Bass Boat or Deep V?

[Doop]

Hey guys,

After a few days of awesome fishin on the river...i'm still contemplating as to what style of boat to get....bass boat or deep v? I do have a two year old and am a little concerned about him going over board...but when I move north from Texas...i'll more than likely be fishing tournaments with my buddy and eventually my son.

I would consider myself a multi species fisherman but for the most part am after northerns and bass.

What are your guys' thoughts on this?

[Ralph Wiggum]

Where do you plan on doing most of your fishing? River's can be hard on glass boats unless you're going to stick to the dredged rivers. How big of lakes do you plan on fishing? Do you plan on trolling at all? Do you want to use the boat for water recreation, or just fishing?

[delmuts]

ralph is right! you have to decide how/where you will be using the boat most of the time. then we will try to help! del

[eyepatrol]

deep v

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Deep V, single console. Big lakes get rough and it seems it's always windy these days. You can use it for any species fishing. Bass boats are just that, bass boats. Might be fine in calmer waters, but you would be limiting yourself.

[Ralph Wiggum]

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Bass boats are just that, bass boats. Might be fine in calmer waters, but you would be limiting yourself.

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Ever seen a bass tournament on Lake Erie? Bass boats can actually handle big water pretty well.

[Farley]

I've fished Erie in a 17' Lund deep V, I dont think I'd want to try it in a bass boat. Maybee in the bays, but out on the open water those waves get pretty big, even on a calm day.

I'm a deep V fan myself, but for your application Doop, I'd say bass boat.

[Scott K]

I would say if your going to be taking your kid in the boat at all in the younger years, deep v, you cant replace your child, and his safety isnt worth the little bit of advantage you will have with the bass boat. DEEP V

[Questor]

My concern with bass boats in Minnesota is seaworthiness (i.e., safety). I've seen too many of them shipping water over the transom or even being swamped to recommend one. If you were going to fish sheltered waters, a bass boat would probably be OK. Maybe there are some more seaworthy designs than the ones I've seen.

In any case, check the safety angle carefully before picking one. Personally I like a boat with a bit more freeboard, even on some of the relatively small lakes.

[Daze Off]

Owning a smaller deep V (1675 Explorer) and riding in bass boats I would take the bass boat any day of the week and twice on Sunday. You can get a lot more places (shallows) in a bass boat than is possible in a multi-species boat and glass rides MUCH better than aluminum generally - even in rough water - although a nice big Tyee with walk-through windshield is nothing to sneeze at either in big waves.

May not be ideal for Mille Lacs or Leech, etc. but for virtually everything else they work just fine.

Just my 2 cents.....

Daze Off

[upnorth]

If you have younger kids the extra freeboard of a good deep v can't be beat no matter where you are at. If it is only you and other adults a bass boat would be fine, but kids, not in my opinion. The do make some very good deep v glass boats if a person really is concerned the the ride of glass compared to aluminum.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Other factors could be cost, both purchase price and also towing that extra weight around. Another is HP requirements for a "bass" boat vs deep V.

Bass boat is sort of non descriptive because there are so many choices available. You have your alum models like Tracker, and fiberglas models. I saw an awesome Ranger a few weeks ago that was huge. It was more of a walleye, ski boat combo, but it was really cool. Price was NOT cool however!

[upnorth]

Ranger, Skeeter and Warrior just too name a few have glass boats, have models that are walleye style boats. And yes they certainly are not giving them away, you also need a few more ponies to tow and push them across the lake.

[Doop]

Thanks guys!

I would honestly be fishing the backwaters of the Muddy Miss for the most part with a trip once or twice a summer to Mille Lac or LOTW. I am definitely concerned about the safety aspect of bass boats....I don't want my son going overboard....or to become swamped with rough water. I honestly have gone back and forth on this and any advice you guys offer is going to help. Thanks!

[Doop]

We were on the main channel of the mississippi last week and a big storm with lots of wind came through. A bass boat would have had no trouble handling that but on a bigger body of water it may have been a different story. Most of my fishing will be on smaller lakes or the river....what do you guys think?

[Ralph Wiggum]

There are two things that would keep me out of a bass boat:

1) Small children

2) Wanting a "combo" boat for fishing, skiing, and cruising

Sounds like you would be better off with something with more freeboard to keep the kiddies in the boat.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Sounds like your sold on the bass boat. Just go buy it and learn it's limitations. There are fish to be caught

[Kyle Sandberg]

Deep V and full windsheild. I really don't care it takes away two feet from the 17' of fishing space I have, get it. It makes those chilly days nicer.

