Good 20’-ish Fish-Friendly Boat?

[jhild]

Two-foot-its was in remission for a while, but it has reared its ugly head once again. As I move up a couple feet, I’m thinking about getting into a more fish & saltwater friendly boat. I’m not willing to keep my current boat in brackish water, but trailering is really quite simple for me (I only have to drive about a ¼ mile to the end of my street.) However, the convenience of keeping my boat close by on a mooring is very tempting. Also, my boys are becoming quite the little fisherman and my 176BR (without snap-in carpets!!! :smt021 ) just wasn’t made for that sort of thing.

So here’s what I’m thinking: (1) Outboard instead of I/O. (PS - I don’t know anything about outboards or the maintenance requirements of keeping one in brackish water.) (2) The boat needs to be relatively easy to cover while moored or have a true self-bailing cockpit (or both?) (3) I don’t use my boat for anything other than daytrips and I can pretty much pick my days & weather, so I’m leaning towards dual or center console rather than a walkaround or cuddy. (Although my kids would love a nice hideaway and the Admiral would love a head.) I also like having additional bow seating (and having my wee ones close at hand), so I think the layout of a DC might be ideal – Good for both fishing & short family trips.

Does anyone have any experience with boats in this general category? Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated. I know I can continue with my internet & local research, but a lot of you have been around boats forever and I’d like to hear what you have to say. (Other than, “Just hurry up and buy something, anything, other than a Sea Ray so we can finally get you off thisdamn message board!â€)

 

[tphinney]

If your staying in the searay family the true fishing platform would be the amberjack, but the smallest amberjack is a 25' footer. it's really the 240 Sundancer with some major modifications on the deck to make it into a fishing boat.

below that I would recommend looking at the Sundeck. We used to fish off of my old 220SD a bit. I would pull up the snap in carpet and leave it at home and put one or two fishing off the front and one or two fishing off the back. when we would land a fish I would break out the washdown either front or back and hose off the blood and gust before it had a chance to dry and set up.

for true salt water fishing which a lot of folks in my neck of the woods do, you'd have to look at a walk around. most of these are very sparten in creater comforts but give you full 360 degree access around the boat for landing the BIG ONES. don't know much about them other than "Proline" seems to be very popular around these parts.

wish you luck...

 

[Buckeye Boater]

I was in a similar situation. I looked for months at several center consoles. They have improved the designs considerably in the past few years. Many of the smaller ones now have heads in the console which is a nice feature.

Being in the great lakes region (Lake Erie), we decided on something that would provide more protection from the elements. That is why we decided on the 215WE. Very deep boat for its size, roomy cuddy and a head.

I believe Sea Ray has brought back the Laguana series of center consoles/bay boats. I saw one on a trip to Florida and it looked like a quality vessel.

Good luck in your search!

 

[Morpheus]

They make sundancers with fishing packages as well I've looked at them at the dealer of course it was the 310 and up that had it but it had rod holders and live wells.

 

[mikestein]

I've been thinking about the same thing for a few years. I like the DCs by Grady White and Scout, particularly the 225 Tournament and 222 Dorado respectively, but they are out of my price range. For a budget boat I like Sea Hunt. They are made in my home town, and I see a LOT of them. I like the Escape 220. I have heard both good and bad about Sea Hunt, but my dealer says a lot of good things about them (he also sells Scout and GW). But, to bring it back to Sea Ray, I'm holding out b/c I think this is a growing market, and I think they'll get into it. I love my Sea Ray, I've had it for almost 10 years and it's great. I just don't like the carpet and it's a little too small, but whose isn't? :grin:

 

[ylwjacket]

Aquasports, Hydrasports, and Century have decent reputations as well. Gradys are nice, Whalers are overpriced. Prolines are great boats too - nice ride and economy.

If you want a pure fishing boat, Sea Ray doesn't make it.

I wouldn't buy new in one of these. The hulls don't change that much, and there isn't much to crap up in them.

The engines are the value in used ones.

