I am in a kayak now and looking to move to a boat.  What's the smallest bass boat size but still capable of getting no around at a decent clip?  i'm not looking for a john boat.  

 

 

Also, How do guys rig livescope up in the now? do they drill into the deck??  I'm definitely going to be adding Livescope regardless

 

 

 

In today’s world a 17 boat is probably as small as most companies make.  
 

I assume you mean livescope in the bow.  It’s a Transducer and can be mounted on a trolling motor.  Mine is Humminbird Mega live and is connected via Ethernet and can be displayed on any of my units.
 

You need a compatible sonar unit hooked up to it for a display.  Look at some videos of them being installed.  Every company’s version is a little different.  

I’d go with the biggest you can afford personally. 17’ is probably the smallest now. 

I have a 17' open bow and it's big enough for 3 guys to fish in comfortably. My buddy and I used to fish in his 14 foot and it worked. You could go smaller if you knew you were always going to fish alone, but 14' is a nice starting point... 17' is better. 

 

The only reason to go smaller would be if you need to fit your boat in really tight spaces. To me, the biggest benefit as you go bigger is the ability to fish in choppier water. Some big lakes can get pretty choppy. Bigger boats are MUCH more stable. 

 

 

In fiberglass, a 17’ boat is the smallest im aware of. And they are more like 17’4” or so. The basscat bobcat is 17’7”.  Nitro z17 is 17’4”.  In aluminum you can go down to 16’ and change. If you shop used there are a couple 16’ and change glass boats. 

Something to consider...

 

 

Does everything I need it to do. Fits in my garage. Fit my budget. Fits my style. 

 

If I had a bigger garage, and bigger budget....I would mirror @A-Jay for sure. That's one badass boat!

21 minutes ago, DaubsNU1 said:

Something to consider...

 

 

Does everything I need it to do. Fits in my garage. Fit my budget. Fits my style. 

 

If I had a bigger garage, and bigger budget....I would mirror @A-Jay for sure. That's one badass boat!

Sweet Rig and Killer pic !

A-Jay

 

@DaubsNU1 I’d have a 20’ version of the same boat I had if it fit in the garage lol. 
 

Bigger motor and boat > FFS. I know I am openly against FFS but, if I was going to buy a new boat the boat size motor size and TM are what I would care about first. The rest of electronics second. It’s easier to upgrade electronics when you already have the boat you want. 

@Susky River Rat, wise words!

14 hours ago, DaubsNU1 said:

Something to consider...

 

 

Does everything I need it to do. Fits in my garage. Fit my budget. Fits my style. 

 

If I had a bigger garage, and bigger budget....I would mirror @A-Jay for sure. That's one badass boat!

I have an older Sylvan 16' layed out the same way....great fishing boat !  

Jon boats are limited to calmer water then modified like Bass Trackers.

Width wider is better stability around 48”

V hulls you can get by with 14’ aluminum boats.

Tom

2 minutes ago, WRB said:

V hulls you can get by with 14’ aluminum boats.

Ya - Bass Trek is built on a Alumacraft F-9 hull...basically the father of the current V-14. I don't launch in higher waves, but it handles wakes from passing boats quite well...even the 'monsters' caused by wake-boats.

Lund made a Pro Guide (tiller) in a 16'er for a while.  Layout wise it is great for a smaller boat, it's pretty lightweight and nimble to move as well.  It's more of a multispecies boat, but fishes bass real well.

 

 

Xpress H17 Hyper-Lift Hull

Length: 17'

Bottom: 67"

Beam: 93"

Hull thickness: 0.125"

I have a Tracker Classic XL.  I didn't know anything about modern boats when I bought it.  I'm not looking to change, but had I known 3 years ago when I bought it what I know now I'd have bought the Xpress Catt listed.   

21 hours ago, DaubsNU1 said:

Something to consider...

 

 

Does everything I need it to do. Fits in my garage. Fit my budget. Fits my style. 

 

If I had a bigger garage, and bigger budget....I would mirror @A-Jay for sure. That's one badass boat!

 

what is this??

@Woody B trackers are by no means bad boats. They are just more entry level. There are  better boats out there just have to know exactly what to look for. 

Basscat BobCat

 

1 hour ago, Jeffrey Walker said:

 

what is this??

 

2021 Lund Adventure. Last year they upgraded / re-designed the Adventure.

 

Brother got a Lund Alaskan in 2020...great boat. Really got me thinking about a new boat. Knew I wanted a multi-species boat with deep V with raised platform up front, and center rod locker.

 

Looked at Alumacraft, but not many dealers around these parts. Found this boat used at dealership about 4 hours away. 

 

The travel cover from Lund is really neat, easy to install, no snaps. 

On 6/23/2024 at 9:43 PM, DaubsNU1 said:

Something to consider...

 

 

Does everything I need it to do. Fits in my garage. Fit my budget. Fits my style. 

 

If I had a bigger garage, and bigger budget....I would mirror @A-Jay for sure. That's one badass boat!

I am hoping to afford a ProV Bass one day.  This is a good looking boat.  If I was in the market this one or the Impact XS would be good "budget" options  compared to the Pro V Bass.  

 

I'd personally go with a tiller like @Deephaven posted if going under 17 feet.  You save so much space by not having a console and space is hard to come by on smaller boats.

 

BTW you don't have to mount FFS to your bow mount.  It can be mounted to a pole on the gunnel.  My parents have it mounted in this manner on their 2090 Warrior.

31 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I'd personally go with a tiller like @Deephaven posted if going under 17 feet.  You save so much space by not having a console and space is hard to come by on smaller boats.

 

BTW you don't have to mount FFS to your bow mount.  It can be mounted to a pole on the gunnel.  My parents have it mounted in this manner on their 2090 Warrior.

Ha, and I would personally go with a tiller if it were a 20' boat.  If I constantly fished waves that would get me wet I would get a console boat, but I don't so I'll take the space.  That being said a 17' tiller has more space than a 19' bass boat....

 

 

...and yes they can still get across the lake.  Mine can do 54mph although I prefer to prop it slower as it beefs up the mid range which makes it more fun.

I fished out of a Crestliner Fish Hawk 175 tiller for many years.  It was a solid boat.  But I mostly fished for walleyes out of it back trolling and slip bobbering.  The driver definitely got wet when there was waves.

 

I much prefer bass fishing out of a bass boat now.  I don't care for the high sides of a deep v boat anymore.  I'm not fishing in rough water and I'm not taking more than 1 other person with me most of the time, if that.

 

The disadvantage of driving a tiller is trying to look 2 directions too.  I was constantly looking at the graphs to see depth and GPS and then looking up for visual obstructions.  When I went to a console bass boat, it was like driving a car instead.  You just look straight ahead.  Its much safer.

 

I'm not saying one is better than the other here, everyone has a reason for the boat they've selected.  Some are better at certain things than others.  Your boat would destroy me in rough water.  My mod v is bad in that kind of chop.

On 6/24/2024 at 9:15 PM, Susky River Rat said:

@Woody B trackers are by no means bad boats. They are just more entry level. There are  better boats out there just have to know exactly what to look for. 

 

I love my boat.  I'm not knocking it, or any Trackers.   The length is fine for me, but something wider would have been better.