Randy Blaukat to run 198P

[Charley00]

Interesting to see yet another fella transition to an aluminum rig, specifically the 198P. Randy has been a Ranger man for many many years. He could be in any model he wants. I admire him for it because of his reasoning for doing so. I believe he is only fishing the Opens next year. I saw his post on Instagram about it the other day. It may be on Facebook, but I don't have it so can't confirm.

Best part about it is that he's got it set up rather modestly. Nothing super new....even has a Hook 7 up front along with a Ti unit! Oh and it's on a single axle trailer. There are tons of posts about people wondering if a single axle trailer will be sufficient....I'm pretty sure if Randy had any doubt that it would be a problem toting it long distances to fish the Opens that he would have opted for a tandem.

I hope he does well in this boat so that it sheds a little light on all that is really needed to compete, which I believe are his intentions. I know that John Cox has proven it for sure, but to see an old school guy like Randy make the move in interesting.

Forgive me if this was already mentioned in a previous post...i didn't see it.

[pfisher]

I doubt if it has much to do with him. His sponsor needs more affordable boat exposure and the older guys are a good way to get it. I saw a new Z21 yesterday at $98,000 and they know that market is getting smaller and smaller.

[King_Fish]

I'm curious to know if they did anything to enhance the hull on his RT, it almost looks like a Kevlar skin on the bottom...?

[ncbass]

As the season wears on he will probably regret his decision....not bashing Ranger, but as a serious tournament angler I would want better tools for my job

[Tim Kelly]

I imagine he's trying to emulate John Cox's success and just fishing shallow and ignoring any deep bite. JC has been very successful doing it.

[Tundah]

Hope his tournament trail has calm waters.

[Pagregss]

Probably the same lakes they fished in the 80s and 90s with 18' glass boats with 150s. I think most of those guys survived.

[jrbdad]

I would think that he go a good deal from Ranger to run that boat vs glass boat.

[Roosterman]

He won’t like the top end. No one else does.

[TritonTRXV8]

As the season wears on he will probably regret his decision....not bashing Ranger, but as a serious tournament angler I would want better tools for my job

For the day in and day put fishing and alot of it in crappy conditions. I would have to agree. They nice boats but not my choice for that. And running 55 loaded down vs 65+ means more time driving less time fishing too.

[pfisher]

For the day in and day put fishing and alot of it in crappy conditions. I would have to agree. They nice boats but not my choice for that. And running 55 loaded down vs 65+ means more time driving less time fishing too.

The way these young guys film all day while fishing things seem to have changed. They don't seem to worried about it.

Crap I used to hit the deck with the boat still on plane....lol

[CBuckBassin]

I can speak from experience in a 198P as I own one and have fished tournaments out of it for 2 years. I put it through the RINGER on Mille Lacs in big water and while it certainly didn't take the beating as well as a big 21 foot glass boat would it certainly held its own and let me fish productively.

[King_Fish]

I can speak from experience in a 198P as I own one and have fished tournaments out of it for 2 years. I put it through the RINGER on Mille Lacs in big water and while it certainly didn't take the beating as well as a big 21 foot glass boat would it certainly held its own and let me fish productively.

X2 Brother, and by productively we mean => $$$$$

[Jamie]

For the day in and day put fishing and alot of it in crappy conditions. I would have to agree. They nice boats but not my choice for that. And running 55 loaded down vs 65+ means more time driving less time fishing too.

Do you really think the difference between running 55 to 65 will make any difference in how many fish you catch at the end of the day? Honestly not tring to pick a pissing match but does anybody really think that will make a difference?

[sooner magic]

For the pro's it might but for the most part 10 mph don't mean a hill of beans. IMHO

[javjoe]

Do you really think the difference between running 55 to 65 will make any difference in how many fish you catch at the end of the day? Honestly not tring to pick a pissing match but does anybody really think that will make a difference?

It would make a difference on river tournament where you might have to run 50 miles or more one way. Less fishing time and more running!

[TritonTRXV8]

Do you really think the difference between running 55 to 65 will make any difference in how many fish you catch at the end of the day? Honestly not tring to pick a pissing match but does anybody really think that will make a difference?

What Jamie said. If you are in a situation where you have to run a long ways it can make a huge difference at the end of the day. So yes i honestly do believe that.

[justsomeguy]

Probably the same lakes they fished in the 80s and 90s with 18' glass boats with 150s. I think most of those guys survived.

Exactly!

[Jamie]

It would make a difference on river tournament where you might have to run 50 miles or more one way. Less fishing time and more running!

Think of this. If the run is 50 miles one way. The run going 55 MPH will take 55 minutes. the run going 65 MPH will take 46 minutes. That is only a 9 minute difference. Now if you combine going and coming that will be a 18 minute difference in a return trip. Now take the 8 hour fishing day (480 min) minus the travel time of the 55 mph trip (55 min + 55 min) and you will get a total fishing time of 370 min or 6 hours 10 min . Compare that to the trip at 65 mph. You would get 388 mins or 6 hours 28 mins.


So breakdown.

55mph equals 6 hour 10 mins of fishing time
65mph equals 6 hour 28 mins of fishing time.

It is less than 5% of the time used during the day.I really don't see the 18 minutes being that big of a deal to Me but let me explain. I think we want it to be so we can justify having the bigger boats and faster engines but in all honestly the lose in the time is so small it really won't make much difference. It bothers us more mentally than anything and I'm a firm believer that the Mental game is far more important than anything when it come to fishing.
So in all reality if it bothers you mentally then it is a big deal. If you can get over the Mental accept it probably won't hurt your fishing success at all.

[croix-man]

I would imagine the pro's switching to alum rigs are getting a nice pay check from the manufacturers to do so, to help promote and sell more rigs.