I did extensive research on BBC and on youtube to find the right boat that would suit me. I looked at Tracker, Nitro, Ranger, Stratos and Crestliner. I was a hard core fiberglass boat owner and my last boat was a stratos 294XL and it was a great boat. The issue I always had with fiberglass boats was the dreaded "what if i scratched it" or "stress cracks". The last straw was when I was fishing the river and the dock made a nice gouge out of the back of the boat, I about cried, at that point it was time for a change to aluminum. I did physical inspections of aluminum boats ie. Tracker and Crestliner. The Tracker 195tx was a sweet boat and huge! The crestliner was another giant boat and both boats looked great but they both seemed to miss that clean fiberglass boat look that I had always grew up with and owned in the past. Then I started doing a lot of research on the Ranger 198P series, this boat seemed to fit my fiberglass boat look and it even had the "pad" so it could potentially run like a fiberglass boat as well. After several different conversations here on BBC and with Roger Rose, Chris King and Pete Peterson, I decided to go with the 198P. I never once saw one of these in person, I placed the order with Pete, had him load it up with a TH marine 4" hydraulic jackplate, hot foot, elite 7ti in the console and the elite 9ti up front with the upgraded minn kota fortrex as well.
I showed up to Pro's Choice Marine last saturday to pick the boat up, they had it sitting outside glistening in the sun. My first impression pulling into the parking lot was above my expectations. After a thorough walk around, I found zero flaws with anything. The carpet was perfect, it was perfectly trimmed around the edges with the fancy rubber trim they use on the Z boats, the seats look way better in person than I thought, they seem so durable and clean looking. The center storage box is huge and will hold a lot of stuff. The fiberglass consoles are great with a lot of room behind them. I had them remove the foot plate on the drivers side to accommodate the hot foot and it gave me a lot of extra room. This boat was just set up perfectly for the hard core fisherman, like myself haha. Took the 3 hour drive back home pulling the boat, it pulled perfectly and smooth even with the single axle trailer, very nice ride.
fast forward to July 4th. Launched the boat by myself and backed it off the trailer, it doesnt take much to float the boat and it unloads easily by yourself. I went and parked it and parked the truck. hopped back in the boat and fired it right up. Easy engine start thanks to the 150 Mercury 4 stroke. Such a simple engine to start and idle, super impressed. I idled to the marker buoys and took off, on plane in seconds and up to speed FAST. This boat moves! Super impressed with the way the boat will take off and plane out. its like driving a race car. During break in process I am still seeing great speeds even at 4500 RPMS's. When I max it out on speed, for the 60 second interval, I was seeing 58.6 gps and had plenty of room to move the plate up and more speed to go. I think with the jackplate I will see 60's easily. Next, I fished for two hours in the pouring rain. There is no side to side wake movement, its a smooth front deck platform, the boat doesnt rock at all. Everything is setup perfect for fishing. I had tons of room up front for my rods and my big feet, way more room than my last Stratos 294XL up front, this boat is like an aircraft carrier. In the pouring rain, the auto bilge was a definite plus! the rod lockers and all compartments stayed dry the entire time and it was absolutely pouring. Back to the ramp I go, backed the trailer down and loaded up the boat with ease. All alone. This boat loads so easy.
My review of this boat is an A. If you are in the market for a new aluminum boat, you should really consider this boat. I cant say enough great things about it. I will post more reviews as time goes on but thought I would share for now.
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Originally Posted by dlgfish