[jerkin'm]

I have two small kids..had a bass boat and never was concerned about the kids "falling out"...I decided it was a little limited for all around duties however and just got a single console Skeeter WX 1880...Just had it on Mille Lacs with only a 10 mph wind...No way would my bass boat have been possible. The new boat had no problems. I fish bass and eyes about equal amounts and couldn't be happier with my purchase. I would highly recommend you look at them in your search. I loved my bass boat and never thought i'd change but I seem to have found the perfect combination of a deep V and plenty of open space inside. I also got the add on deck extension/livewell for the back and that makes a nice big casting platform on the back as well....

[Doop]

Jerkin'm--

is this a fish/ski model from skeeter? i have thought about going that route....just want to make sure i can get into the shallower waters

[jerkin'm]

I wouldn't call it a fish and ski but it has seating for four in the rear, front and back platforms, tons of storage and a nice open floor plan with the single console. The Skeeter fish and ski's have more of a bass boat hull under them. The WX 1880 has a deeper hull. I haven't explored super shallow water with it yet but i'm guessing I could certainly get anywhere I could have with my old bass boat..

[Doop]

Just a quick question for you guys who've owned bass boats before...what is it like walleye fishing from a bass boat? Deep V's are very handy these days with baitwells...use of kicker motors for backtrolling etc...any thoughts?

I think I have it narrowed down to a Crestliner Fish Hawk..Lund Pro V or a Ranger/Triton. Thanks for the comments so far.

[LABS4ME]

I own a Triton 205. It's a multi species boat. Part walleye, part muskie, part bass. Driest boat I have ever ridden in... I go out in any weather conditions. I have neighbors who refuse to go out in some of the big waves we get on Cass and I tell them "I'm going, they are no problem"... they own 17-18' deep V's, I said to go out with me and give it a try to show them the difference in boat designs. One did and was amazed, the other just flat out refuses to. A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to go out on the lake and look for a neighbor to let him know of a death in the family, we had 25mph winds and my neighbor said he couldn't take any more pounding... we took mine out and covered 1/2 the lake in a matter of minutes and found him.

I was a die hard Lund owner prior to this boat and I will probably never own another aluminum boat, at least as they stand now. Besides this boat being dry, it is quiet and stable, and the ride is incredible, I back troll and forward troll with a 9.9 4 stroke, I never worry about my kids falling in (I even have a severly disabled son) though they are always in the cockpit, not the bow, when moving. I have more storage in this boat than my house. The bow is huge and I have a drop in rear casting deck if we are going out chasing muskie instead of walleye. These boats are incredible.

My friend owns a Ranger and I would not hesitate to buy one of those either.

Good Luck!

Ken

[Doop]

Thanks for the input Ken...I greatly appreciate it!

Would you mind emailing me, I have a few more questions.

[email protected]

[Wayne Ek]

I have yet to see any water that my bass boats would not handle. Handling big water, wind and waves is more an operator problem than a boat problem. I have owned 4 Rangers in this order 690,619 muti-species then 520 and now Z-20 bass boats. As I stated the bass boats will handle the same water my muti-species handled. You had a drier ride with the multi-species as there seems to be a little more bow spray with the bass boats. The muti-species had problems with the mississippi back waters as they would not allow me to get as shallow or run in skinny water like the bass boats do. Also, with the muti-species it was harder to jump them up on plane in skinny water. The bass boats pole easier than muti-species. For family use, I think the muti-species is a much better option. They seem more kid friendly and they are much better tow boats for tubes and such. I fish everything out of the bass boat, but we also fish everything from the pontoon that we use for guiding. If I were a die-in-the-wool walleye angler or just chased muskies then I would go with a muti-species.

[PikeBayCommanche]

Well to echo kind of what Ken and Wayne have already said.

I had been a bass boat owner for the last few years and loved my Ranger 519. It was a great boat to fish out of most of the time. Just like Ken said, It gets fairly windy on Cass most days and can be absolutly no fun fighting the wind all the time. So I was lucky enough to go in with my dad on a Ranger 621 DVS. Great boat so far. Can handle the rough stuff with ease and does not get blown around so much like lighter boats.

I guess the main questions are:

Are you going to have more than 3 people often in the boat?

Little Kids??

Open water fishing or Bays and rivers?

Fish all species or mostly bass??

What ever you get it is hard to go to wrong with a quality glass boat.

Good Luck.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

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I have two small kids..had a bass boat and never was concerned about the kids "falling out"...I decided it was a little limited for all around duties however and just got a single console Skeeter WX 1880...

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I saw this boat at the Sportshow and I must say I was very impressed. If it were in my price range, I would definitely strongly consider it. They even had it in the right color for my Pathfinder!