Nitro 17’ on LSC

[sportsnutguy]

Guys Im curious what everyone thinks...
Im looking at purchasing a 17’ Nitro with a 125hp. Will this be safe enough on LSC on most days? I’ve fished that lake enough to know that certain days, depending on wind speed and direction, that you would need a 21’ to get around. Thoughts?

[castforcash]

No way in hell will you get out most days......some weekdays you will be fine. Just have to pick your days. What's your budget? Might be better off getting a 16 to 18 foot deep v aluminum more suitable to rough water.

[sportsnutguy]

I probably shouldn’t have mentioned most days...I know the weekends by 11am it can get brutal. Been out there for bass tournaments on the weekends with another boat and its brutal with all the pleasure boats by 11am.

[LennyB]

Calm days you'll be fine. You just have to watch the wind and avoid weekends during the summer. Even in a bigger boat it can be unenjoyable when it's rough out there.

[Z21 Tom]

I would not take a chance.

[piketroller]

If you plan on running all over the lake, you’ll have to pick your days. If you fish the wind protected water and are willing to drive to the right launch each day, it will be fine. And that means if you plan on fishing the flats, launch on the North Channel and run down the river to your bay of choice. Running back across the lake if the wind gets blowing hard is no place for even a 21 foot boat if you don’t want to pound the hell out of your equipment and your back. I’ve got a 20 foot deep V and last summer had an hour and a half ride from Windmill Point back to the mouth of the Middle Channel. The wind kicked up more than the forecast predicted, and I had to do slow progress at 10-12 mph with the bow lifted to split the waves.

[TimH]

I have fished Lake St. Clair for years out of smaller boats without an issue. You just have to be smart about it. I've fished out of a 16 foot Mirrorcraft, a 17 foot Javelin, and now have a 18' Ranger RT. There are some days where I can run anywhere on the lake I want and have no issues. Other days I have to change my plan to prevent putting myself in harms away. It all depends how you want to fish. If you want to run all over and chase big smallies regardless the weather, get a 21 footer with a big motor. However, if you are willing to fish smart and only target water appropriate for the conditions, a 17' with a 125 will serve you well. Let me tell you, I have had many good days fishing closer to shore and in protected areas while other guys are out in the middle of the lake getting their spines shortened by pounding waves.

[06 SB]

Not all 17 footers are created equal. If you are looking at a Nitro NX750, look elsewhere. They are not well suited for big water and even medium waves.

[21XDC]

Sometimes when in my 22 ft boat, I wish it was 32 ft..

[1BADAIR]

I had a nx750 and as long as you watched your days it was fine

[CATMAN 225]

Came across from the moot on Saturday in 20.6 ft bass cat cougar back to Harley got the heck beat out of us pleasure boats were relentless

[gary_fritz]

Saturday afternoon was rough... we stayed out later than we planned and came back to Harley around 2, our boat is a 21' 4" Ranger 212LS. We went out on Sunday and came back around 11:30am and it wasn't bad, went for a walk around Metro with the dogs later and it looked rough out there.

[jc2bg]

Some friends and I went out of Harley last year about this time, fishing mostly south along the mile roads. Coming back past Metro at 3 p.m. was as rough as anything I have experienced on the Great Lakes in terms of sheer bouncing. Kelley’s Island on Erie on a hot summer day and the “Miracle Mile” on the Detroit River have nothing on that stretch of water for washing-machine action. We all were in 20 or 21-foot bass boats and hated cutting across those boat wakes. It’s not just rough, either. It’s also disturbingly dangerous: boats going every direction, and your bow is straight up in the air half the time, reducing visibility to practically zero. If I had it to do again, I’d go a couple of miles out into the lake and around. 1/2 mile out was no bueno.

[gary_fritz]

yep, it's like that all summer

[DubyaDee]

Like everyone has said, on the calmest of days with no traffic you would be fine on a 17 foot boat. I had a 19 foot bass boat and got my butt kicked so I upgraded to a fiberglass 21 foot deep v. Even then there are days that wished my boat was bigger. I can't see how guys that fish st clair regularly have a bass boat and not a deep v. Even with no wind the turn going into anchor bay can be crazy because of the big wakes coming from every direction. If I were buying a boat on a budget for st clair I'd find an aluminum deep v and outfit it for bass.

[gary_fritz]

When we were deciding what to buy most of our experience was on bass boats but on smaller lakes and when I was younger in open bow recreation boats on Saginaw Bay. We knew a bass boat wouldn't be ideal for where we planned to fish but for how we like to fish a multi species just wasn't a good fit. I also wasn't something to have fun with other watersports. When we found the Fish & Ski model boats it seemed like a good fit. We settled on Ranger based on people we had talked to and the layout itself. Ranger had 3 F&S models with 2 being more multi species and 1 being more bass so we went with that one. While LSC can beat you up, we are very happy with the boat and don't regret buying the model we did, now who we went through is another story all together...

[AMSDJS]

Anyone who is a serious fisherman (or woman) knows you need 3 boats at minimum One for big water, one for inland lakes, and one for small rivers and ponds. Cannot imagine living near saltwater, that would mean another boat!
I agree with the guys who advise getting a deep V hull that cuts through chop much better. Convetional bass boat hulls were not designed to fish the Great Lakes as most boat builders are down South and cater to folks fishing hillland and highland reservoirs, for the most part. Though I'm sure they get their share of tuna boat traffic.