Bigs

Oh and robby, I love my nittany lions....This is our year

to be honest, I think skeeters are ugly boats in general, probably the ugliest bass boats made imo. My taste is different then yours tho.I just cant stand the way they look. I will be takin a ride in a 20 foot skeeter soon tho just to use as a reference point. Maybe I would like the ride of the skeeter but honestly couldnt stand to look at it every day, sorry. The newer skeeters might ride real nice but for the money I wouldnt even think of buying one when I can get a 20 foot champ or bass cat for under 20 grand with less then 70 hours on it. Everyone is gonna say their boat is the best right, well the guy I spoke with today owns a newer ranger and said honestly it couldnt even compete with a champion 203 on tidal waters. I first talked to him last week about a blazer I was interested in and he said it was the wrong boat for me like everyone else said too. He works on boats for a living and sometimes has to test drive them when the work is done or to diagnose issues so I trust what he says to an extent. He has nothing to gain by telling me what he told me. He spent over a decade fishing the potomac river tournaments which is where I fish usually. The flip side is alot of ppl tell me champs are a lil tipsy compared to a ranger or basscat. But my number one objective is to get the best possible rough water ride, fishabilty is second on my list actually, then looks and then speed. Im coming from a 16 foot tracker where all I did was tip back and forth every time my friend even sneezed on that thing. So I can live with a second or third best platform if Im gettin a great ride. The way I look at it is like this, what good is it to have the fastest boat when u have to lay off the throttle half the time, I rather have a slower boat that can actually pass the tritons and nitros when the rough water hits. I will still end up in my spot before they do . Its like wanting a car thats faster but with all the additional power u lose traction, so the "slower" less powerful car actually passes u cuz ur too busy goin sideways. Same principle applies imo. So thats where I am right now, Im gettin closer and closer to makin the right choice. If these antibiotics would work then I could feel good enough to go and actually test a few boats out ont he same body of water. Sick as a dog here

not giving nitro a thought becuz their boats dont hold up well. I dont wanna boat thats gonna fall apart on me which they typically do. Im sure kevin vandam gets a new one every year or two so he could care less but once I settle on a boat , thats it. Im gonna be married to it. Plus they ride like crap. I found a 1998 champion 203 with a 225 merc on it and the guy is willing to take 12,200 bux for it. So I am headed his way saturday mornin to test drive it and hopefully buy it. I still wanna basscat but the best deal I can find on a 20 footer is 19 grand unless its a thousand miles away. Im tired of not being out on the water, these last few weeks have been tough for me. I have been very ill for over 2 weeks now, have only fished once and cant stand it. Now that my tracker is gone I realize I have to rely on other people who have rough riding boats and Im at their mercy. I cant afford to mess my back up anymore then it already is. So Id rather just get a good riding boat now even if a better deal does pop up in a month, such is life. As far as the rangers go, I looked at 2 that were parked yesterday and just by lookin at the hull I can understand why I wasnt impressed by the z21 comanche I rode in. What cart was sayin is true, the hull is very flat , almost like its 2 stages I see with a flat spot inbetween them, champion and basscat are nothing like that. Its a much nicer steeper v which common sense would tell me cuts thru the water much better. Seeing as I have ridden in the best ranger has to offer, I can make an educated decision once I ride in the champ. Their will be no ranger for me now or in the future. No matter how good their service is, ppl keep sayin it so great which is nice but that doesnt help my back or my wallet one bit.

The thought has crossed my mind more then once. They are so hard to find used tho and I dont wanna buy a new boat. I did find a lund alaska model for 4 grand tho locally, cheapest I ever seen one for. considered gettin it for now till the winter deals on bassboats start gettin hot. But I dont wanna go thru another boat that I wont like in the long run, plus aluminum is so hard to fish from in the wind. The new fiberglass lunds are sexy tho, wish I could afford one.

