Has anyone moved FROM a multi-species to a bass boat?
We've got the thread about going BB>MS, but I wondered what the experience has been of those that have gone the other direction. Obviously, some trade offs in big water, but there are days when something a bit sportier would be fun.
Yep. I came from a 2003 Lund Mr Pike 17 with a 125, I’m starting my second season with a bass boat. I started to write a quick response and then copied some stuff I wrote to a friend a while back...
For anyone considering this switch my rule of thumb is that a bass boat will "feel" approximately the same size as a multispecies boat that's 2-feet shorter--so a 19' bass boat feels about the same size as a 17' multispecies boat to me. I was looking for a boat small-enough that I could easily pull with a ¼-ton truck, but I wanted something that had more of a bass-style layout with larger front deck and lower gunwales, and that wouldn’t drift with the wind as much as the Lund…but I did not want to sacrifice on big-water ability more than was absolutely necessary. I rode in some Mod-V tin bass boats and did not like the ride and the boats all felt smaller than I wanted. I looked for a long time at some of the glass multispecies boats, but I found that very few of the boats had a front deck as big as I wanted until you got to much larger boats than I could realistically tow (or afford). I would have loved a Tuffy X-190 but they were way out of my price range being a fairly new design. I looked for a while for a Ranger 692vs but found them to be extremely rare in my area (still never seen one in person) and very expensive for the vintage. After not finding what I was looking for, I started looking at bass boats—they are a lot more common and (I’m sure I’ll get flak for this) don’t tend to hold their value as well as the multispecies boats I was looking at, so I thought if I could find the right bassboat I’d be able to get a lot more boat. I looked for a long time for a Champion based on their reputation for rough water performance and never found the right one. After riding in a bunch of boats I expanded my search a little based on my experience with a few rides I took in others’ boats and ended up buying a dual-console Basscat Pantera Classic, which is a smaller 19' boat rated for a 200. I’m extremely happy with my move. The boat fishes great and I love the larger decks and lower gunwales. I don’t troll ever, and my wife doesn’t like being on the boat longer than an hour or two so the floorwell on the Lund was simply wasted space for me. It’s only about 200lb heavier than my lund so I can still tow it with my small truck. Coming from a boat that topped out in the high 40’s mph this boat is wicked fast, and although I don’t consider myself a speed freak it’s really nice to spend less time running and more time fishing (and it’s really fun!). I think the ride in light to moderate waves (say 2’ or less) is MUCH softer than my Lund, even at significantly higher speed—mostly that’s a glass vs aluminum thing, but of the similar-sized bass boats I rode in this one feels very peppy and light weight with a soft ride. When you get to real big water, to me that’s 3’+ waves, you risk spearing a wave unless you keep the bow pretty high, or you launch off every wave—that might be OK with some but not with me. I was very pleasantly surprised by how well this boat handled pretty big water, it is definitely a smoother ride and until you get into water where you are really crawling up and over each wave at low speed, I think it’s as-good or better a ride and definitely drier than my lund was. It’s not as soft or dry a ride as a glass multispecies boat, but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. I had it out last fall on a day the coast guard forecast said was “waves 4-5 feet or larger” and while it was not at all what I’d call pleasant it was not difficult to manage at lower speed and stay pretty dry. This boat stays planed off at about 17-18 mph so it’s pretty easy to manage really big waves at low speeds without setting it down. Fishing in big waves is not as fun as the lund—it’s easier to take a wave over the bow or the stern and it's not as stable. The basscat is narrower at the waterline so it also feels a bit tippier if you are off-balance at all or hit the trolling motor on “high” at 90-degrees to the boat. Although most of the smaller bass boats I've seen are rigged with a 45” trolling motor I have a 52” on mine and it’s perfect for bigger water. The very forward position of the front pedestal and forward TM foot-pedal tray is great on calm water but I really don’t think it’s as good on big water—I’m actually more stable in waves without the pedestal seat, that was not the case in my old boat. The Lund drifted perpendicular to the wind, which was great if you were dragging tubes or a C-rig with the wind. The cat has gas tanks in the bilge and a big engine, so it is fairly bow-high compared to some bass boats and drifts nose-downwind as a result--it’s not good or bad it’s just different, but it’s taken some getting used to. Storage in the cat is actually quite large in comparison—the flipping deck in my boat offers easy-access storage for a passengers tackle, net, bumpers, anchor, cooler, etc. The rod lockers are bigger than in my lund as is the big daybox. Storage under driver and passenger seats is great, and there’s a small cooler under the center seat. My boat does not have storage lockers on the rear deck, so newer models have more storage than mine. Wiring and maintenence below decks is a royal pain in the rear compared to the Lund, it's TIGHT under there! I wish there was a place to easily store a really big net, but there’s not—guess I’ll have to start catching smaller pike!
My first boat was an 18' tin boat tiller with a 75 horse Mercury. Loved the room but the beating on big water was to much. I went to a bass boat for 16 years and as I aged the 18' platform of the Stratos was starting to take a toll on my body, to cramped up on the deck and sitting so low in the cockpit area. I was looking for a bass type layout in a Tuffy, I really wanted to look into the Tuffy X-19, not finding any in my price range used, I wasn't sure what way to go. All the multi- species or walleye boats did not have the front deck I wanted or back deck was to small. I started looking into 20 and 21' bass boats because I needed the large front deck for 8' rods and still wanted a decent back deck for co-angler. Also needed to store 8'6" rods in rod lockers. I ran across the Warrior 208 XRS bass boat. It seems the boat is built off a walleye boat with a bass platform. Seats sit up a bit higher than a conventional bass boat, counsel area is large and roomy. On the front deck, I can layout all my 8' and 8'6" rods and they don't need to lay out the side of the boat. The 208 XRS has a 26" dead rise transom like a walleye boat and no slash well that gives a large back deck. The 208 XRS is stable like a big walleye boat and does very well on big water. Not a lot of these boats out their, but worth finding to check out if your looking for a bass platform on a "multi-species" or walleye type boat.
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