Originally Posted by iron banks
Booked my room today. I will be at one of the Bass Cat boats booths. Hope to see you there!
They will be at the Classic and the new models are planned to be there. The area around Waco had several Bass Cat models and was a Top Five sales area for several seasons a few years back. The Boerne area has a few boats there and you dealership in the San Antonio area is a good servicing dealer. Wayne is small, though good. There will be lots of opportunity to see Bass Cat in the Classic and details will be released on the plans there as the date nears. Probably about 6 weeks before the Classic. The new models should be ready for production before the Classic and the official rollout at Houston.
The media opportunities by rolling out new product at the Classic are too good not to focus on those advantages as Bassmaster has online showcases and media tours wrapped around debuting new product there.
Phoenix is a sharp boat and has a good layout but have adjusted to the layout of my Cougar I love it. I'm not a tackle/rod junkie but I carry plenty of stuff. I have lots of room for me and me co-angler. I flip a lot so I like the up-front trolling motor. This may be personal taste stuff but you are familiar with the Cat.
Now for the important stuff. I take pretty good care of my boat but we all can get in accidents or unforeseen situations that "stress" the boat, that's when build quality shows. That's why when I pick a boat I look at my friends that are the "hard chargers" and really abuse their boats. That is the situation that sold me on BCB. I have a couple guys I know well that had Phoenix's that have had real boat (not motor) problems. Granted these guys are hard on there rides but the comparison is not really close between the 2. My friends with Cats simply don't have problems, even in tough use.
I think this is smart on BCB part, the Lynx is going to be a game changer no need to ruin the excitement around introducing the new boat at the biggest event of the year. I am really hoping for BCB on this boat. I think it will introduce Bass Cat to another group of Bass fishermen that like wide body boats in a 20 footer.
I own a Caracal and one of my buddies has a Phoenix 920 that I've fished out of plenty. Phoenix was my 2nd choice when I bought my cat. Rides great, super fast, not as dry of a ride on Lake Erie as my cat. What got me was the interior finishings on the Phoenix. The switches are all the same as my dad's 15 year old pontoon, and half of them don't work anymore. I don't know anything about customer service at Phoenix, but BassCat has been awesome and you don't have to look hard to find others who say the same.
Wayne is the one that I found your boats at, his personal is for sale and I looked at it. I'm liking what I saw, sharp looking boats, great options with the layouts. The only thing I'm still trying to figure out is, which are the cheaper models. Like how much would a eyra cost compared to a caracal if both had merc 225's on them. I can't find a place to show the base pricing to see where my budget lies.
I'll go to the classic just to see the boats!
Sir, I can only find one new cat for sale in Texas. Who is the Waco dealer so I can contact them and see what they might have for sale? Thank you
Also I'm assuming you might be the president or owner of BCB? I've been trying to use the design feature on your site, but it's not working for me. I'm trying to figure out if it's down or if it's my phone not being compatible.
Last edited by grout-scout; 09-24-2016 at 11:02 AM.
As with a number of people on here I have been really shopping boats lately and strangely the cat wasn't even in the picture at first and now is the front runner after talking to s few guys at different tournament's one even took me for a ride wow what a ride with the new model coming out i may just go to the classic and check them out but BCB should start hanging 250's on the caracal.
Boat builder on Basscat.com doesn't work on phones...
Thank you JLeon, I'll fire up the old laptop.
Im in the same boat. I like the 618 but I don't want to count Bass Cat out either. I can look over small items I don't like for awesome customer service. Everyone in south Texas (just about) owns a skeeter so it's hard to look at a bass cat or Phoenix without driving 3 hours or more to a dealership. Guess time is on my side anyway. I don't care if I get an aluminum bass boat I'm getting the ultrex trolling motor so I have to wait for that at minimum. I guess I should wait till the classic to go see all the different boats. I might get a better deal then anyway. I was just hoping to fish the spawn this year in my boat.
So i just came out of owning two Cats into another brand. Cat didn't make aluminum and that's what I decided I was going into this time. I hated to leave! After shopping around I went back to a brand that I've owned a couple of. I got a typed out letter with a signature from a marketing person with a gift card for a 100.00. That person put me in touch with another person on a question I had on my boat. The letter came in about 6 weeks. I couldn't order my 100.00 worth of promo gear from either of them. That came from an entirely different state. All three people were professional and nice as can be!! Not one of them made me feel like anything other than some other customer, just like every other brand I've ever owned in my 30 years of owning bass boats. Mind you I told you I was coming back to their brand and had owned two in the past. Not one of the three asked which models I had owned or when. All I got was a professional "what can I help you with"? I can't complain about that, they all did their job and did it well!
Rick and his entire crew of people at Cat, including my dealer Sherms marine made me feel like part of a family. If you're ready to give that up go shopping other brands. You'll miss being part of the family! There aren't any special events. There aren't any letters from the owners. Hell the owner doesn't even know you exist. I can assure you if Cat had still produced what I was looking for I would not had strayed. I was simply tired of fighting a glass rig in and out of my garage and the light weight aluminum rig seemed to make a bunch of sense right now. I've put 19 hours on it in a month..so far leaving my Cat family is the only regret, but that one hurts! No way would I have left for another glass boat.
I can't speak to the Phoenix, but I have owned a Cat (Jaguar). It was the best boat I ever owned. I wish I still had it. Their customer service is second to none.
