How's the ride?

[WVBullet]

I don't own a Bullet (have owned 3 Rangers and now in a Triton 18 TRX) and for years bashed them like all the other boat brand owners did . Got to ride in my first Bullet a few years ago with BULLETFAN and was blown away . When we first took off I was very tense and white knuckled the oh crap handles and after a few waves I thought dang it rides better than my Ranger (2006 519 VX) . I got lucky cause Brad is a great wheel man and even let me drive it once . My garage does not alow me to have a bigger boat and I am more than happy with my Triton but one of these days I want one just like WVBullet . For now I will just come here and look at ya'lls and may get lucky enough to get in BULLETFANS again .

I hope some day you get that Bullet of your dreams and I really appreciate that you think enough of mine to want one like it!

[Bullet Bling]

I think a 21' Bullet has the best of everything as a whole. I have never been disappointed with buying my boat. It puts a smile on face every time it comes out.

[Bullet 250]

Have you had a ride in a Bullet yet?

[WVBullet]

I think a 21' Bullet has the best of everything as a whole. I have never been disappointed with buying my boat. It puts a smile on face every time it comes out.

I agree! It's the best boat I've ever bought. Never knocking a 20', but I'm glad I have my 21! I've been in so many boats, but IMO a Bullet is the best boat on the water!

[Bradley21SS]

Bullets are great boats probably the best looking boats on the water and well built. But when it gets nasty out you don't want a bullet you want a ranger. I almost sunk my 21SS the other day . I learned a lot from this storm. It was calm outside but a nice size cloud was building , all of a sudden 40+ MPH winds picked up . I new I had to get out of there so we cranked up and started to leave, at this point there were no waves just wind a 40mph cross wind. The boat would not drive straight in this wind and the boat was leaning to one side so bad the prop was coming out of water(no Waves at this point). So we sat the boat down and we where going to try and ride it out(big mistake) all of a sudden 5 to six foot waves , water was coming over the boat like it wasn't even there we got soaked bad. So at this point I point the front of boat towards the waves with motor in gear not running but in gear( another mistake) water was crashing over the front of boat so bad I was having trouble breathing, boat was slap full of water. At this point I new I had to do something so I turned the boat 360 degrees so the motor was facing the oncoming 5 6' waves , this solved the problem we were fine. So the point of this story never face a 21SS into the waves or parallel to the waves because you will sink your boat. I thought for a minute that the 5' waves and 40mph wind was going to sink me lol it was scary. My buddy had a 21 hp triton and never got wet ,we where beyond wet in the bullet.

Other than that one time out I have enjoyed my bullet I wouldn't own another brand maybe a Allison

[alli ss]

So youre saying in the same water that flooded your bullet a triton stayed dry? Sounds like any other rough water situation. Ive seen tritons come into the ramp with water standing in the floor on lake fork but my 20' bullet was dry. But i will say ive never actually been in 5' waves. I dont think a 22' ranger would stand a chance in waves so big you cant see the bank. Id be expecting to see surf boards in 5' waves

[Bradley21SS]

He could have been lying. You may be right , saying that any other boat would have got wet too. But I wasn't just wet I almost died I would have been fine with wet. I don't know though , hell it could have been 60mph winds, maybe that's why so much water was coming in. I know they fixed something on the new SST to keep water from splashing over so maybe it's just a 21SS deal

[WVBullet]

He could have been lying. You may be right , saying that any other boat would have got wet too. But I wasn't just wet I almost died I would have been fine with wet. I don't know though , hell it could have been 60mph winds, maybe that's why so much water was coming in. I know they fixed something on the new SST to keep water from splashing over so maybe it's just a 21SS deal

Yeah I'd say in 5-6' waves your gonna get wet......in any boat! Been in 3-4 footers and not a problem, but 5-6' is some pretty big waves.

[mgeod]

couple years ago we had a 3 day tourney on Eufaula , wind blew pretty good all 3 days .. last day we run up river and wind really picked up ... most of the guys stayed in Sandy creek where we launched . I had a Stroker then .. needless to say it was a long ride back in that water. Don't know how big the waves were but it was ruff... Pulled into a creek and some guys pulled into same creek in a Phoenix ,, they had ran a little farther than us. .. Phoenix guys were soaked .. Moral of the story if its bad enuff they will all get you wet .. I will say the Stroker didn't have standing water like the other boat .. Was it driver .. the fact that they came a little farther or boat I don't know.. Got caught yesterday on same lake but was way up river .. got soaked but it didn't get very ruff. I was glad I didn't have to make a long run. Could only imagine what the south end of the lake was like ..


Have been on same lake in some of my Bullets and they handled it as well as could be expected.. When it gets ruff all the bass boats can be bad .. Seen pictures of Rangers ,, Stratos and other boats swamped on Eufaula when one of these summer storms roll thru. Good thing is most of these storms roll thru pretty fast. If I get caught I try to find me a creek and catch fish unless lightning is popping .. then I want a boat house.. lol

[Bullet Bling]

I was was out on lake st Clair June 22 with 40mph if u ever been up there u know how nasty that is and I have avideo to show never had a problem with mine but I am a seasoned driver who knows how to drive in very bad water I will say that when I got back my rub rail insert came out it was so rough imo in that circumstance it don't matter what kind of boat u have but if u know how to drive the boat your way better off. This is how I drive in Erie and st Clair when it gets nasty nose up go into the wave when making turns run parallel with the roller some time u might have to drive a longer to zigzag but this is how I do it and run only fast enough to keep boat on plane for me it's 26mph the biggest thing is keeping the nose up good luck and be safe.