I still call them bully wa's but I agree they are nicer then the spros. However a spro will cast farther out of the box. Just add some weight to the River2sea frog if u wanna cast further. I will say tho that I think a spro will last longer and I have both. The spro feels more durable in my hands which is also what makes it cast longer(heavier) but hoosk less fish. A double edge sword eh....I probably have 5 of each or so but to be honest I have bad luck with frogs in general so they gather dust . Its been a bad summer for topwater bite round here but this month should be much better, so my frogs might have to come out to play soon if I start seeing some results. No question you will land more fish with the bully wa since its so soft and collapses faster. As far as water gettin in, I have never had a problem with either. Water tends to get in once the hooks penetrate the frog which is bound to happen. Since I never catch anything with frogs, I have never have that problem lol. And a lil water will help u cast further so why is it a big deal? Dont think for a minute that the bass cares if theres water inside that frog. Also check out River2sea's bubble popper which I have results with as well as their bubble walker which is a walking version of the bubble popper. Their gear is tough to beat for the price and they catch fish trust me

I never have luck with frogs out there. Seems like alot of others do tho. I have the dean rojas frog which is everyones fave out there along with the bully wa's, horny toads and furbits. All great frogs but none bring fish in my boat. Wish I knew why. I didnt even bring my frog box with me yesterday when I went out, and of course the guy whos boat I was on took me to a great frog spot and on his first cast with the frog he had a 3 pounder in the boat, just my luck. I was afraid to ask him to borrow a frog since I hardly knew him or I would have. Sall good tho, I had a 5 pounder in the boat a few mins later on a All Terrain Swim-jig , took the trailer they come with off since they suck and had a rage tail on there. Good stuff.

I have a 1987 Sea Nymph 16 footer and its not a bad lil boat at all. Was the first fishing boat I bought. Just lookout for leaks with anything old with rivets in it. As long as your payin 1600 bux or less I say its a good choice. Make sure the bilge pump works , youre gonna need it. And get a 2 bank charger for sure, 125 bux at bass pro shops. Its gonna be slow with a 25, mine has a 45 and does 28 mph with 2 people. So expect it to go 15 mph tops. As long as u dont mind riding slow then go for it. Get a strong trolling motor incase u ever break down or bring some oars. Old motors are tricky sometimes. It wont be hard to sell when u grow out of it tho. Loading and unloading is a cakewalk, no worries. My 3 seater Sea Doo is about the same as loadin my 16 foot Sea Nymph, easy. Good luck

wait a second, puma isnt 21 feet long on the older models? So its just the placement of the fuel tank that affects the ride ? The guy at pops marina didnt mention that. I assumed the cougar was shorter, pantera(19)cougar(20) and puma(21) ? Or not ? I was under the impression that the cougar and puma were different lengths back then.I also wasnt sure what the ftd meant, thanks for clearing that up for me.

Im talkin bout when I cast a ways and miss that 2 foot hole I was tryin to get into. Intermittent vegatation u say? Not quite sure what ya call it honestly. Talkin bout what u see on the surface when tide is up a lil, not the hydrilla itself, but the surface junk. Ya, I can jerk the line and get the worm where I want with the braid alot easier if I miss that hole but in a perfect world I wont miss that hole ever. This is why when I fish senkos I prefer a baitcaster for accuracy reasons. But d**n if that torque from casting the BC doesnt tear up some senkos, less the case with 6 inchers but they are costly. Im fishing with senkos less and less these days , covers too little water too slow imo, so I have little need for fluoro. In fact I throw a 3/8 swimmin jig 90 percent of the time no matter what time of day or conditions. Nothing beats a swimmin jig out there imo. My bags of senkos are collecting dust for the most part. I save 'em for the occasional pond or lake anna action. The more I read these posts the more I feel like my drag was NOT set up to perfection or even close for that matter. This was the first crankin reel I have ever owned and I thought I had it set up right. Gotta buddy that works on reels so Im gonna let him see it and see if it was setup right to begin with, user error could play a greater part in it then I wanted to admit. Im not ashamed to admit when Im wrong, not too proud. Such is life, a constant learning process. I'll have to wait and see what my buddy has to say. My other reels are setup very well imo according to the results I have had with them thus far. Then again those are all setup to overpower fish on m/h-heavy rods with 50 pound power pro. Not rocket science there.

