Caracal info

[damorim]

hey guys im trying to decide between two boats. A Caracal and a Ranger 520L. Stability up front is very important to me. I fish with my small kids often. I want a BIG deck, that can accomodate all the gear and have room for two people to spare wether its my tournament partner or my two small kids. I dont really have anywhere i can See first hand these two boats side by side. How does the stability up front compare to the 520 in terms of size/space and stability?

The quality of build in the cats has me sold, but the narrower beam on many models scares me a bit. The caracal seems much wider than other models. The lnyx is out of my price range and storage space limitations.

My main thing i need in my new rig is stability up front at the troller and the space. Big water ride is also a hug factor. How is the caracal in rough water vs the ranger? I fish lake erie, st clair, and lake ontario a bunch so big waves are very common.

Does the HP limit of 225 on the caracal make this a slower boat vs the ranger?

thanks guys

[iron banks]

Slower than a Ranger Caracal is a an amazing boat. For it's size the storage is awesome. Very stable up front, in the middle and the rear. You will love that hull.

[rxkid2001]

I would think length would be your biggest factor with those lakes. You’re not comparing apples to apples.

[rxkid2001]

A 520L should be comparable to the lynx with similar options I’d think as well. It’s upper 70’s to 90 well rigged.

[lamoon78]

The Caracal is a great platform with tons of storage and handles big water great. With the 225 it will probably still out run a Ranger they are little rockets.

[Cajunhunter67]

I'm not totally familiar with the 520L price but I'm sure it's substantially more than the Caracal. Much closer to the Lynx.
The Caracal is cheaper than all of the Premium BCB 20 footers.
As far as speed, the Caracal will run with or out run the 520. Yep, even with the 225.
Stability would go to the 520, though only marginal.
Storage would be close with both boats. The Caracal has a huge amount of storage, especially with rear fuel tanks.

Keep in mind the Caracal was designed not just as a wide body BCB but to run big water. It will have a dryer ride than the 520.
If your gong to compare apples to apples you would compare the 520 to the Lynx.

Both are great boats. Good luck on your decision.

[Hollada]

Meet me on st Clair this week and I’ll let you see what the ride is like. I’m on my second Caracal. I’ve had it a year and have almost 100 hrs on the big motor on st Clair.

I fished as a co in the Michigan BFL for 5 years. Rode in every boat out there. Narrowed my choice to Phoenix or basscat. Let me know if you want to go for a ride.

[milligjg]

Caracal will be my next boat...... unless powerball comes through, then it's a Jag!

[Finlander]

I have owned a few other boat brands and can say you can't go wrong with either Ranger or Bass Cat. I would have to give the stability nod to ranger but just about everything else goes to the Cat. Better ride, storage, deck layout, etc... Especially in the updated Caracal and Lynx platforms. The 520L is 20'9" OAL which is more inline with the Lynx. The Caracal would be a closer match up to the Z519C. I like my Ranger but I would opt. for a Caracal if I was buying tomorrow.

[John__S]

I'm glad damorim started this thread. I'm looking at a Basscat Caracal, Ranger, and Vexus glass. I currently have a Z521C and had four other new Rangers. I priced a fairly well loaded Caracal and it was over 70K. I really like the Caracal layout. I have been also considering a Lynx but the cost is around 10k more than the Caracal. My priorities are stability, ride and quality. The feedback seems to make me believe the Caracal will have better ride but will not be as stable as the Ranger. I had a test ride in Vexus VX21 which is really a nice boat that was around 6K more than the Lynx. I'm not sure that Vexus paint will hold up like gel coat. I wish Bass Cat would offer a package deal on one of their wide models (e.g. Caracal, Lynx or Jag).

[franktank009]

The number one issue with basscat are it's owners are usually too proud to say there's anything wrong with their boats lol. Here's my take on the Caracal:

Trailer-
Well built and well fitted with quality components for the most part.
The double carpeted bunks are really good
A lot of stick on decals and stick on lights will fall off
The step and grab bar at the front of the trailer are amazing!!!
The swing tongue seems to be well built but some have had issues with them.
The boat has absolutely no weight on the bow roller when loaded which shows how well fitted the trailer is.
The location of the bow roller on the keel of the boat is stupid. The bow roller should have been designed to be a few inches lower on the keel. This requires the trailer to be far enough out of the water to load the boat without the bow going under the roller. This makes the boat much more difficult to load whether you want to power load or crank. Once you have the bow over the roller the trailer is often required to be backed in further to finish loading boat on the trailer. I suggest if anybody is ordering a Caracal that they ask basscat to install a 2 speed fulton f2 winch with the cranking handle on the same side as the step so you don't have to do the reach around.
No issues with the torsion axles/wheels/tires/brakes, the 4 wheel disc brakes are great on the trailer and I believe the trailer adds no additional braking to the truck under normal circumstances.
Metal prep on the trailer before painting is poor, my trailer is optioned with double ppg clear coat and the trailer has much more rust coming through then I would like to see for a 2016. Boat sits in my heated garage for winter and is only used during the summer and early fall (our bass season starts 3rd weekend of June and our waterfowl season begins end of September which is when I stop fishing) The paint work on my crestliner duck boat trailer is holding up way better than the basscat and it sits outside all year long and gets used till end of December in the road salt. If i got another basscat I would probably option an aluminum trailer.

The boat-
The boat is great but it does have issues
Seats are good to me
Lid latches are really good
The bilge lid hinges are annoying to bump into while fishing on the rear deck
Console is really nice, I like the overall muscle retro look of most basscats
Livewells are awesome!!! but the spray bars are little cheap... would have been nice to see a flow rite aeration nozzle.
Pump and battery access is great
The rod locker beside the passenger seat is dumb, wish that wasn't there and move the passenger seat over to the gunnel. This would allow the port locker on the bow to be a bit longer and would allow a full size compartment behind the passenger seat (exactly like the lynx). The boat storage tends to make you load the boat starboard side heavy with all the ideal tackle storage being on that side and the rod storage on the port side.
One of my front storage compartment doesn't look like the cap was glassed or fitted to the hull very well so they just filled the area with expanding foam and shaved it flush...
The trolling motor mounting area on the bow of the boat is not flat... I have no idea why not... They install the trolling motor on 2 plastic blocks and still requires shimming to prevent the trolling motor frame from twisting, also only mounted using 4 bolts instead of 6.
The compartment stick on led strip lighting is a joke.
The wiring job is mediocre
The boat has a nice heavy solid tough feel to it which is really nice
I have all 3 gas tanks in my boat and here is my take on them: if all you want is speed then the 2 26 rear tanks are for you. center tank with a port kicker tank allow you to add extra ballast weight on the port side, holeshot seems much better, rough water ride is significantly improved and so is rough water fishing stability. The center tank is my choice and I will be removing the rear starboard tank to make room for power pole pumps.
Rough water ride: I don't exactly know what people mean by this... Is this characteristic defined by how fast you can drive in rough water? I have to slow right down to 30ish +or- mph when the water gets rough while using the 2 rear tanks, a bit faster using the center tank otherwise you get the crap beat out of you... the caracal is very dry ride in rough water. My fishing partners ranger can be driven a fair bit faster than the caracal in rough water but its a wet ride (much bigger boat).

Overall I really like the boat and hope it gives me many more years of service but would gladly step up to the lynx if I could afford one as I feel they addressed some of my peeves with the caracal.

[all4s]

Thank you for such a great and honest review.