In this size and function, you have so many options, it's almost ridiculous. And, as many options as you have, you will find brand loyalists, who will swear by one or another.

My view is, if you buy one 5 years old, say, you're not very deep into it, and you can chuck it and get another one in a year if you have to. So, as long as the engines are good, there isn't much risk.

 

[cr0ck1]

IF i were to get a fishing boat i would get either... a sea chaser or a boston whaler center console

 

[tphinney]

outside of the Amberjacks in the SeaRay line up I would not hold my breath on SeaRay building a utility fishing boat. You have to remember it's not SeaRay it's Brunswick. and Brunswick owns SeaRay, Baja and a bunch of other brands, actually they own most brands.

So if i'm Brunswick and I have a High end signature series for Famliy and crusing like SeaRay why would I have it compete with my primary Fishing brand. It doesn't make sense.

any way my 2 cents.

 

[Dave S]

I remember a discussion we had on the old SRO forum about the Sea Ray Lagunas. The general consensus was these boats were built very well and they come in a variety of sizes and configurations. There are quite a few used ones on the market based on a quick search I did.

 

[jhild]

Thanks for all the comments. I don't really need a pure fishing boat. I just want something that can handle a mess better than my current boat: No way to wash down the deck or even remove the carpets. I figure if I'm going to get a bigger boat, I might as well get one that fits my lifestyle a bit better. I went out yesterday with my wife, my two boys, and my nephew. We had a blast. As many people have mentioned, the 176 is a great starter boat. I’m really in no hurry to part with her. Every time I take her out, at least one person asks me if my boat’s brand new. It always makes me smile when I say she’s an ’03.

I did lots of homework before buying my little Sea Ray and (with lots of help) arrived at the following conclusion: For your first boat, buy something with good resale value so when you figure out what you really want/need, you can make a move without losing your shirt. That's one of the primary reasons I bought the boat I did. (That and I just love the looks of that little bowrider!) I'm certainly partial to Sea Ray, but I don't think that would stop me from looking at other manufacturers. It’s funny. I think the grass really is always greener. At the ramp yesterday, a nice family with a newer ProLine center console was eyeing my boat as I was doing the same to theirs. We got to chatting. They all liked the “luxury†of my Sea Ray. I was checking out their outboard and scuppers.

YJ - I was hoping you'd respond. I know you went though the whole fishing boat dilemma a while back. I think we're on the same page: Buy a used, clean boat with reasonably low hours.

Buckeye - I was seriously thinking about a 215WE, but that doesn't really solve my outdrive-in-saltwater problem. I know millions of people do it every day, but I just can't bring myself to leave all that expensive gear in the drink.

 

[ylwjacket]

For my family, if I was to sell the 450EB, I would probably buy something in the 28-30 foot range with twin outboards and a small cabin.

However, they would also be happy with something in the 20ish size range, because then they could ski behind it as well.

I looked at alot of fishing boats, and for no reason that I can really tell you, I had sort of settled on Proline or Aquasport. Mostly, probably, was due to availability of relatively clean, used ones around here. I liked the Proline, and several friends had and liked Aquasports.

For fishing, you really do need something that you can hose and forget, and a Sea Ray is not that kind of boat. Even the Amberjacks have plenty of that soft, cushioning material that does not like blood spatters.

I sort of concluded, after looking at a bunch of them, that they weren't all that different underneath it all. The key differences were this:
- power packages
- cockpit size (varied quite a bit on boats with a small cabin)
- price of amenities (varied quite a bit based on manufacturer - things like colored hull, baitwell, fish box, etc).
- size of baitwell and fishbox
- niceties inside the cabin.

The things above were the money items. Strip away that stuff, and they were all about the same. So, it was just a matter of personal preference, price, and availability. Proline seemed to meet most of those criteria around these parts.

For the money, I couldn't see a whole lot of differences between Grady Whites and Boston Whalers. They are supposed to be the holy grail, but I didn't see any point in buying the Cadillac of fishboats, since it is, after all, a fish boat.

Good luck, keep us posted.