it wasnt like the fish was takin alot of line, I wasnt tryin to power him into the boat fast either. I just did what I always do except with a fish twice the size. You may indeed be right that it was my drag and not the gears. I have never had a reel do that in my hands before either. To the point where that fish had me dead stopped at a few points and I just kept tension with my rod straight up over my shoulder. But tryin to pump and reel with that slow reel was an uphill battle. Thats where I felt it slippin the most. I havent touched the reel since so Im gonna take it in and make sure it's ok. In fact I dont even have it on a rod anymore since Im one rod short for my 5 baitcasters and since it was the least practical reel, i put it away for now. It was abrand new reel that I got from baitnhook btw. As far as the senkos go, the fluoro helps the initial fall for sure esp with some slop, thats a no brainer. Now if its dense surface slop then forget it, I dont bother with a senko at all. But its night and day out there with braid vs fluoro. Have u fished the heavy grass in the potomac b4 dan ? Its grown man fishing to say the least. I cant get enough of it, if I wasnt sick these last 2 weeks I would have been out there constantly. Only reason I been on here so much the last 2 weeks is I been sick as a dog and have fished once, yesterday. Caught a 5 pounder on a swimmmin jig yesterday and my 7.3 zillion+heavy flippin stick made qwik work of that fish, gotta love it.

This is exactly what I been thinkin but findin a place that has a bass cat, champion and ranger all in the same day, same body of water and same driver is wishful thinkin. I know when I drive it with my lack of experience , its gonna mean nothing. I need someone who knows how to drive take me out in all 3 or at least 2 of the three so I can make up my mind. My buddy Justin Thompson fished with Ike A few years on the potomac at the stren tourney and got to ride in his boat all day obviosuly. Im pretty sure Ike was in a puma last year right ? Im gonna call him in a bit and see what he says. Im gonna go out on a limb here and assume Ike knows how to drive in rough water which is all the potomac basically is. Right now Im mainly interested in a Puma, Cougar or maybe a Champ 203/206. Finding a 21 foot champion is almost impossible so far unless its over 30 grand. Theres a 1997 21 foot champ on ebay for 13,900 but d**n that boat looks dated. The 99 champs look so much more up to date, what a difference 2 years makes. Also after talkin to Pops Marine yesterday, I was told that the Puma rides better then the cougar for two reasons- obviously the extra foot of length but also the location of the gas tank which is further up the boat on the puma, makin it more balanced and makin the bow less prone to buck up and down in rough stuff. I'm just in love with the Pumas and for some reason I feel like once I ride in one its gonna be a done deal. Mostly speculation at this point but my gut instinct is usually right. http://richmond.craigslist.org/boa/1350619444.html This is the one Im gonna go see, hes flexible on price too but not much. That 06 puma is at least 27 grand everywhere else and the color scheme is hard to beat. Plus with bass cats u can bolt in a second console and take it out when u want.

I had 2 and loved them at first. Until the screw in the handle started backin out for no reason. Thats my one issue with daiwas spinning gear is the handles are absolute junk. I returned both of mine and couldnt be happier. Now I have a tierra which actually has the same handle but has yet to fall apart. However I have only cast it maybe a few dozen times so time will tell. I love my sol spinning reel but same thing, handle is junk. Id go with a shimano spinning reel, much better for the money imo. Baitcasters, a whole different story, daiwa rules. Just my 2 cents, hope it helps.

Just to clear up what went wrong. As soon as that fish was on I could feel the reel slippin badly. Now maybe I wasnt quite prepared to have a 24 inch fish on that day with that setup so the drag wasnt set to perfection. Im speculating when I say 8 pounds, could have been 7 , could have been 12, who knows. I saw his big fat body come up like he was gonna shake that hook out so I dipped my rod down fast. All I know is those gears slipped badly. I just dont think that gear ratio helped me out to begin with and when I catch 3 pounders with that reel, nothing slips at all. You guys keep talkin bout the faster zillions and comparing them like its the same thing. I should know, I also own an anniversary 7.3:1 zillion which I use 50 pound braid on. Now that reel muscles 5 pounders into the boat as if I was catchin dinks. Totally different setup. So Im not knockin zillions. I love that red beast. Its my fave and best reel. Makes my e7 curado look and feel like a toy in comparison. But the cranker I had 10 pound fluoro on for obvious reasons, throwing shallow crankbaits of course. I dont like using braid for senkos in slop cuz they just sit on top and dont sink well. In fact I dont like throwing senkos with braid at all cuz the initial fall sux with braid. And I usually get'em on that initial fall when I cast. Anyways, dont get it twisted and think Im sayin the reel is a POS, i just dont think 8.8 pounds of drag is nearly enough for that reel coupled with the gear ratio, end of story. Opinions vary and everyone has one, you know mine. No need to bash me or my skills at all. I'll make some adjustments and throw some slightly bigger fluoro on it and see what happens next time. Maybe Im totally wrong and out of line, in fact I hope I am otherwise I wasted 240 bux that could have went towards a revo winch. I have a sol, fuego, zillion 7.3 , zillion 4.9 and an e7 curado for my baitcasting lineup and that zillion 7.3 is the best followed closely by the fuego imo.

