Boat Fever

[jrdbrn]

Oh God, do I have it. I have looked at boats online everywhere. At first I was thinking of a Mako 18 LTS, but due to my excessive saltwater/marsh fishing, I decided a big pretty boat will just get tore up in the conditions I fish in. I am now looking at a new 2010-2011 Tracker Grizzly 1860 CC if I can find them in stock. Prices seem to go down $1000 a year. Anyone have comments on those sponsons? They seem to only come in in the CC model.



Length 19' 8''
Bottom width 60"
Max. recommended HP 90 HP
Fuel capacity 24 Gallons
Package length 24'
Deadrise 3 Degrees
Beam 84"
Approx. weight 880 Lbs.
Max. person capacity 7 Persons
Hull material 0.100 5052 Marine Alloy
Transom height 20"
Max. weight capacity 1500 Lbs.
Max. person weight 940 Lbs.

$15,790 with a Merc 60HP 4-stroke before taxes. Would try and haggle in a trolling motor at a significant discount.

The wife wants the Mako... but she still approves a new boat. MAN OH MAN, what a predicament. I am a bit hesitant to take on another bill...

[BIG E]

[LKN H20Girl]

You may want to hit up Joe OKC - I hear he designed a new unique boat.

[Andrus]

If you are thinking aluminum. I would pass on the grizz and look into finding an xpress boat. The h22b is fantastic but a little more expensive. For the money, xpress makes a much better rig, IMO. Bent marine in metarie ( near the saints facility)has a bunch of them.

[sportster45]

Not sure where you plan on fishing? But you wouldn't want to get caught crossing
Lake Pontchartrain or Barataria Bay in an alum. hull.
There just to light to cut the waves. They tend to ride somewhat wet too.
The boat you have pictured seens to have very light duty trailer. I have a 16ft. Cape Horn that runs shallow to bass fish and heavy enough to run all over Barataria Bay and the Lake with no problems. The wife well like the ride better in a glass boat. I'm not saying buy a Cape Horn,but mine has a 90 Johnson and runs in the low 40's and is very easy on gas. Your running 3deg. dead rise and the Cape Horn has a 17deg. dead rise. Heck if you take a pass on the Westbank we sure could go for a ride. Bring a rod!!!!!!
Just my Thoughts
Nate
shawnnateroux@cox.net

[Lacavanc]

Boat fever is a severely debilitating condition. I know. I've had it many times.

Having said that, you'll want an aluminum or at least galvanized trailer. I see a lot of aluminum boats up here in the outer banx etc. They are good for marsh fishing due to shallow draft and most guys rig up some lights for flounder gigging. Most are wider than what you show here, and usually not as pretty. If you have any specific questions shoot me a PM. I'm always willing to help the less fortunate who come down with this condition.

[jrdbrn]

I am sad. I have to hold off :-(

Rent house has my DTI too high... :-( It's on the market, but not getting much attention. If that thing sells, I am going get that boat.

[Andrus]

Originally Posted by sportster45

Not sure where you plan on fishing? But you wouldn't want to get caught crossing
Lake Pontchartrain or Barataria Bay in an alum. hull.
There just to light to cut the waves. They tend to ride somewhat wet too.
The boat you have pictured seens to have very light duty trailer. I have a 16ft. Cape Horn that runs shallow to bass fish and heavy enough to run all over Barataria Bay and the Lake with no problems. The wife well like the ride better in a glass boat. I'm not saying buy a Cape Horn,but mine has a 90 Johnson and runs in the low 40's and is very easy on gas. Your running 3deg. dead rise and the Cape Horn has a 17deg. dead rise. Heck if you take a pass on the Westbank we sure could go for a ride. Bring a rod!!!!!!
Just my Thoughts
Nate
shawnnateroux@cox.net

Yeah, most aluminum boats will beat you to death in the chop. Except for maybe the Xpress H22B that I mentioned. I tested one out in Vermilion Bay with a 1-2 ft. chop and it was really surprising. I was fully expecting to get beaten up and wet but it didn't happen. Something about the hull technology. A lot better riding and a lot drier than I expected. Good bang for the buck, too.

