I don't know why but the Erya has caught my attention. I have always been a Ranger guy and currently run a 2016 Z520c. Tell me about the boat! Here in Kansas, we don't have any BassCat dealers anywhere close. I heard they are fast! I think it would be more narrow than my 520. Thanks! Greg
Probably a tad narrower than your Z520 but personally I do not think you will notice it as much as you would think.
Most of the "narrowness" part of it is right up at the front of the bow. And with the foot pedal so far sorward on the Bass cats it does take a bit to get used to coming out of something else brand wise but you will get used to it pretty quickly and not notice it at all.
As far as speed goes it is probably the fastest hull that Bass Cat makes. I really like the deck layout of the Erya also.
I think you would be plesantly surprised.
Unsure of where the closest dealer to you would be but i know one guy that has a '21 Erya im sure he would be happy to let you check it out. Bassman25 (Tyson) has one and its a beaut.
Some of the closest dealers to you would be Midwest Marine Harrisonville, MO and there are a couple in Oklahoma, Gibson Bait & Tackle Locust Grove, OK and S&D Boats Shawnee, OK
I have a 2018 Eyra and love it. I came out of a smaller ranger. Fit, finish, and quality are great and the ride is awesome for speed. Fish ability is what you’d expect and I like the foot pedal more forward. Seat time is important since she is an absolute rocket.
Eyra is a great fishing platform. But it’s best to get out with someone and make sure it fits YOU. The boat handles awesome in speed and in rough water. Once you learn the ins and outs of that boat it’s a blast to drive!
Last edited by BASStex1988; 09-29-2022 at 09:29 AM.
Way faster than your Ranger.
This is solid advice. I ran Blazers for a long time and to me, I find the Erya to be very comfortable because it feels a lot like my Blazers did.Originally Posted by BASStex1988
Absolutely a great tournament platform I'm in my 3rd Eyra they are quick and easy to maneuver around with the TM while fishing. PM me if your going to be close to south Missouri or North Ark any time you can give mine a once over
Last edited by Frenchcat1; 09-29-2022 at 03:26 PM.
I came out of a Z20 and into an Eyra. Night and day, if you want an aircraft carrier style deck, and a nice level fishing platform Ranger wins. They make great fishing platforms always have.
Now the Eyra is the best boat I ever had. Insanely fast, you need plenty of seat time to tame it, better dryer ride than Ranger. I love the quality build, design, live wells, coffin storage I love. The trailer is the best I have seen.
If you want a big smile on your face when you hammer down the Eyra is for you. It's not a throttle down and eat your lunch kind of boat at least at the beginning.
If I had to do it all over again definitely a kitty,.
PM Sent - I have a 2023 you are welcome to come look at in Springfield!
I made a similar transition a while back. The Eyra will definitely feel smaller up front. You’ll sit lower in the cockpit in the Eyra. The Eyra has the option to move the trolling motor foot pedal back, and I would suggest you do that. I’ll get some flack on here for saying that, but unless you’re fishing a river system where it’s all flipping, you’ll like the pedal back to where you’re used to it being.
The Eyra is faster, and requires more seat time to learn, but it’s a better ride. More importantly to me though, and something not discussed very often about the Eyra, is that it will slide off stumps way, way better than your current boat. It’s night and day different, like it’s got grease on the bottom of it. I fished a lot of stumpy stuff back then, and it was common to have to put on my life jacket and crank my big motor to get off stuff in my Ranger literally two or three times a day. Ruins the spot and is just a pain. In four years of tournament fishing with the Eyra in the same places, I never cranked the big motor a single time. It’s a fishing machine, and I think it’s the best tournament river fishing (Red, Arkansas, etc) platform on the market.
I am on my 2nd Eyra. I had a 2014 and now a 2018. I debated heavily about which platform to purchase when I bought my 2018. I think the Coffin lid storage on the front of the boat is the way every boat should be laid out. Once I got used to that I really dislike the traditional box setup. I enjoy the sportier side of the Eyra's handling and performance characteristics. Most Puma's and Cougar's will run with the Eyra tournament loaded however the Eyra has more potential for speed when setup for that. The Eyra's handling and bayou/river carving are nearly unmatched with proper driver input. For an idea on performance my Last tournament with Me at 200lbs, My partner at 300lbs, 20 rod-n-reel combos, all compartments stuffed with tackle, livewells full of water and fish, 40 gallons of gas I was running 76.4 in 100 degree heat. Some Eyra's are faster but that is still more than respectable and I have yet to have one of these claimed 80 mph loaded boats pass me tournament day.
Now, #1 is the ease of maneuvering on the trolling motor. Simply put, there is not another 20 footer that tracks as well and just plain goes where you point it quickly and accurately. If you are a dock fisherman the way the Eyra "backs up" on the trolling motor is effortless.
It will definitely be smaller up front than your 520C. No getting around that. For me its not an issue since all of my boats have been narrower rigs. The 520C will be somewhat more stable and sit flatter at rest than the Eyra.
It really all depends on what you want out of the rig. I love the ride, speed (I still wish it was faster), handling, storage layout, and Spectacular good looks of the Eyra. I believe that after 12 years in production the Eyra is still one of the most attractive hulls ever produced by any manufacturer! The changes made recently to the livewell openings, rear storage compartments and Center Ice chest addressed pretty much any complaint I had with my Eyra's. I would be in a new 2022 Eyra already if things hadn't gotten out of had with the pricing in recent years. The only other Hull I would look at is the New Puma STS. I think BCB knocked that one out of the park as far as a wide body boat goes. Good luck with your decision and feel free to reach out with any questions you may have.
