Thread: Preferred boat for the rough waters of the act on Sardis?

We watched a big ranger fish into waves we were fishing with the wind, my boat was moving more than the ranger was. The big glass boats are just tanks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

This is may be my next boat. Either skeeter or ranger

Big toys for da big boys ! That's a hoss of a ride for sure !

Originally Posted by Rees Guide

And you would have lost Friday at 10, start fishing time, against the bigger glass boats like the 620s and 621s. Not saying you couldn't do it but they shined better than anything else, stood there and watched it for 30 minutes, then got back in the truck and drove around to a different ramp, the 521 we were in was not enough and we looked for calmer seas.
Doug, please don't take offense to my statement, I value your opinion and really appreciate your honesty on things.

No offense taken, John. Wild water boating is 45% boat and 55% experience.

I've ran KY Lake since I was big enough to hold the tiller on a motor. It is 1+ mile wide and 40+ miles long. Waves higher than one's head are common. There is no doubt one of the multi boats should handle rough water better, especially on waters such as the great lakes, because of their weight and side height. Their 80K-90K$+++ pricetags are way more than my 40K$ also. I've passed them several times in my Excel as they wallowed in rollers. That was all operator--them with no experience, me with years. With that experience comes the realization that some days you are just better off leaving it on the trailer. FLW and some of the other green carp sanctioning bodies have declared KY Lake off limits when small craft warnings are posted. That is also a deciding factor in me fishing client trips or not. Crappie tourney sanction folks should be so considerate of their fishermen.

Originally Posted by mrdux

No offense taken, John. Wild water boating is 45% boat and 55% experience.

I've ran KY Lake since I was big enough to hold the tiller on a motor. It is 1+ mile wide and 40+ miles long. Waves higher than one's head are common. There is no doubt one of the multi boats should handle rough water better, especially on waters such as the great lakes, because of their weight and side height. Their 80K-90K$+++ pricetags are way more than my 40K$ also. I've passed them several times in my Excel as they wallowed in rollers. That was all operator--them with no experience, me with years. With that experience comes the realization that some days you are just better off leaving it on the trailer. FLW and some of the other green carp sanctioning bodies have declared KY Lake off limits when small craft warnings are posted. That is also a deciding factor in me fishing client trips or not. Crappie tourney sanction folks should be so considerate of their fishermen.

100 percent agreed! Taking water over the bow is no fun no matter what kinda boat it is and everyone of them will take it over the bow if it gets bad enough. Big price tags make it tough to play in the tourney circuit in any given weather.
I too leave mine on the trailer when it is bad, if I'm not comfortable I won't unload no matter how much money is on the line. We witnessed some crazy stuff Friday as our rig was on the trailer sitting in the parking lot, there was a huge difference in the way the big rangers and skeeters (multi species rigs) handled the waves, head and shoulders above everyone else.

It ALL depends on the owner and how you fish and how rough you'll fish. I have a 522 Ranger, and I ran the lake at 10 at ACT (legit 3-3.5'ers wouldn't you say John) and minnow rigged in the waves, into them about half of the day, with them about half of the day. Was it a smooth ride? Naw. Did I get there just as fast as the 621's and 24' bay boats? Naw. Was it ideal with waves crashing over the front and back (took one over the side even)? Naw. BUT I got there, and I fished there and I caught about 50 fish and 12 keepers in that crap, minnow rigging up front. My bilge ran about half the day, but I NEVER felt like we did anything that wasn't safe, or that the boat wasn't capable of handling.

You didn't mention how fast you want it to be? I didn't see any 620's, big bay boats, or deep v aluminum boats pass me @ 65 mph on the way in Friday

IF that's what you decide on, get the RANGER.

Disclaimer, I've never fished out of a 621-multi species boat. There's not a boat that PERFECT for every style of fishing.