I just got my Bass Raider and tried it for the first time on a small reservoir/lake. I read the first 30 pages of this forum so far but plan on finishing it. I will try to cover what a lot of people are probably wondering about this boat including what I was curious about before I bought it.
My experience with boating goes as this. My dad used to have a ~18 foot Kenner with an 88hp outboard that we used to take to the bay a lot. My brother and I own a 14' john boat that we decked and carpeted into a bass john with a 15hp motor. I've owned 3 different kayaks one of which we mounted a 30lb thrust trolling motor to. We also own a canoe.
I chose the eight foot model Raider as it fits perfectly in the back of my f-250 with the tale gate shut. This thing rides great in the back of the truck and even had room on the side of it for coolers, battery, trolling motor and tackle. I think it's 4' wide. I set my trolling motor on some floating vests to hold them down and prevent the motor from bouncing directly on the bed of the truck. I laced rope like a shoelace on my bed over everything but it was almost unnecessary as nothing bounced or shifted at all. I tied the seats to the boat at the front of the bed.
I weigh 160 lbs and have a twin brother. We both fit and rode perfectly on the boat with plenty of space to swivel around and even stand up in front of our chairs. The boat was extremely stable until later in the trip when wind picked up. It was a little scary for a second but the boat didn't rock much at all, it just sort of blew in the wind.
I chose a 50 lb Minn Kota trolling motor. It had quite a bit of power. We mounted it to the back transom of the boat as I don't have a rudder yet but it worked really well. This thing spins like a fork lift, really nice. We were chopping through lily pads and moss all day long and only got stuck in serious moss once which we used a paddle to clear it off the motor. We also got stuck on a submerged stump once but were able to get off of it after a good while of rocking and shifting our position and revving the trolling motor in reverse.
My very first cast in the lake I caught a 3lb 7ounce bass which my brother netted. Someone else on a similar boat as ours was nice enough to give us a bass he caught as well. He said he got his boat from someone for only 50 bucks! and gave us some good pointer on the lake.
The battery lasted the whole trip approx. 7.5 hours though half the time we were drifting or anchored. I got the battery for 80 bucks. My battery box has a battery level indicator on it and a breaker. Cost almost as much as the battery but it's nice to have. Next time we go out we'll take two batteries.
I highly recommend these little boats and it is more than ample in size for two average size guys imo. The ten footer might be nice but I like how light and convenient the eight footer is not to mention my shut bed. If I had a bed cover you wouldn't even know I had a boat on me which would be nice for making stops at the store on the way to the fishing hole.
At first I thought the seat brackets were ugly and I preferred a center shaft but the side shafts are nice because you can fit medium sized coolers and tackle under them.
I will probably build a deck in the boat but may not as it will add to the weight. if I do I will probably only build it out to the ridges around the inside of the standing area so that the outer compartments will remain. The only small downside is that with compartment you need a fire extinguisher but that's not a huge deal.
