How Does Each Brand Ride?

[Mr_Scrogg]

Majority of pro boats all have a 36v system, batteries in the rear. Add a full tank of gas, power poles, big 250hp motor, full livewell.

Thats alot of weight back there

[Trek]

Just curious, don't pretty much all bass boats sit nose high? Seems every flw or bassmaster tourney you watch they are always nose high and go to either cockpit or back of the boat to land fish...

 Nothing like a Champion does. If you look at a Ranger in the water it sits pretty flat. When I bought mine in 2010 it was hard to get use to because running down the lake it feels like your going down hill. Your not but it's the design on how it feels. The trailer is a C channel but they also armor guard it so rocks won't chip it. It's not a cheap boat but they really do pay attention to detail on the whole package.

 If I was buying another boat I would make sure that what ever boat it was it had a motor on it that my service guy in my area works on. An example of that would be the new Yamaha's. It's an awesome motor but I would never own one because the nearest dealer is 1 1/2 hours away. That's a six hour drive to get it fixed if you figure you have to take it down then go pick it up later. I don't have time for that. If your local dealer is good at what he does then make a relationship with him. It will pay off in the long run.

[Phoenix Guy]

Try to test drive as many as you can. That's what I did and I wound up buying a Phoenix 721 ProXP. Great ride and was the most boat for the money.

[senile1]

 

You've received some good advice here so far, I will try to add to it.  

 

Length, storage, livewells, overall condition, motor, trailer, etc...All need to be balanced against what you can spend.

 

In general, I'd say you want to lean heavy on length since you plan to fish the upper Bay.  You don't want end up wishing you went bigger.  When it comes to glass boats, generally a 20' boat can do everything an 18' boat can...But an 18' can't do everything a 20' can.   

 

For used boats, motor and trailer condition need to be considered as extremely important too.  If either turns out to suck you will regret everything.  Get both checked by a professional.  For motors, some have bad reputations (the FICHT is probably one of the more notorious ones) so avoid those...Even if you get a 'good one' the resale value will be hurt significantly.

 

Remember, the boat is just a tool to take you to the fish...So make sure you get one that matches your fishing goals!

 

Get your budget figured out, get your goals figured out, and then start looking.  Narrow it down by brand once you start finding some that fit your goals.  Look at as many as you can and keep an open mind...Whatever you do, don't fall in love with the first boat you look at!  I've seen a few people do this and they ended up with something completely different that what they set out for, obviously regretting it.  

 

Don't get too caught up in what electronics/extras are on the boat, but don't pass up a great deal either.  If a boat is a little out of your price range but comes with $3,000 worth of electronics, a brand new quality trolling motor, or with all of the previous guys fishing gear, it could end up being a better deal in the long run.  

 

After all that, if I were to rank the brands you listed...I'd put Stratos at the top  (For obvious reasons haha)

 

 

Good post.  

 

This is a bit off the subject but is still relevant to the OP's search for a boat.  I want to add something about the Evinrude Ficht engines.  Any Ficht still running in 2014 probably was a Ficht built in the good years, or it is a Ficht that had the recall work done for the bad years.  There were specific years that had problems ('98 and '99 were very bad with engines that blew up and caught fire).  I bought a 2000 Stratos 295 Pro Elite in 2007 with a year 2000 Ficht 200 HP motor but I researched the heck out of it before I made the purchase.  The motor on mine either had the recall work done or it was incorporated into that year's motors because I checked it for the specific fixes.  It is still running like a champ giving me 68 - 70 mph top speed at 5800 rpm depending on what I am carrying.  From the reading that I did, if you buy a Ficht from the bad years but it had the recall work done they are solid motors.  Run it at higher rpm often and use Evinrude XD 50 synthetic oil and you won't have any problems, or at least no more than you would have with any other motor from that time period. 

 

The easiest way to see if a Ficht motor has been updated is to look at the spark plug recessed area on a cylinder head. If you see what looks like an allen screw next to a spark plug hole, you have the newer "deflector" heads. The gray EPA label should say to use Champion XC12PEP plugs.  There is an injector hold-down upgrade that was done as recall work on the bad motors.  The easy way to tell is to look at the bolts holding the injector flange to the cylinder head. If they have a 1/2" head, they are the new ones. Bolts with a 3/8" head are the bad ones and resulted in cracks, leaking gas, and motors that went kaboom!

A high percentage of the '98 and '99 FICHT's without the factory fix, were very problematic. The 2000 and later series were the next generation FICHT Ram and they have a good reputation.  If you find one of these with the recall work or the factory fixes, you may be able to get a good boat with a good motor at a very good price because of the reputation of the 1998 - 1999 motors.

 

[Brian6428]

You asked how each brand rode, and no one seems to have talked specifically about Triton. I have a 18'6 Triton. I went to Lake of the Ozarks this past weekend (Yes, the weekend!) and rode in the main channel at 3pm on a saturday. Huge waves were coming from every direction and I didn't get a drop of water on me. I was only doing 30mph trimmed all the way down. My boat has a fairly large freeboard and can stay on a plane at low speeds.

 

In my opinion my boat rides great, but that is obviously biased. The only other glass bass boat I have ridden was a 22' BassCat which rode excellent, but it was way bigger.

 

I will say, however, that champions were the most prevalent bass boats I saw at Lake of the Ozarks, if that means anything to you.

 

Good luck!

[BuckMaxx]

You didnt list a Gambler... Id rank them above any listed.