What Is The Best Two Man Plastic Type Boat ?

[ksdog]

I'd like to find a decent two man plastic boat that with a sufficient trolling motor can handle some bigger water. Looking for some recommendations.

[tnriverluver]

While I love my BassHunter Bass Baby and have taken it out on some very large bodies of water including Ky Lake it is generally a calm water boat.  It will take large boat wakes and waves with ease if you aren't moving very fast, but waves will break over the bow once you get moving along with the trolling motor on high.  The Bass Tender type boats may be what you are looking for.  Check Youtube for videos of the Bass Tenders running with outboard power and you will be impressed for such small craft.

[Fishes in trees]

How much do you want to spend?  Prior to getting my current boat (2002 Lowe WF 180), I had a Buster Boats, Trophy model.  It was pretty deluxe, as pond boats go.  At 10' long & 4" wide, it was made out of acrylic resin, very resistant to UV rays.  It came pre-wired for trolling motor, lights &  depth finder.  It had a built in ice chest & live well with aerator.  All this made it pretty heavy as pond boats go and it came on its own little trailer.  Brand new, it sold for around $2800 in 1997.  I don't know if that company is even around now.

 

I know that you can get boats cheaper than that but what drew me to the Buster boat was the acrylic resin construction.  Previously I owned a pond boat, a Water Scamp in the early 80's.  It was made out of ABS Plastic.   Used heavily and always stored outside (no choice at the time) it became fairly brittle as it aged and cracked easily.  It would still float, and you could still fish out of it, but inside the pontoons, it would get damp and stay damp for a long time.

 

Be aware that getting the boat is just one chapter in the boat story.  How are you going to transport it?  Store it?  How much power are you going to need?  Extra batteries?  It is easy to get a couple of grand tied up in the boat pretty quick.  That isn't a bad thing, just the way it is.  Keep looking and you will find what you need.

[Bomber7]

I'd like to find a decent two man plastic boat that with a sufficient trolling motor can handle some bigger water. Looking for some recommendations.

when I was shopping around I looked at pretty much everyone and decided on the Sun Dolphin Sportsman 8' or the Coleman Perch is pretty much the same boat - one reason for this one was because I needed to load it into my truck bed and it's only 100 lbs.  I do use ramps to load it now.  Anyway the thing I liked about it was the deep sides so things don't get knocked out - just seems to me that the Pelicans and Basshunters have a lower side almost as if the side shelf are even with the top of the boat.  Check out the thread link below for pictures of my boat and the mods I have made - that thread is filled with many other great ideas of mods people have made to Pelican, Basshunters, Sun Dolphins, etc.

 

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/25442-any-pelican-bass-raider-owners-out-there/

 

Here is the boat - I got mine at Dick's Sports for $400 - got 10% off cause I applied for their Dick's store credit card.

 

http://www.sundolphinboats.com/oz/3/com/fish/sp8/sportsman.html

[Mr Kelly]

I have much to add to this topic but no time today.  Will get back to this when the weather is to bad to fish.  The best mini bass boat is the Buster Boats Deluxe with factory modifications.  ( Added 20" wheels and axle like their Bass Wagon,  made the storage cooler into the battery box with rerouted wiring )   Can take wheels & axle on and off when needed.  Created more room by having battery box in side storage bin.  This boat is completely awesome except for the speed.  I have a 4 stroke 5 hp motor.  Unhitch it from the vehicle and easy to move/push as a shopping cart.

A very large shopping cart!!     

[k9gee]

I got a basstender 10.2 I'm thinking a deck or at least the carpet on the floor like poorboybassin did.

[Waterloo9]

NVM about 3 more seconds of searching answered my question. But, i do like these little ones with some storage in them like the bass tender.

[Under the Radar]

I'd like to find a decent two man plastic boat that with a sufficient trolling motor can handle some bigger water. Looking for some recommendations.

 

Hey dog, give us a little help here.

What kind of budget do you have?

Where are you located ?

Bigger waters depends on our point of view ? like how big is big?

Does it need to be inflatable (for storage & transport) or trailerable?

One man or Two?

 

I'm pretty sure you didn't think of these things when you posted, your OP is pretty ambiguous.

[ksdog]

Guess what I am saying is that safety and stability and cost of ownership are the primary concerns. I know that "bigger" waters are relative, however it doesn't matter if I am fishing the local 150 acre lake are take the craft out the the local 5,000 acre reservoir...Kansas spells WIND. I have done research but would like to hear from you guys that actually fish out of these two man type boats. Thanks to all for your replies.