Their site doesn't state it, but I am pretty sure that the vendor told me that it had a 13% deadrise at the transom though it looked more like around 10%. The hull at the transom was shaped more like a fiberglass bass boat to me. Not bad for an aluminum. Whatever, it rode good and was plenty fast - 53 MPH GPS @ Full throttle with a Yamaha 150 4-stroke). I really like the compartmentalized foam flotation. Won't sink.

BTW - Every foot of length helps in the chop.

If that one is too expensive, they also make a 20 footer. See below.

HYPER-LIFT BAY SERIES H20B $22,995.00 With F115LA

BOAT SPECIFICATIONS LENGTH 20'3" MAX WT./PER/MO/GR 1,900 LB. BOTTOM 67" TOTAL WT. PER CAP 8/1,128 LB. BEAM 95" ALUM 5052 GAUGE 0.125 SIDES 22" MAX HP 115-150** TRANSOM HEIGHT 22" OVERALL PKG. LENGTH* 25' FUEL TANK CAPACITY 30 GAL. BACKTRACK TRAILER MODEL AW20 APPROXIMATE WEIGHT 1,436 LB.

Bay | Xpress Boats
Here is the Yamaha Performance Bulletin on that one with the 115.

Still, I am likely going to end up with another fiberglass hull if I can get back to where I can afford another bay boat. I just prefer the fit & trim, comfort and overall look of the fiberglass boats. I fell in love with the Blue Wave Pure Bay at the Boat show last week in Houston. Naturally, I loved the Yellow Fin, Shearwater and to a lessor extent, Pathfinder, and Blackjack, but those boats are out of my price range. So when you drop down in price class, The Blue Wave PB, Nautic Star Tourn., Tritan, Frontier, and Tidewater (Carolina Bay) seem to be the creme of the crop for my tastes. They were all 21 or 22 ft bay boats, which is my preference. I like the Sea Hunt too, but those boats are heavy.

BTW - My experience is that deadrise allows for a much smoother ride in the chop, but too much deadrise in a bay boat will also make it a bit unstable, meaning getting a lot of rocking just walking along the gunnels. That is, unless the boat is really wide and heavy enough to compensate. I like the boats to have a good chine design incorporated into it and have some Carolina Flare in the bow to help with keeping dry.

[Maxp]

I succumbed to this disease recently, and decided to get an Ankona SUV 14'8" skiff. Hopefully will be finished in the next few weeks. The hull and console will be seafoam green and the cap will be eggshell white.

[GhostSaint]

Man, I have had the the fever for a while now. The selling point with my wife is that with 2 young boys, they need to experience the great outdoors. I have some fond memories of my uncle taking me fishing and skiing. I want to teach the boys to hunt and fish. Many of my friends like to pick me up for a trip, but they dont have kids and they prefer I dont bring mine for the most part (they are really young). I told her I need to get the boat sooner rather than later to get comfortable with it by the time they are prime fishing partners.

I also have a step daughter in her teens. The wife says that I need to get a boat that she can enjoy and build memories on as well. She does not like to fish.

With that being said, I started looking at fish & ski boats. I know, I know, sacrelig! So my wife started looking too. She really likes the Tahoes from Bass Pro. So much so that she has okayed one. She likes the amenities more than the capabilities. The pretty colors and padding and bow riding, etc.

Has anyone heard anything good about the Tahoes? Not to be confused with the poll answer or the Chevy.

I really like the one Andrus has mentioned above at first glance. I need to look into it a bit more though. The Tritons intrigue me as well.

With a family of five, what size would be best? I would fish in the Myrtle Grove area most times do to the proximaty to home as well as the familiarity.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[BIG E]

In the Morgan City area we like to go with custom aluminum boats. 3/16 Aluminum.