Im moving in the right direction here. Narrowed down to 3 boats, ranger, bass cat, champion. I'll be test driving a 2006 Bass cat puma in a few days. Then a 203 champion. I'll compare those to the Ranger I rode in recently and see what I can come up with. So many helpful posts but at the same time I think some are a lil biased. Anyone out there rode in all 3 of these boats and driven or owned all 3?

Just got back from fishing a few hours on the potomac river on a 20 foot javelin renegade. It fished like a dream but rode very rough in 2 foot chop. Was NOT better then the ranger I fished out of but not night and day difference imo. My back took a beating and so did my gear. So Im gonna scratch javelin off my list. Nice boat but not for me. I dont think I have any other choice but to go to a few dealerships and do some test rides. I have no intention of paying inflated dealer prices but its my best bet to find the kinda ride I like. So next Im gonna test a triton, basscat and champion. Stratos is out of the question cuz they dont ride any better then a javelin from everything I hear and everything else falls short of a ranger, basscat or champion. I wont even bother tryin a skeeter since they arent gonna measure up to a ranger, basscat or champ. So I have a feeling Im gonna end up with one of those 3 boats. Now I just have to find someone willing to part with their 20 foot bass cat which is almost impossible so far. Plenty of champions for sale tho.

Good information once again but I wanna know how that hull in particular rides in the rough stuff. The potomac river gets choppy and Im tryin to save my back the best I can. Im really ready to buy a boat right now and I dont wanna make a 13 thousand dollar mistake. I already bought 2 aluminum boats this year , one of which I just sold and I wanna settle down and find me a keeper.

If you want some kind of idea on the rough water ride merely look under the hull at the amount of dead rise in the V. Rangers are very flat boats, there isn't much there to soften the impact when hitting waves. Skeeters are similar. Champions and Basscats are the opposite. Tritons are somewhere inbetween. The only way to know if a boat is suited for you is to ride and drive it. The owners of each brand will come on here and tell you theirs is the best. Ride and decide for yourself. BTW, Ranger, like other manufacturers delegates previous top end models to the value part of their lineup when a new hull is introduced. They usually come with limited options but the hull is identical when it was their top end model. Your posts are always informative and helpful so I dont doubt what youre saying at all. I was gonna just PM you before I made this thread and I should have known youd chime in with good information, thank you kindly.

Thats a good idea. I do look on there from time to time but have yet to make an account, think I'll do that right now.

So I didnt think I could afford a ranger but found a nice one that suits my budget. Im curious tho , with so many models , how do I know which one is right? I found a 1999 519 DVS that I really like and the price is just right. Has a 225 optimax on it and a 36 volt trolling motor which is exactly what I want, also been garage kept. So are these boats worth all the hype and the money ? Is a 19 foot 6 inch ranger like this gonna ride as good as a 20 foot from another brand such as basscat, triton, stratos, champion? And why is it called a 20 foot by ranger when its really only 19 and a half feet ? Is judging a boat by its length not always the best way to judge ? I know everyone has said I need a 20 footer for tidal water but some 20 footers ride like crap. Plus thats kinda like saying you need 600 horsepower to run a 10 second quarter mile at the drag strip, when in fact some cars are heavier then other, more aerodynamic, awd vs rwd and so on and so forth. Back to the ranger- Is this hull one of rangers better ones ? I heard they still make this hull with a different name now. And if not then what model rangers from the late 90's are the best to have ? Im right on the verge of buying this boat on wednesay when the owner gets back in town but I wanna do my homework before then. Every other boat I looked at didnt pan out or didnt suit my needs and I thought I was back at square one till this fell on my lap.I had been researching other brands till now cuz I couldnt find a ranger that didnt seem "over priced" to me. How would the ride compare to a tr20 or a champion 203 ? I have been on a local pro's 21 foot ranger and it rode and fished like a dream. I cant remember which model tho. Besides build quality , what else are they known for ? Fishability, style, customer service, storage, obviously not speed, resale value of course...

