘er
66. Bait and See
67. All Creatures Bait and Small
68. The Bait Gatsby
69. Heavybait Champion
70. De-bait-able
71. Off the Hook
72. Angler Dangler
73. Angler Management
74. A Reel Lady
75. Worms of Endearment
76. Abercrabby and Fish
77. Nuclear Fishin’
78. Fishin’ Impossible
79. Presidential Debait
80. DeBait Club
81. You Net Your Life
82. Net Equity
83. Tackle Me Elmo
84. Small Fry
85. The Salty Anchovy
86. Salmon Rushdie
87. Pickerel of the Litter
88. I’ve Got Crabs
89. Fish n’ Ships
90. Codtastrophe
91. Clam Dunk
92. Grand Clam
93. The Sturgeon General
94. Carp Diem
95. The Alleycatfish
96. Catfish Got Your Tongue
97. Stingraider
98. Eel Be Right There
99. Hooked on an Eeling
100. Eel or no Eel

Classic Fishing Boat Names

Not everyone wants a pun on the back of their boat. Maybe you like something a little more low key that still tells people it’s a fishing vessel but doesn’t make it seem like you’re trying your hand at stand up comedy. Classy boat names reflect how the boat owner feels about the sport in a more subdued way, which is just as valid as cool boat names or funny ones.

1. The Flying Fish
2. A Fish Tale
3. The One That Got Away
4. Scales and Scoundrels
5. The Rod and Reel
6. The Blue Fin
7. The Black Marlin
8. The Yellow Fin
9. Fisherman’s Friend
10. Fisherman’s Folly
11. Fisherman’s Rest
12. The Silver Sinker
13. Bass Hunter
14. The Fisher King
15. Kingfisher
16. From the Depths
17. Big Game Hunter
18. Spears and Sails
19. The Hookmaster
20. Finally Fishing
21. The Pelican
22. The Silver Gull
23. Scales of Fate
24. Net Gains
25. Catch and Release
26. The Bait Cutter
27. Bait the Hook
28. The Rock Lobster
29. The Trawler
30. The Fish Tank

Unique Fish Names for Your Fishing Boat

There are a handful of fish that make up the vast majority of all fish anglers tend to look for. Inland, that includes things like bass and trout. At sea the most common saltwater fish include things like blue marlin, tarpon, tuna, amberjack and so on. Many of these fish names can get worked into the names of a boat easily, but they’re also pretty common. But don’t forget that there are thousands of fish in the sea. Try focusing on less common fish, the kind you may not actually be fishing for but that still have pretty cool names when it comes to boat naming.

1. The Amberjack
2. The Albacore
3. The Bandfish
4. The Beluga
5. The Bluegill
6. The Blackfish
7. Beluga
8. The Barreleye
9. The Bowfin
10. The Bowhead
11. The Candiru
12. The Chimera
13. The Croaker
14. The Devil Ray
15. The Dragonfish
16. The Eagle Ray
17. The Frilled Shark
18. The Ghost Fish
19. The Ghost Shark
20. The Goblin Shark
21. The Goby
22. The Gourami
23. The Grunion
24. The Hagfish
25. Hake
26. The Hammerhead
27. The Herring Bone
28. John Dory
29. The Jellyfish
30. King of the Herrings
31. Kingfish
32. Koi
33. The Lady Fish
34. The Lamprey
35. The Lemon Shark
36. The Lionfish
37. The Loach
38. The Mako Shark
39. The Man-o-War
40. The Megamouth
41. The Minke
42. Minnow of the Deep
43. Mola Mola
44. The Moray
45. The Narwhal
46. The Orca
47. The Parrotfish
48. The Pilotfish
49. The Piranha
50. The Pufferfish
51. The Queen Danio
52. Th Razorfish
53. The Remora
54. The Roosterfish
55. The Sablefish
56. The Sand Tiger
57. The Scorpionfish
58. The Sculpin
59. The Sea Bream
60. The Sea Devil
61. The Skate
62. The Snakehead
63. The Threadfin
64. The Thresher Shark
65. The Vaquita
66. The Viperfish
67. The Wahoo
68. The Warmouth
69. The Wolffish
70. The Zebrafish

Picking a Unique Boat Name

The hardest thing about picking a unique boat name is actually getting a unique one. It’s a bit of a Catch-22 (which is also a decent boat name). If you see a name you love, you know someone else is already using it. If you come up with an awesome name all on your own, someone else is going to see it and within a year or two there will be a bunch of boats with the same name and yours will seem less unique. This is the curse of cool fishing boat names.

My best advice is to not stress over a boat name too much. If it makes you laugh and really captures your mood and feeling about fishing, go for it. Who cares if a dozen other people already used it? If anything it’s a compliment that other people think the same things are funny.

How Not to Name Fishing Boats

This is something most but not all boaters take into consideration. We all like a funny name and if you hit one out of the park people are going to take pictures of it and share your boat on social media and all that. And that’s great, but you need to be careful about pushing the envelope. Some boat names can be hilarious but are not always appropriate for where you’re going to be boating. It only takes one or two people to be really offended by a joke that goes a little too far and then you might end up dealing with angry neighbors or a harbor master who doesn’t want your boat around any more. Rare, but not impossible.

Try to keep your names clever and if they are a little dirty, just make sure they’re not too dirty. And it goes without saying you don’t want to choose anything that’s going to be too mean or offensive to anyone in particular.

That aside, there are actually some traditions when it comes to naming a boat. One of those says you should never rename a vessel, so if you got the boat with a name you should keep it or perform a proper renaming ceremony. That’s if you believe in luck, anyway. If not, feel free to take your chances.

Make sure your name isn’t too long. You want to fit it on the transom, after all. Also, in an emergency, you may need to relay the boat’s name to the Coast Guard or others so it’s best if it’s short and easy to remember.

The Bottom Line

The most important part about picking a fishing boat name is to ensure it has meaning for you. Remember, this is a name you’re going to be stuck with, so don’t rush it. Give it some thought, make sure it reflects how you feel about the boat and fishing in general, and have fun with it.