Those are among the brands I am looking at. My Sabre is 10 years old and looking at repowering vs upgrading the whole rig. The ONLY reason I am looking at other brands is the cramped space up front and forward pedal on the BassCats and the touch panel. Don't know if the Sabre FTD is significantly wider, maybe someone can chime in that knows. Thinking of waiting for the new Classic to see what that will be about. I need to stay with a smaller rig for storage and ease of moving it around. I have found a lot of good deals on other brands but can't make myself pull the trigger. My Sabre has been flawless for 10 years. Only thing I changed on it is the touch panel a few times. The boat is built like a tank. I don't abuse it, but I do use it and fish where I need to go to catch them. After 10 years of banging around the Atchafalaya basin and Toledo bend 2-3 times a month the boat still looks great. No cracks or issues except where I scuff the bottom on the 36 million stumps and treetops at Toledo. I would love to get a little info on the new Classic also. I'd like to do something before the spring if the classic is not what I am looking for. I am seriously considering repowering my boat and putting a gorilla bottom on it and let it eat. I know it will easily run another 10 years. Its a great boat. Not to mention a great trailer too. Anyone have a late model Sabre ftd they are willing to part with?
I did not feel the Sabre FTD was " significantly wider" than a regular Sabre, I did however feel like my front deck layout was a bunch better thought out when I owned the 2008 Sabre FTD. The split step up cooler and excellent storage layout made for one really nice 18 footer. I needed the tilt wheel option be comfortable behind the wheel where the PII had that extra foot in the drivers area. The PII wasn't really that much wider on the front deck. It did have a little extra length up there. I spent several days fishing out of the PII. I tried to fit one in my garage but the Sabre FTD slid right in and the PII was a real tight fit. My new 18'8" aluminum boat is the same length on the trailer as the PII but it's so light I can easily slide it in where the Cougar sat on go jaks. The lite weight aluminum rig moves like a toy compared to the Sabre FTD sitting on the tandem trailer. Then again that Sabre FTD ate up the lake at 68 MPH with two people on board with the Merc 175 ProXS.
There is no perfect boat! You just have to figure out which one fits you at that time and hope you get a good one. I NEVER doubted I'd get an excellent boat and trailer with Cat. The motor is ALWAYS a roll of the dice. IMO That doesn't matter who's name is on the cowl. I think Cat just picked up a new dealer near me. If so they picked a young guy who seems to be trying his best to do things the right way. This town is growing leaps and bounds and if he plays his cards right he should do well with the brand. JC if you liked the standard Sabre I think you'll love the Sabre FTD. Price kept me away from that one as much as anything. I'm no longer in the 40K boat market and that's just where the Sabe FTD is with the stuff I want on one. They only take a hair over 20' straight back for storage. They are wide on the trailer if you have a single door!
I hear you on 40k for an 18 foot boat. Would love to find a very nice used one, if it has a 175 and warranty it would probably be a slam dunk. I actually have my trolling motor pedal unbolted so I can pull it back on the front deck when I fish rougher stuff. Its a small space for an older guy to stand in a heavy chop fishing. The butt seat makes it worse because its so far to the front it wants to push you around when it starts rocking in the waves. I've been in 18 foot boats that fish that stuff better but they kill you riding. Like you said no perfect boat. Large boats with the wide decks give it all to you but they are too big for me, and too expensive too. Maybe a nice FTD will pop up soon.
One of the main reasons I went with a cat was because of their trailers. KNow someone here with a Phoenix and their trailers are my only complaint. Seems it is always an adventure when we are loading it. I guess they knew this was an issue and have since addressed it and the one I'm referring to he had to install shims or something like that and it is better. Other than that fine boats but hard for me to imagine coming out of a cat and finding better customer service or quality
I would think the age of people buying bass boats is moving older. A move to wider decks is a good move to keep old crippled up folks in the boat instead of over the side. For some reason as I age comfort is becoming more important than speed and even more important than small differences in the ride. They all ride bad in the rough stuff and I tend to avoid that now. Comfort now even rivals quality(up to a point) as I age. Face it I have only a few more boats to buy God willing. I don't need a boat to last 30 years especially if I am not comfortable in it. I would much prefer to buy a well built boat I know can take a beating and possibly be the last one I buy. But at this point, If I have to buy 2 or even 3 boats of lesser quality to be comfortable while fishing I can do that too. A wide deck BassCat would probably be the last one I would have to buy. I really like seeing BassCat moving some models to wider decks and some having the ability to pull the TM pedal back a little to get off the nose of the boat. My 10 year old Basscat performs like it did new, and has held up extremely well. I was in the market for a new boat, and was looking at other brands because of the front deck issues. With the trends I am seeing at BassCat, I think I may repower the one I have or buy a used one to get by 2-3 years until we see where this leads. My BassCat looks better than some 2 or 3 year old other brands and it would be very difficult to go to another brand after the service this boat and Basscat gave me for the last 10 years. Looking forward to seeing some of these new models. Thanks BassCat.
Not sure.... Trying to make a final decision between the 920 Phoenix and the Lynx....just not sure of pricing or delivery on the Lynx. Any idea who may be able to get me a "close ballpark?"
Thank you
Where are the BIG ones? When are we going?
LOOKING for a Great deal on a Slightly used 20-21' Boat.
They aren't finalizing until release, though it will be somewhere between the Jaguar and Puma FTD.
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