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

So what type boat faired better on the rough water this weekend? I'm still researching boats to make a decision on boat. I've fished with feelay on the Cadillac of smooth rides but that's just to big a boat. Are the 20' glass boats enough? Or would a deep v ranger or skeeter fisher be better. Martin has 2-3' ft rollers from wakeboard boats this time of year. I really like feeshrman s zx 200 skeeter but a lil worried bout the rougher days. My local dealer has one in stock. I needs to sucker him into taking me out on a rough day. I've rode in a 21' bass cat. But not on a rough day.

I run 3-4 foot rollers regularly on KY Lake in my Excel Bay Pro 203 with 140 Suzuki. MY boat is rated for 150 but the 140 does everything I want except win races. The 203 dry empty hull weighs 1550 pounds, about the same as some of the 20 foot glitter boats. We may get some spray but my clients are comfortable and safe. I don't like to run the 4-6 footers we get here but have several times and I've gone from point A to point B safely when a lot of the bass guys are tucked away in bays waiting for it it calm down.

Bill at Big River Marine can fix you up.

Excel Boats

The deep Vs definately handled it better whether it was the bays or the 620 or 621 rangers. the multi species boats are just flat out built for it. Watched several try to travel the rough seas getting beat to death and taking on water with every roller, along cames the McCords in a 620 Fisherman heading into the wind, turned their backs to the wind and shut down, dropped the troller and set up to fish, fished these conditions all afternoon.

So John. The multi species are noticeably better in the rougher waters . I figured somebody had one over there this weekend. I won't even get out in a tin boat on Martin this time of years. I have a buddy try it last weekend in an xpress bay 20. He was off water in 30 minutes he said.

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Originally Posted by BAMA S

So John. The multi species are noticeably better in the rougher waters . I figured somebody had one over there this weekend. I won't even get out in a tin boat on Martin this time of years. I have a buddy try it last weekend in an xpress bay 20. He was off water in 30 minutes he said.

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You and your buddy haven't been in the right "tin" boat. I'll put mine up against anybody's multi-species.

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Originally Posted by mrdux

You and your buddy haven't been in the right "tin" boat. I'll put mine up against anybody's multi-species.

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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.

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Originally Posted by BAMA S

So John. The multi species are noticeably better in the rougher waters . I figured somebody had one over there this weekend. I won't even get out in a tin boat on Martin this time of years. I have a buddy try it last weekend in an xpress bay 20. He was off water in 30 minutes he said.

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There were 10 or so there, they are a great rough water rig but a major pain in the butt otherwise. They are so high on the trailer, getting in and out at the ramp without a dock is a pain too. There is NO perfect boat, some are close but its hard to find one that fits every situation to perfection.

Good info for me to chew on guys. The multi series offers a ski pylon also. I can multitask with this boat. I have a riverboat for skinny waters. So my next will be targeted toward the rougher days I can run the river boat at night being ita jet. Not having to worry as much about submerged hazards. I know I want a glass and probably will save toward the multi series. As I get older a comfy ride matters for sure.

I love my 20 ft xpress and have not been out in weather Ive felt uncomfortable in. That being said, I'm really glad I wasn't on the water Friday. The deep side glass boats are just hard to beat. My tin boat has impressed a few of the guys with glass boats. Had 5 people in it Saturday, even having a 115 instead of rated 150 I only lost 3 mph top end when livewell was loaded.

All that being said, I still drool over a big ole honking ranger!


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I too agree with Doug on the 203 Bay Pro, Bill can hook you up.

I had to borrow a friends rig to fish in the tournament this wkd because I had motor issues. I have a 20 ft bay boat by skeeter, I borrowed a 24 or 25 ft sea ark. The sea ark did fine and handled the waves when we were running. The big difference in the two is the glass boat out fishes aluminum boats in rough water because it sits down in the water and not on top. The rods are fishing twice as long when it's rolling.

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


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Attachment 268505

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 !

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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:biggrin

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.

Agree with pstone completely.

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As I said. Good info. I'm looking for multi purpose. Boat that I can fish from middle. And use to pull tubes. The rangers seem to be the hot ticket on resale and holding there value. I'm gonna do some more research on them. I have a hard time getting up in the bass designs. So I think the 621 will fit me better. 95 percent sure my next boat will be glass.

Lee, if you have docks available to use they are awesome boats

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Originally Posted by BAMA S

So John. The multi species are noticeably better in the rougher waters . I figured somebody had one over there this weekend. I won't even get out in a tin boat on Martin this time of years. I have a buddy try it last weekend in an xpress bay 20. He was off water in 30 minutes he said.

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I fished the ACT in my 20' Xpress H20 PFC model that's built on the H20 Bay hull. No problems crossing the lake. Pulled cranks Friday straight down the north bank, and crossed over to Clear Creek at 11:00. It was ROLLIN by then.

You gotta know how to drive in the rough stuff. Helmsmanship is a must know when it's rolling.


BRM

BRM will like this lol.....everybody needs at least three boats and preferably five. I got two now. Not going to get the other three untill snubbys does.[emoji1]

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One more note. The Ranger 600 series boats and the Z522c are great boats for the rough rolling stuff. The 522 has a 600 series hull with a bass boat interior.


