What is Best 18-19 Foot Class Multi-Species Deep-V WT Fishing Boat?

[man164]

What is your budget? That will dictate alot....

Get in several boats and look at the layout of the boat. Imagine yourself being in it and using it.

The perfect boat for one is another person's nightmare.

No used boats in Michigan - due to Covid, social distancing, and people not being able to do what they normally do more people than ever are camping, boating etc. Prices have never been higher or sold quicker than now.

Expect prices and availability to be much better in 2 years...

[ohiojmj]

I know this site is dominated with Lund Alumacraft Ranger enthusiasts, but the StarCraft Fishmaster 196 and lower priced Starweld Fusion 20 DC Pro are both decent Great Lakes boats. I own a Starweld Fusion 20, my friend has a FM196, and we see a good number of these boats on Lake Erie in Ohio. They may be missing the sparkles, ideal storage, or prestige of upper crust high priced/high resale boats, but they safely get you out on the big water to catch fish. I like the 31" or 32" high sides all around including across the stern. I picked up my Fusion 20 with Yamaha F150 and T9.9, Terriva 80, on board charger, in dash Helix, 4 seats, full Bimini canvas set and bow/travel cover, galvanized trailer with spare for $42k out the door in February. Similar FM196's with 150's went for mid $50k's. F20 is far from perfect boat, but met my needs at my price point. At my age, I could care less about trade-in value or perfect dry storage.

[martinbns]

Love my 1875 ProV, seems to fit what you are doing.

[jjy]

You can find alumacraft comp 205s with 250hp and eagle tandem trailer for low to mid 40k.

[Texcl2]

I just bought an 1875 crossover this year, it was a big step up from my old Klamath. I’m in my mid 40’s as well and will probably keep this boat forever. There are only 2 things I’d change.

#1 I would have bought an aluminum bunk trailer, we are likely going to buy another house on the coast in The SE, the Lund guard trailer won’t last with lots of salt water use. The trailer I got is a bunk trailer and is unbelievably easy to load and unload, just wish it was aluminum.

#2 I would have gotten it with 💯 vinyl floors, I don’t like carpet, too hard to clean. Honestly don’t think carpet belongs in a boat. My boats floors are vinyl so I can live with what carpet is in there.

Other than that I can’t think of a single thing I’d change. The boat was like $35k so not too expensive either.

[REW]

Holli04,
I read your negative comment about the Larson Fx boat.

Of course with Larson out of business now, it puts these in the new version off the block.

But, I have had a couple of friends purchase one of these boats. They both had a porpoising issue that was solved very nicely over the winter with a trip to the factory for remediation.

Since then, both of the folks have been 110% happy with the overall boat. Wonderful dry ride, plenty of dry storage and excellent fish ability in the boats.

Essentially, the factory added a very small cup at the extreme aft edge of the transom which solved the handling and bouncing issues with the hull.

One of the fellows has a 300 hp engine on it, and the other fellow has a 350 hp engine on his. They both really get up and scoot when asked to move quickly.

Take care

[gbin]

I just this spring bought my first ever boat - a new Ranger 620FS Cup! - so please bear in mind that I'm not speaking with the voice of much experience, but rather a fair amount of recent education as well as just a bit of very fresh experience. I had much the same goal and a lot of these same questions as you as I began my boat search.

Originally Posted by Deerslayer36

Question #1 Budget Cost? I am going to be 48 years-old in Nov, this could be my last fishing boat, Do I get buy good fishing boat that meets most my needs, or do I go all out buy a Dream Boat? Needs versus wants? Must Haves: Deep-V Multispecies, Walkthrough Windshield, 4-stroke outboard motor. Buy New or Used? Buy used avoid initial Depreciation, lower cost. buy new order exactly what u want, nothing is messed up, only I can mess it up, it's on me.

I'm pushing 60 and obviously went for a dream boat that I suspect will be not only my first but also my last. My biggest regret about it is that I wasn't able to buy it many years ago. If you can afford what you really want, why not get it?