Those places cater to people with good credit who have very little money in hand tho. Im not broke and I have good credit(700+). I can buy a boat in cash but cant find one I like anywhere unless its in ohio, georgia,texas, north carolina, etc.. Those dealers get 99 percent of their business from people who can only afford or only wanna part with 10 percent down so lets say 2 grand, and they finance the rest at a decent rate of 7-8 percent for 8 years makin their payments around 150 bux or so. Me on the other hand , I wanna pay cash for a boat around 11-13 grand or so and not finance anything. Well they dont like that cuz they wanna make money on the financing since they do it all in-house. So the kinda folks that shop there are just so happy to get a loan in this economy that they dont mind paying an extra 25 percent of what the boat is really worth. Compare book value as well as completed listings on ebay and craigslist prices to what they sell for and you will see its about 20-30 percent more there. They want 20 grand for a triton that sells for 13-14 on ebay. No way no how Im doin that. So Im gonna put down 12 grand on a 20 thousand dollar boat, finance the other 8 grand when I can just pay an extra 2 grand and get it from a private owner? I didnt get where I am in life by being naive and desperate. Im very very shrewd when it comes to anything money related. I'll just have to be more patient. Sux tho cuz my tracker is officially gone now as of yesterday and my other boat isnt really potomac river worthy. I no longer have any expectations from these places and wont waste another keystroke or my breath talkin to them or lookin at their websites. Im lookin at a tr21 as well as a 1999 20 foot ranger with a 225 optimax both for 14 grand. The ranger is only 130 miles away, just tryin to see if we can get a pre purchase inspection set up. Im hoping one of these boats works out. If not, it's that time of year where deals are gonna start poppin up left and right, only a matter of time.

I heard they are goin out of business, one store already closed down. They suck anyways

I dont really worry bout how a reel looks besides I love orange, its my fave color. I used to drive a 2004 orange cobra and if I could I'd paint my expedition and my gs400 orange and wrap my next bass boat in orange too just to be different. Im just gonna return my sol spinning to bass pro even tho I didnt buy it there and get 220 store credit hehe. I only paid 157 for it tho 8-) they dont ask questions so they must not care, therefore neither do I. I'll use the credit to get a new rod or maybe new batteries if my next boat needs them. Theres always something at bass pro I can use. If they sold the new stradic then it would be like an even exchange

I was using it for senkos that day cuz it was the only reel of mine that didnt have braid at the time. I much rather use fluoro for senkos so thats what I did. I prefer to fish senkos with a baitcaster too. Keep in mind I was fishing heavy matted grass beds, Im talkin thick nasty stuff on the potomac. And yes the reel had everything to do with why I lost that fish. I know how to reel in a fish, Im not stupid. And I know how to set up my reels. You guys are singing praise for this reel but whats the biggest fish you have gotten in the boat with this reel so far ? Im not saying its a bad reel , I love my dawias but this one is my least fave.

you can say it, you were right. I had no idea and honestly I never ever asked. I finally asked today how old the motor was cuz the ad said "new" mercury 225 efi. Ah well. Such is life. I'll be patient and wait till the right one comes along. Im tryin to work a deal on a 2001 TR21 right now if we can agree on a price so we'll see. But tons of fall/winter deals are gonna start poppin up sooner or later. In the meantime I'll fish from my lowly 1987 Sea Nymph 16 footer :-/ better then shore fishing eh. It goes a whole 28 mph

checked out the link but that place is an even bigger ripoff then anglers choice. Who in their right mind would spend 20 grand on a 10 year old triton? Umm ya. Appreciate the effort guys but I have realized that no dealer/marina is gonna get my business. They are all ripoff artists as far as Im concerned. Funny but sad. I feel bad for anyone who buys a used boat from a dealership :-?