School me on bass boats.

I'm thinking about getting a bass boat and was wondering what people here think of certain boats. I've done all the internet info searching I can do and would appreciate advice from those that have hands on experience. The boats I am looking at are Skeeter, Nitro, Pro Craft, Triton and Ranger. I'm looking at the 17' to 18' models. I would think that all of these boats are of about the same quality but I'm looking for input from those of you that have or have owned any of the above.

i've had my 390 ranger since 88'. at the time ranger seemed to be the most solid hull on the water. back then nitro and pro craft were a little light and i was spending a lot of time on the lower potomac so i wanted something pretty solid. skeeter has always been a good boat. triton wasn't around back then, but the few i've seen have looked great.

what have you been in? remember, twin consoles look cool but they eat up a lot of room on a boat. that was why i went with the 390. i was either fishing with the family or a couple guys from the firehouse. either way, real estate needed to be at a premium.

if you are going to do a lot of tournament stuff on rough water, i would say stick with the triton or ranger. if you are just doing some serious lake fishing any of them would probably be more than enough. what kind of power do you like?

I've never been on any of the boats. This will be my first boat but I want something that will last. I would like to get serious about fishing but more for enjoyment than tournaments. Although I would like to do an occasional tournament. No twin console for me. I'm just looking for a good solid boat the has adequate deck area for fishing. I'm looking in the 90 power area. I don't need blazing fast speeds.

And for some reason I seem to be drawn to the Nitro X5.

Whatever hull you go with, make sure you stay with a Mercury outboard. The Johnson/Evinrudes aren't what they used to be.
Expensive to fix and trying to find a shop that has the diagnostic tools and experienced techs to work on thier EFI/DFI motors can be troublesome.
The X-5 is a dual console boat which eats up deck space.
The Merc 2-stroke carbureted 90HP motors are pretty reliable. We have a bunch of them on our rental fleet at work. They hold up to rental customers just fine, so you shouldn't have any trouble with them.

Thanks. Good info. I thought the dual console was an option on the X 5?

It prolly is...I was going on one photo from google..

Owned a 97 Nitro 884 Savage dual console with a 175 Merc efi, it was a good starter boat for a fiberglass unit. I own a Aluminum Tracker 1995 Tracker V17 with a 90 Merc it a good fishing rig for stumpy lakes and new lakes, also have a 2005 Triton Tr19 with a 200 Merc pro XS bought it from a guy in Tenn. that won it in a tournement had 2.5 hours on the motor and had an extended warrenty saved a ton of money buying this boat as it was nearly new. At the moment I have been eyeballing a new Ranger Z20, what kind of info did you need to know? All of the boats on your list have good hulls with the technology they put into hull design these days, as far as options and features it goes to Ranger hands down, fit and finish of the others are nowhere near in the same catagory. You will also get better resale out of a Ranger bass rig as opposed to a Nitro or Skeeter.

I want to keep price in the $20,000 range first of all. Also size is important since I want to keep the boat in the garage which is 21' in length.

I don't need to be jetting all over the lake every 10 minutes. I'm a patient fisher. I don't need to constantly change spots. What I'm trying to find out is how reliable these boats are, how well they perform and the quality of the motors. All of them come with everything I'm looking for. So if quality and performance are comparable, price becomes the main consideration.

Performance wise I would give the edge to Triton, as for engines that's kind of a Ford vs Chevy thing. I will say an extended warranty is worth its weight in gold, my pro 200 xs blew the power head and Merc covered it. I would stick with an engine your service dept. has the most knowledge with.

I've owned Nitro, Triton, and Ranger.

Go here and ask away....

Good advice folks. I really appreciate it.

I've got a fully loaded 2003 Skeeter, Bassmaster Classic edition ZX200 with a Yamaha 200 on it.

Been in a bunch of boats growing up, but this is the first boat I've owned and I bought it right after the classic that year.
It's a dual console fully loaded and I absolutely love it sits about 20' and will scoot across the water.
After one particular outing the guy I was fishing with got out of the boat on the dock and said that "anything that moves 75mph across WATER is absolutely nuts".

Thing to remember it's like buying a new vehicle - opinions are going to vary.
What I recommend is you sit down and create a list of things you're personally looking for in a boat (options ect.) and then go looking for one.

I went with the dual console simply because there's lots of times when i have a buddy fishing with me and I remember when there have been times coming across the lake early in the mornings or when there's a shower when I wished I had something blocking all that stinging junk hitting me in the face as I was sitting in the passenger seat. If you're primarily fishing by yourself then it's not a big concern, but if your wife or someone likes fishing and the weather turns you'll wish you had a dual console!

The Yamaha on it has been flawless - had it 7 years and have yet to have a problem with it at all (knocking on wood).....

Things I personally looked for was the length of the boat - the longer it is the better it will handle rougher waters or larger open waters with high winds, though I wanted one that was easily maneuverable in tight spots.
Front & Rear deck space - this was a must for bass fishermen
Storage space & arrangements - all over the boat.
Console set up and if it was going to be easily modified for future additions
Ease of access to vital areas - such as fuel tanks, oil tank and batteries.
Most importantly was how you sat in the boat when it's in the water - the Skeeters you're sitting pretty high up in the boat so you feel like there's nothing under you when you're moving across the water.
Some other boats have you sitting a little deeper in the boat so there's more around you and it feels like you're riding in a convertible.

Other options were the type of system (24v, 36v or 48v) - my rig has a 36v trolling motor which requires 3 batteries alone for that and another for the main battery.....4 batteries get expensive to replace....
Fuel capacity, rod storage & on deck storage, trailer options (breakaway tongue, tandem axle, spare tire), Steering and controls (Hot-foot, trim control on steering wheel, ease of controls, etc.), Electronics and tie down points.

Best thing you can do is shop around and take a few boats out for a lake test (if you can).....

Whatever you decide be sure it's something that meets all your current needs and something that you can use - worst thing is having it sit in the garage and using it as a shelf......which is why my boat's name is "She's Neglected"!!!!!


***EDIT*** I was originally looking at a Nitro but the sales guy wouldn't work with me on the pricing and financing - he flat out told me that the boat I was looking at would be sold by the end of the week since they were "the highest volume dealer in Texas" and I'd never find a better deal on a boat. It was a Nitro 911 CDC - I walked out of that dealership an went over to look at a Skeeter. I went back to that Nitro dealer 1 YEAR LATER and that exact same boat was still there...discounted........high volume my arse....



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