The decision to buy new was easy for me for two reasons: 1) I wanted what I wanted, not what I could find. 2) I didn't have the many years of experience with prior boats that would have enabled me to do a good, careful job of shopping for a used boat. Indeed, I've known more than one friend who DID have such experience but STILL got suckered into buying used boats with expensive problems that weren't readily apparent. No thanks!

Originally Posted by Deerslayer36

Question #2: Aluminum versus fiberglass Hull for Bigger Water Lake St. C;air Pros and cons? Pricing out these 18-19 foot Lund and Crestliner Aluminums with 150+ HP 4-stroke mercs that can run $50-60K, that now is comparable Price Range of the Glass Deep-Vs like Ranger 1880 MS, Nitro, Triton, Yar-Craft etc...

I started out considering both aluminum and fiberglass, but quickly leaned toward fiberglass because of the much smoother, dry ride it can provide on rougher water. Mine's mostly for walleye fishing, including on big water, so I'm not about to let some chop prevent me from going out (indeed, I've always preferred it!) - and even when I was still your age my back had already been telling me for quite a while to be better to it than I was being. I never cared for how much noisier aluminum boats can be than fiberglass, either.

Likewise, I started out thinking I'd get an 18- or 19-footer. Decided on a 20-footer instead because it can better handle bigger water such as Lake Erie (being somewhat safer as well as giving a smoother, dry ride), because it can better balance a kicker as well a main motor, and because I knew I had winter indoor storage space for it.

I've only had it a very short time now, to be sure, but I have absolutely no regrets nor anticipate any for moving up to a 20-foot fiberglass. My boat's ride is SMOOTH at any speed, and I expect it will handle rough water great as well. And because I bought a Cup package I saved a fair bit of money (which I then spent on optional add-ons ). I'm thrilled with it!

Originally Posted by Deerslayer36

Question #3: If Aluminum Hull, Riveted versus all welded hulls for the rough waters of Lake St. Clair?
Looking at 1850 Crestliner Fish Hawk versus Raptor Models, looking for a Higher Drier Ride than the 1650 Fish Hawk on Lake St. Clair.
Who fishes LSC Regular in a Lund 1875 Impact versus 1875 Pro V how do you like the ride? Ever have any issues popping rivets fishing Lake St. Clair rough water boat wake chop?

Can't speak to these...

Originally Posted by Deerslayer36

Question #4 Flooring: All Vinyl versus Cockpit vinyl flooring and bow/stern casting deck carpet. I am told do not go all vinyl decks can be slippery, but I hate cleaning fish blood and worm dirt out of carpet. Like idea just take power washer to all vinyl flooring, easy clean-up.

Yet again, I too originally leaned toward non-slip vinyl rather than carpeting. Changed my mind, though, and I'm glad I did. I believe the carpeting will be cooler, I suspect it'll be nearly as easy to power wash (and one of the optional add-ons I bought was a raw water wash down system so I can give messes a quick rinse right away and don't have to let them set until I can tackle them at home), and I intend to have my dog with me much of the time and it'll definitely provide her with better footing.

Originally Posted by Deerslayer36

Question #4 Engine: 4-stroke Outboard
1. Lot of the lower cost packages in the 18-19 foot boats come with 115 or 150 HP 4-stroke Mercs
2. Is it Worth upgrading to 200HP Max like Pro XS? is 115 or 150 enough, do not want to be under powered.

The 620FS Cup package included a 250 Mercury Pro XS. It's frankly more motor that I suspect I'll ever need, but I might be wrong about that. If I'm well out on big water and a sudden storm comes up, I could imagine using all of that power (I know it'll go over 50 mph, I'm guessing it'll reach 60 mph once I know how to properly trim it) to get me to shore quickly. I did buy a 15 hp EFI Mercury kicker for trolling as another optional add-on (I figure the trolling motor will provide steering but the kicker will provide thrust, and that way the trolling motor's batteries won't wear down quickly), but really I could have gotten away without one as I've discovered that big 250 hp motor can nonetheless go as low as 1.6-1.7 hp if I want it to do so. The kicker is quieter and doubtless more efficient at it, though.

