Its the old Chevy vs Ford argument. Ask 20 people and you are likely to get almost that many different opinions. When I was shopping for my boat last year I had criteria much different than most folks do. I needed a heavy boat that was rated to carry a large load and several fishermen since it was to be used for my guiding on KY and Barkley lakes. These lakes get as rough as some ocean inlets.

I decided a center console was much more practical for trolling ,which I do 90% of the time. I looked at most all the aluminum center-console models and price was a serious factor. I had a $$ range I had to stay in. I dismissed any boat that was less than .125 hull thickness. I also had to have medium low decks due to my destroyed knees. The bass-boat type decks were out. That took several makes out of the running.

After much consideration and talking to dealers across the entire mid-west, I settled on the Excel Bay Pro 203. It has decks that are 2 layers of .125 aluminum and is built like a tank. Stripped hull weight is 1550 pounds. That is 20-21 foot glass boat weight. It had the features I wanted and room to customize some other features I built myself. It is rated for 1100 pounds load and up to 8 people. Obviously those have to be very small people, very much unlike me.

I then talked to at least a half dozen Excel dealers in several states. I have one 15 miles from my home but they wouldn't get serious about dealing and wanted to sell loaded boats rather than unrigged like I was going to buy.I had also decided on a 140 hp Suzuki 4 stroke after reading all I could find about the Suzuki outboards. I settled on the deal that Bill at Big River Marine in West Memphis, AR gave me. Bill is a sponsor here and great to deal with. He also saved me $4K over the boat locally with a 115 Yamaha engine.

I've had it a year and have had it loaded to the max a few times. It is everything I had hoped for. It won't win many races with a top speed of 42-43 with 2 fishermen, their equipment, full fuel load and full livewell up front.