BRM

B B Bill. Let's think about this. If I buy a ranger 621. It will be from you . So you suppose to be pro multi species. I've had a G3 bay. And rode in a xpress bay with pad. Just not what I'm looking for. I want a glass this time out. Thnx for the good insights.

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Originally Posted by BigRiverMarine

I fished the ACT in my 20' Xpress H20 PFC model that's built on the H20 Bay hull. No problems crossing the lake. Pulled cranks Friday straight down the north bank, and crossed over to Clear Creek at 11:00. It was ROLLIN by then.

You gotta know how to drive in the rough stuff. Helmsmanship is a must know when it's rolling.


BRM

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You're dead on there. Only problem is in order to "know" you gotta do it and sometimes that aint fun.

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Originally Posted by "G"

BRM will like this lol.....everybody needs at least three boats and preferably five. I got two now. Not going to get the other three untill snubbys does.[emoji1]

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Lol, you will be waiting awhile then. I'm afraid the next one I buy, I will have to live in too.. How is fishing out of a houseboat I wonder?? :tongue

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...af33115e9d.jpg My best catch of the weekend. I was preparing for all of the ROLLIN. This Really helps with learning your Helmsmsnship. It's called COURAGE!! [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]


BRM

My boat ain't too big....pffft!


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Bwahahaha :Rofl

Age old question. No right answer. Unless the answer comes from me, that is.

Best all around is a glass bass boat. Can fish up shallow and out deep. Has speed and economy (relative to deep v). Can buy at any price point you want - $3k up to $100k, will out fish a metal boat for spider rigging and keep up with any deep V up to a point, but let's face it...spider rigging in 2 ft waves is no fun in any boat, never mind conditions like the act. Difference in tin, the limit is 2 or less depending, 3 or 4 in a glass bass and I assume 4 or 5 in a deep v. That said, yeah, you could spider rig 4 ft rollers in a war eagle 648, but we would all look at you funny.

Now, if your going to hit the tournament trail cross country, take $80 K and get you a brand new deep v...then rig it with $20k more. And don't forget the diesel truck to pull it cross country. But when they get shallow your gonna get your feelings hurt.

Take a tin boat, and fish when weather permits and save tons of money buying, towing and operating.

Take a glass boat and you can go out in the slop and fish when you have too and get back safely with some common sense.

I run an older 20' bass cat and I have a 15 ft xpress for spring time, wading, single poling etc.

There, I've answered and that's the way it's gonna be. Now go on, git.

Wannabe...


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Gee wiz BRM that's a whopper ur hiding behind....Like 2 pitchers in a glass....LOL

Said for years if you want the Ideal boat for all conditions you need to own a fleet...

I have a 19" Skeeter "tin" and a 18" jon....If I had a glass it would be a usable under most conditions small "fleet"...

Buy a boat that will suit 90% of your needs, and make the best of the other 10%.

You could buy a big fiberglass deep v, and, in the event of no docks (like the COE lakes), you could tow an inflatable dinghy behind you and anchor the the cruise ship in deeper waters and use the dinghy for land access.

Once ya get the trailer backed in and are back at the cruise liner...well then I don't know what you could do with the dinghy. Give it to me?

I have the Ranger Reata 1850. which is a multi species with ski pylon. 150 mercury' it does 48 mph loadeded and rides great. price tag was only 46k

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Man BRM that margarita glass is bigger than my boat!

Maybee in a real big gulf storm you need to either be fishin out of a helicopter or setting home on the couch....

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Originally Posted by Oldnewbie

I have the Ranger Reata 1850. which is a multi species with ski pylon. 150 mercury' it does 48 mph loadeded and rides great. price tag was only 46k

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That is a fine ride too!!!!!

Guess I need to rig my triton to crank the big 4 in summer time. Do they make trolling motor shafts this long?? 48volt motor perhaps [emoji23]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...33bfb199e3.jpg

It's different strokes for different folks. With a price tag of $75k you can just as easily rig out a small fleet of quality boats if you wait and search. None of them would be brand new and most would need some sort of work done if your willing to do so. That was always the option I went for but that's just me. I know some guys that would gladly pay the money one time up front and be done with it and walk away with out the extra effort and probable headaches along the way.

Now if I was running from tourney to tourney without going home and could only pull one boat then I could see the necessity. Honestly though, I'm not at the level of crappie fishing that I could take the extra 40k in boat price and turn it into a return on my additional investment. No perfect boat for everything and not perfect boat for everyone. I can say that I rode in Mo' Money's pad hull Express bay boat and was thoroughly impressed.

An important point to stress, that has already been mentioned, is seamanship(helmsmenship) plays the most important role, at least from a safety perspective. You could take a jon boat and release it on the upwind side of Sardis when the wind is humping down the lake and it would likely float it's self across. Now add a person in the boat behind the tiller and now chances are she would sink. Usually it's by human error. Boats can usually take more abuse than the people in them. Most (like 85%) of the time when the Coast Guard rescues a crew from a boat that is in heavy weather, the boat goes on to survive the storm. I have witness small crafts survive devastating heavy weather as well as seen a 50' sport fisher sink in a thunderstorm.


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