[Bullet 250]

Moral of this is when you see bad weather coming get off the water as fast as you can

[Longrodder]

Always remember...a good driver can make a bad riding boat do pretty good and a bad driver can make a good riding boat rupture a spleen!!!

[Rex1]

Bradley 21SS
Glad you are OK but have a couple questions, 1. why did you stay in open water and not go to a cove for protection from the wind/waves. Have
done this before and will do it again. 2. how can you do a 360 degree turn and have the boat in a 180 degree different heading? 3. As the driver/owner, you are responsible for yourself and the passenger. I do not want the job of telling someone their son/or whomever is not coming home. Do not
complain about the boat for the decision you made. Again, glad you and your passenger are safe and hope you take something from this situation
that you can use later in another situation.

[Bradley21SS]

To be honest Rex my Dad did not want to get wet. I had the boat out of the waves behind a bluff wall. He insisted!!! we go back to ramp and load boat up I said there is no way in hell we can load boat up in these waves!!!!! but he insisted so out of anger I said ok. This is when we got stuck in the waves. Keep in mind we were not on plain but at idle sitting by boat dock. This is when he finally realized there was no loading boat up on trailer, water coming in boat on all sides a lot of water. So I turned nose of boat into the waves( keep in mind we were stuck ,there was no getting on plan to find a cove or safe place) this is when all hell breaks loose, water coming over nose of boat to the point where I could not breath so I turned the boat 180 degrees not 360 degrees we were fine once I pointed back of boat towards the waves. The boat was not far from sinking, now keep in mind it was a bad bad storm really bad. I'm not knockingbullets in any way i love my bullet wouldn't own anything else. But it did not like those waves coming right at it . Note I was not on pad running just idling into waves. Maybe it was my inexperience I don't get out in big water like that much. The lessen I learned was not to point nose of boat into waves in a storm at idle and not to listen to my dad about not wanting to get wet. I quess he thought we could load boat on trailer in 5'+ waves.

[Tim Powell]

Fishing Kentucky Lake all of my life, I have seen more rough water than I care to admit. Driver makes all the difference in the world and even the most seasoned driver can make mistakes...a lot going on at times and it happens. Maybe its due to my lighter hull but I have never been a fan of the 21ss rough water ride. But the 21-10 is a different animal. Ive put the 21-10 through some nasty nasty conditions and have always stayed dry. IMO if you spear a wave in a 21-10 Bullet, YOU screwed up. The only downfall to the 21-10 is once the waves get a certain height the boat will launch off the waves and if you don't have a hydraulic jackplate the prop will constantly be out of the water.

The only boat that I have seen with a better ride than the 21-10 Bullet is the XB21. Ive put this thing through the paces and it just seems to eat up everything ive thrown at it. I made a 75-80 mile run from Kuttawa on Barkley to just south of Danville on Kentucky, the ride down that morning was slick but just as we were about to head back to weigh-in that afternoon a storm hit with 40+ NW winds. We ran from Paris to North Kentucky (40 miles) in that crap, the wind was blowing straight down the lake against the current...at the 20 mile mark we had to stop for a no wake zone due to bridge construction, when I came to an idle the waves were so big that the boat went up the swell and when it came down the back side the next wave landed right at the console. Once past the no wake zone I was able to get back on pad and make the ride to the canal and cut over to Barkley and pretty much stay out of the wind from there back to the truck. That was my first real rough water experience in the XB21. I was amazed at how well it handled it and at how soft the ride was. I cut the throttle back to 30-35 mph and the deep keel cut each wave. The boat also stayed flat and did not launch off the big waves, nor did the prop come out of the water. We make long runs and its nothing to run 30-40 miles in some nasty conditions.


At the end of the day don't try to run too fast for the conditions, slow down, take your time, and stay focused....keep your speed down and the bow up.

[av]

It's all about seat time in rough water you learn how to manage the best you can , any brand bass boat will have issues .. I agree with Tim the hydraulic plate is a huge help , when I get caught in real bad water on Champlain I noticed filling the livewells helps if it's not filled , an extra velcro strap for the trolling motor , folding down the front electronics or take it off just in case , bury the motor down to the lowest setting , if you can drive over the waves go against them if possible , if the rollers are to high ride up them sideways and roll over the tops sideways down to the bottom ... it's a real pain and you burn through fuel ... I always also try to get to the side the waves have started at they will be smaller if the wind is blowing from bank to bank .

[Tim Powell]

It's all about seat time in rough water you learn how to manage the best you can , any brand bass boat will have issues .. I agree with Tim the hydraulic plate is a huge help , when I get caught in real bad water on Champlain I noticed filling the livewells helps if it's not filled , an extra velcro strap for the trolling motor , folding down the front electronics or take it off just in case , bury the motor down to the lowest setting , if you can drive over the waves go against them if possible , if the rollers are to high ride up them sideways and roll over the tops sideways down to the bottom ... it's a real pain and you burn through fuel ... I always also try to get to the side the waves have started at they will be smaller if the wind is blowing from bank to bank .

Well said Al!!!

[MIKER2702]

been to erie twice and saint claire last three years my gut hurts thinking about it.
I don't think there is such a thing as a smooth day. 19 foot xpress water over front
and back. 20 foot ranger water over front and back. this year 21 xd water over front and back.
this is not moving just trying to fish. there is a reason for deep v's. its like local lake on 4th
of july on steroids. even guy with 21xb did not travel much. different world up there.
but if I travel 10 hours im not sitting in a room watching tv fishing is only option.
there are days its going to be painful no matter what boat you have..