[Maxp]

Originally Posted by GhostSaint

Man, I have had the the fever for a while now. The selling point with my wife is that with 2 young boys, they need to experience the great outdoors. I have some fond memories of my uncle taking me fishing and skiing. I want to teach the boys to hunt and fish. Many of my friends like to pick me up for a trip, but they dont have kids and they prefer I dont bring mine for the most part (they are really young). I told her I need to get the boat sooner rather than later to get comfortable with it by the time they are prime fishing partners.

I also have a step daughter in her teens. The wife says that I need to get a boat that she can enjoy and build memories on as well. She does not like to fish.

With that being said, I started looking at fish & ski boats. I know, I know, sacrelig! So my wife started looking too. She really likes the Tahoes from Bass Pro. So much so that she has okayed one. She likes the amenities more than the capabilities. The pretty colors and padding and bow riding, etc.

Has anyone heard anything good about the Tahoes? Not to be confused with the poll answer or the Chevy.

I really like the one Andrus has mentioned above at first glance. I need to look into it a bit more though. The Tritons intrigue me as well.

With a family of five, what size would be best? I would fish in the Myrtle Grove area most times do to the proximaty to home as well as the familiarity.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

With a family of five, 3 of which are still growing, I would recommend something at least 20ft. My aquasport 205 osprey is 22ft overall and has real seating for 7. Every seat has pads for your bottom and back. The two on the transom can be removed when fishing. You can get the same comfort in a CC that you could in a bow rider, plus more versatility. My old neighbor has a tahoe, the model with an outboard, and to be perfectly honest it seemed like a cheaply made boat. The trailer looks to be painted steel, ok for freshwater only. How often do you see people fishing out of bowriders? Practically never. Maybe you can compromise with your wife on a dual console fishing boat or smaller sized walk around. Something similar to this Wellcraft 210 Sportsman Dual Console
Don't give in to the bowrider

[Andrus]

Originally Posted by GhostSaint

Man, I have had the the fever for a while now. The selling point with my wife is that with 2 young boys, they need to experience the great outdoors. I have some fond memories of my uncle taking me fishing and skiing. I want to teach the boys to hunt and fish. Many of my friends like to pick me up for a trip, but they dont have kids and they prefer I dont bring mine for the most part (they are really young). I told her I need to get the boat sooner rather than later to get comfortable with it by the time they are prime fishing partners.

I also have a step daughter in her teens. The wife says that I need to get a boat that she can enjoy and build memories on as well. She does not like to fish.

With that being said, I started looking at fish & ski boats. I know, I know, sacrelig! So my wife started looking too. She really likes the Tahoes from Bass Pro. So much so that she has okayed one. She likes the amenities more than the capabilities. The pretty colors and padding and bow riding, etc.

Has anyone heard anything good about the Tahoes? Not to be confused with the poll answer or the Chevy.

I really like the one Andrus has mentioned above at first glance. I need to look into it a bit more though. The Tritons intrigue me as well.

With a family of five, what size would be best? I would fish in the Myrtle Grove area most times do to the proximaty to home as well as the familiarity.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Hmmm... I couldn't really help you with a fish & ski boat as I don't know much about them. I know that Skeeter makes a nice one but it may not be big enough for what you need. You will definitely want to look at the plaques on the boat to see what it is rated for and make sure the limits on persons and weight are within the total of the five family members. If I were going to have 5 people on the boat, then the roomier the better. I would also want to make sure that I put on a motor that meets with the maximum power that the boat is rated for. All of that weight can really slow you down.

I've looked at the Tahoes, but all of the ones that I have seen were pure pleasure/ski boats.

[moe1967]

Originally Posted by BIG E

In the Morgan City area we like to go with custom aluminum boats. 3/16 Aluminum.

TANK!!


Just out of curiosity, do these guys make bass boats that are 3/16" thick?

I've hit so many stumps in my little Xpress that the underside looks like one of those wavy water slides

[Semper]

You could save a few bucks and just toss money in the water every now and then. I swear I spend more money on mine than time.