Chris Coupel
Paulina, La.
It will feel A LOT narrower than your Ranger. I'm a big fan of BassCats, but I went from a Cougar to the Puma STS for the wider front deck. I looked hard at the Ranger 520R and might have bought one if it would have fit in my garage.
I'm not saying the Eyra is bad - but it's really different than the Ranger.
2023 Puma STS
I'm on my 2nd one...I owned a 2012 and currently own a 2018. I fish Lake Havasu a lot which is a pretty big body of water for the lake and a couple of river systems, the Colorado River and the Bill Williams river so I get to fish both pretty easily in the same day. I also fished team tournaments with a buddy who owned a Z20 Ranger so my opinions are based on the above.
Hands down the Eyra excels in the river system for maneuverability and fishability. My description when in the river is it is a 20 foot boat that behaves like a 18 footer. It's truly amazing. Turning, backing up, sliding off stumps...it's all true. The fish forward design really allows for better presentations to be made. It traverses shallow water well and I can plane out in mine in about 2 feet of water pretty easily. IMO it does not fast idle well through shallow water. The rear squats too much and the nose rides too high compared to that buddy's Z20. We both have hydraulic jackplates so the comparison is fair.
You can fish 2 people up front with 8 rods on deck without issue. It's just like any other boat, you have to watch where you step or rods will break or reel handles will bend.
The rough water ride is excellent as well. Whether in the river and the party boats and river tour boats are running or you're in the bath tub jacuzzi of the lake, it does well. I am very impressed in the responsiveness of the throttle to allow you to accelerate and decelerate as needed. Extremely better than the Z20. Both boats ride wet and dry. What I mean by that is if the wind is whipping a direction other than the direction you are going, you will get spray. This happens in every boat I have been in including other brands I have owned. It is what it is and NO boat can fix that. Now when the wind comes, usually from the north sustained at 15 to 20 mph or greater, it creates some rather large swells. In 34 years of owning bassboats, fishing from Arizona north to the Columbia River and as far east as North Carolina and Lake Wylie and a bunch in between I have never stuffed more waves than I have in the Eyra. I've talked with Kevin Short and JJ Gibbs about it and can't seem to get a pulse on what I'm doing wrong. Maybe one day I can meet the grand master Jedi and he can teach me of my wrong doings?
Fishing in the lake when it's relatively calm to that light wind of 10-12 mph sustained the boat performs excellent. It's when you are being rocked by the 30 foot Intimidators or the overloaded pontoon boat cruising by you at just above idle and the wind is at 10mph that it make for not so stable of a platform. Butt seat, in this weather condition, on this boat doesn't work for me with a pile of rods on deck as I tend to step on them as there isn't much room below your feet. It is what it is and it can't be changed. My balance isn't as good as it used to be and if the wind and waves are up, the boat characteristics limit what I feel I can safely do while on the lake. My choice at my age. The Z20 is a better platform if fishing the lake if balance is an issue for you and the lakes you fish get rough.
We don't have docks or coves with brush piles like the east does so I cannot comment on that type of fishing.
The boat is very quick to accelerate and very fast on top end. The Fury props I've ran will plow the boat at under about 5k rpms...above that the boat lifts nicely. I think there is a purpose to that plowing which could be one of the reason it allows you to turn on a dime compared to other boats. Again the nod goes to the Eyra if running channels or dodging sandbars. If you prefer to cruise around 4k to 4500k rpms and have the boat lift, pick up a Bravo prop. In the boats with 2strokes they helped with heavy rear ends and getting on plane and also carried the boat well in the mid range. Top end loss is 2mph or so. Not sure if it's needed with the 4s.
I can tell you my current Eyra is crazy efficient. When I plug the numbers into the boat slip calc from Mercury it tells me slippage is less than 5% which is crazy for a bassboat! Fuel and oil consumption with my 2s is excellent as well. Zero complaints.
My complaints about the boat are:
Net storage area is inefficient. It takes up unnecessary room under the front deck and can be relocated to another location for storage. During derby day there is NO WAY on this planet the net is going to be stored under deck until it's needed. That's an lost fish waiting to happen.
The sammich divider in the big cooler is also unnecessary. It takes up room for separate and Tupperware does the same thing for protection against the ice getting it wet.
On the new models they relocated the cup holders away from the step up big cooler. Those cup holders are great for holding baits, used baits, scents etc. Put them back.
I personally cannot stand the location of the day box. Again, the issues with aging make it harder to balance and get up/down like I used to. I also want a break to sit down and retie, change baits etc. We stand all day and its nice to get rejuvenated while retying.
Though the latches are nice, metal is not your friend in the southwest. You will be branded at any given time between April and November. There has to be a better mouse trap.
I hope this helps.
I'm in KC so if you want to look at a BCB let me know and we can meet at Midwest Marine. I've had a Cougar, Eyra and now a Puma STS. The Puma is the closest in size and ride to a Ranger but faster (of course). My favorite deck layout was the Eyra and it handled the best on both the trolling motor and at full throttle. The Puma likes the rough water the best with the Cougar a close second. The Eyra was the smallest/narrowest of the 3 boats and is not quite as good in rough water if you are fishing Wilson. I'll be out at Wilson at the end of the month for the KS BASS event so if you want to talk or take a ride in the Puma just send me a PM. Good luck.
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