Originally Posted by Deerslayer36

Question #5 Electronics:
1. Trolling Motor Minnkota versus Motor Guide, other Brand?
2. For an 18+ Foot boat 80# Thrust 24v 2-Batt or 112# 36v 3-batt trolling motor system?
-if I don't buy a kicker motor, buy 36v 112# Thrust Bow mount, for trolling slow thinking.
3. I really like the Ulterra with automatic stow and deploy for making short runs in river for active schools of walleyes.
4. Thinking of going with Hummingbird Helix series graphs over Lowrance HDS, so they can link with Minnkota trolling motor, share mapping way points, etc.....
5. is the down and side imaging, 360 Live scope imaging technology worth the money $? Additional cost for transducers on stern of boat and trolling motor. Has anyone used these for jigging walleyes or casting for SM bass, what has been your experience?

The one thing that annoyed me about the Cup package I bought is that it came equipped with a Minn-Kota Ulterra trolling motor and Lowrance HDS-Live electronics. So I can't follow a contour line with my current setup, which I could imagine wanting to do with some frequency. I figure I'll fish with it for a while, get to know things and then decide if I want to change either the trolling motor or the electronics.

Anyway, if you're not buying a package that limits your choices, I'd suggest selecting the trolling motor and electronics together so they give you best performance as a team, just as you mentioned.

That being said, I too really like the auto-deploy and -stow feature of the Ulterra. I suspect that I'll ultimately be one of those people who launches the boat without tying it up at the dock, instead just spotlocking it a short distance away and then calling it back to me after I've parked the truck.

I can't speak to transducers yet; need more education and experience, first.

Originally Posted by Deerslayer36

Question #6 What Brand Model do you prefer and why?
I am going crazy comparing the following
Crestliner 1850 Fish Hawk versus Raptor
Lund 1875 Impact XS versus Pro V
Glass: Ranger 1880MS, Lund Tyee/ProV GL 186/189, Nitro ZV 18, 19, Triton 186 Fishhunter, Skeeter WX1910, Yar-Craft 186 TFS, Warrior V1898

I went with Ranger and I'm pleased that I did, but an awful lot of them looked good to me, too, and I'm sure they're all great boats. Size, within-hull configuration (e.g. stuff like rod lockers, bait- and livewells, etc.) and anticipated equipment is what led this decision for me; I thought about how this manufacturer and model would be set up in the end versus that manufacturer and model, versus that one... It took a while!

One consideration in this respect that might matter to you is, how far away are your nearest dealers for the boat manufacturers you're considering? My nearest Ranger dealer here in NY is 4 hours away, which was OK with me (I plan to travel a lot with the boat, anyway), but might not be for some folks.

Hope you have a great time making your selection, Mike, and an even better time fishing from your new boat!

Gerry

[hooli004]

Originally Posted by REW

Holli04,
I read your negative comment about the Larson Fx boat.

Of course with Larson out of business now, it puts these in the new version off the block.

But, I have had a couple of friends purchase one of these boats. They both had a porpoising issue that was solved very nicely over the winter with a trip to the factory for remediation.

Since then, both of the folks have been 110% happy with the overall boat. Wonderful dry ride, plenty of dry storage and excellent fish ability in the boats.

Essentially, the factory added a very small cup at the extreme aft edge of the transom which solved the handling and bouncing issues with the hull.

One of the fellows has a 300 hp engine on it, and the other fellow has a 350 hp engine on his. They both really get up and scoot when asked to move quickly.

Take care

Good for them. Those are the only FX boats I know of with dry storage then. A quick search on the good old internet and you'll find plenty of guys unhappy with the hull and riddled with delamination claims. They are not what I would consider "fast" either. A Yarcraft 209 with a 250 will walk around a Larson with a 350 pretty easily.

[Lakereyes]

I like the depth an high transom of the starcraft(fishmaster) an starweld(fusion).

[Wall-i-Lama]

Lund Pro V series.

Aluminum riveted.

Mercury or Yamaha, get max HP.

Vinyl floor front and back, it is not slick.

Good luck finding the boat that is right for you!