Prior to this, I purchased a 14' 1986 Bomber Scout to get my feet wet a few years ago. I got the green light from the wife unit to get a bigger boat after spending a time in FL doing a lot of family boating activities. This will be my first new boat where I can pick and choose the features I want, but there are the restrictions and considerations.

 

1) 21' deep garage, about 10' wide (I have a dual car garage but she is adamant that she keeps her spot, and she also needs to charge her EV battery)

2) At minimum, 4 people (2 adults, 2 tweens), but really only 3 people fishing at a time. 6-8 people would be great for cruising around with family/friends. A removable bimini top for cover would be a huge bonus for my wife's needs.

3) It will be used 70% of the time for bass fishing, many times in pad fields and hydrilla. This will be the primary purposes of the boat for me and my 2 sons.

4) 20% of the time, I will be cruising around the local reservoir with my wife and 2 sons, and maybe some friends.

5) 10% of the time, I would like to haul it an hour away to the Chesapeake Bay, or even 3 hours away to LBI NJ for bay fishing or sunset cruising, so it will be in saltwater. 

6) Budget is around $60K without considering electronics or TM, so just the boat, trailer, and engine.

 

I'm looking at the following, in no preferential order:

 

1) Key West 188 BR: 18'8 feet, but their website doesn't give a trailer/boat/engine storage length.

2) Mako 18 LTS: 18'6: The website says storage length is 23'8 but it seems like that is without a folding tongue, 5 additional feet from the boat length seems pretty high.

3) Lund 1875 Pro-V: 18'10: Storage length is 21'9, I think I can angle this in to fit my garage. Fits up to 6 people but doesn't have a max weight capacity. The Pro-V Bass XS is also in consideration and would be my #1 choice if I only focused on bass fishing.

4) Crestliner 1850 Superhawk: 18'9: Storage length is 21'9 too, and says max capacity is 8 people and max weight is 1,800 lbs.

 

I'm leaning toward the bay boat for a more typical casting deck aspect and bimini top. While I may not get rod locker storage, I don't have it now and it's probably something I can live without. I like using a foot pedal TM too, I'm not sure I would get used to a remote digital one. Otherwise, I don't see any other cons vs a dual console bass boat layout.

 

Any other brands, or features, or anything else I should consider? I may not get another boat until I retire down to FL.

 

 

I can’t comment on the listed boats, but I when through this a couple years ago and picked a Lowe Bay 20. It has a Bimini top, nameplate capacity is 8, tows a double tube no problem with a Mercury 115 pro XS CT. I mostly bass fish, but I do cruise and swim and tube with the family.
 

The bay boat isn’t really common inland, but it makes a great bass boat and I get tons of complements. The center console that has a lower footwell also gives more stability for folks that don’t have good sea legs. I have around 20 rods on mine, so locker capacity seems fine to me. If I had to to do over again I don’t think I would change a thing. 

12 hours ago, Junger said:

21' deep garage, about 10' wide (I have a dual car garage but she is adamant that she keeps her spot

This was me too years ago.  Wife said she wanted to keep her spot in the garage all year.  My garage is 21 feet long as well.  I ended up getting a Ranger RT178 and it BARELY fits.  But I also measured ahead of time and made sure of this.

 

I'm guessing all of the boats you've listed will not fit in the garage unless you angle them.  And if you angle them, your wife's car won't fit.  Some of the websites list the storage length while on trailer but take this with a grain of salt because its probably not completely accurate.  Most trailers come with a swing tongue now but I can assure you a 21 foot garage still won't be big enough to store without angling.  "Thinking" you can angle fit is is not a recipe for success if you still want to park another vehicle in the garage at the same time.

 

I am quite surprised that the max capacities of those boats are what you say they are too.  8 people in a Crestliner Superhawk?  That seems like way too many.  If you want to take 8 people for a cruise, a pontoon sounds like a better option.

Thanks for all the input. I ended up going with the Lund PVB 1875. If I could fit an 18-20' bay boat in my garage, I probably would have gone that route but didn't want to go smaller than 18'. Now I just have to drive out to Wisconsin to get it....12 hour trip.

Congrats on the new boat!

15 hours ago, Junger said:

Thanks for all the input. I ended up going with the Lund PVB 1875. If I could fit an 18-20' bay boat in my garage, I probably would have gone that route but didn't want to go smaller than 18'. Now I just have to drive out to Wisconsin to get it....12 hour trip.

Congrats and enjoy..