boats=console or tiller

[walleyetracker]

I own a console and really love it lots of room and it works well for what kind of fishing me and my buddies do==BUT my buddies own tillers and they like mine also have lots of room and work well for the kind of fishing we do ALL INPUT INFORM.APPRECIATED==guess it all comes down to perference HUH tightlines and good fishin' "walleyetracker"

[Bob Jensen]

When I first got into this business, everyone who was considered a "serious fisherman" ran a tiller boat. If you showed up with a console boat, you weren't taken very seriously. Times have changed. Anglers front-troll more now, and boats need to serve dual-purposes. They need to work for fishing and water-skiing/tube-pulling. Also, we're fishing a lot more big water. It can wear a person out running in lots of water while hanging on to a tiller handle, yet running that same distance with a steering wheel in your hands is no problem.

Today, last numbers I say indicated people are buying about 8 console boats for every tiller boat of the same size and model.

For just fishing, it's hard to beat a tiller. If you're going to be jigging or rigging on small to medium size waters tillers are great. But for all the other things we ask a boat to be, the console is the way to go.

By the way, almost all of those guys who thought that console boats weren't for serious anglers are all running console boats now.

Best Fishes,

[Fishingdog]

Thanks Bob, you made me feel better :) I bought my first console last year and it took me the whole year to get used to fishing without my tiller. I owned tillers for 15 years and now that I have a console, I don't know if I will go back. I always had a bow mount on my tiller boats but very seldom used it. Since I got my console, I really got used to using my bow mount and find in most fishing conditions, it actually works better. The only place I really miss my tiller is when I river fish. It seems that I had better control with the bigger tiller for holding a pattern. I will solve that problem with my soon to be purchased kicker!

All around for smaller bodies of water, I think the tiller is a little better.

[1775prov]

I'd agree with Bob's basic assesment with a few modifications.:) I've have several console boats, and a large walk through winshield boat. I enjoyed them all and each served it's purpose. I always wanted to run a tiller so I bought a Lund 1775 with 75 Honda tiller. I really enjoyed learing a new way of fishing and I felt like the boat was more a part of my presentation than when I had a wheel boat. But...My arm got really tired quartering in heavy seas and 34 MPH seems mightly slow when your used to doing 50 MPH. So I decided to do something different when I replaced my Lund. This year I'll be running a Warrior tiller boat with a 115 Yamaha that's hooked up to a hydraulic steering system. I eliminate the sore arm :P And I can get the mid 40's out of the boat. :P For me it's the best of both worlds! In today's boat market there is alot of fantastic product out there and It's hard to go wrong with your choices. Good luck!

[Eyez]

Yup, it's mostly preference, based on how you prefer to approach a given fishing situation. (or whether your wife prefers to ski rather than fish ;) ) For me, a tiller works better in more situations than a console would. Not to say that I couldn't do it with a console and a good bowmount, cause I do regularly when dad and I take his boat, but my boat will probably always be a tiller, at least till I'm too dang old to put up with the wind, cold, spray, etc. :)


Eyez

[KP]

I've always owned smaller boats. The first one I owned was a 15' 1971 Crysler with dual consols. It didn't have much room so I removed the passenger consol. My wife was mad but it sure gave me more room to fish. Several years later I had moved to Minnesota and a guy I became friends with had a really nice boat. But it was a tiller steer. I never really thought of a tiller steer being a nice way to have a boat. I actually made fun of him saying he was too cheap to buy a boat with a consol. After I fished in it, I got hooked. A few years later, I bought a used one to try. Every boat I've owned since, including the new Lund Rebel I bought two years ago, has been a tiller. Though my wife still hates it, I'm not sure I could ever own a boat the wasn't a tiller. But I've only owned small boats.