My fishing partner works at Bee Line/Phoenix boats in Tullahoma, TN. He got the demo boat to use for the weekend, so we took it out on Tim's Ford today for 4-5 hours. We ran the boat alot, and did a little fishing too.
Phoenix 721 Pro XP w/ a Mercury 250 Pro XS
Running from Lost Creek boat ramp to the dam we hit 79 mph gps. The boat had probably 30 rods in it and some tackle and 1/2 tank of fuel (not sure what size tank it comes with). It had a motor guide digital 82lb of thrust troller and 3 batteries. It was equiped with a hydralic jack plate, not sure what setback it had. My partner said it was set @ 3 & 1/2 inches below pad, but we never really played with the hyd. jackplate. We were turning a 27p Temptest Plus to around 5950rpm's.
It runs with very little driver imput. Even though the wind was blowing hard, it didn't really effect the running. Over trim it, and it becomes a handful to control, but what boat doesn't. Of course we didn't encounter any KY lake conditions or ski boat wake, but it was slightly white capping and we were easily able to string it out and handled all the wake we encountered with ease. The boat really boosts confidence levels, it doesn't bounce, slide, or hook when running hard in corners. Very predictable.
The boat tracked very very well with minimal trolling motor imput. Very nimble and impressive when fishing around the docks and such. It did great fishing in the wind, making it easy to focus on fishing and not fighting the boat, wind, trolling motor.
Storage space is amazing. I could basically live outta that boat. The storage features are truely unique. The net holder, pliar holders, plano box storage, and place to put your rods on the deck are like no other boat. One of the compartments has a turn table deal that holds tackle boxes, and spins around.
The front deck is very large. Plenty of room for two people up front. Nice molded in recessed trolling motor tray. Looked to have LED lights in the boat, compartments, ect. The two rod lockers hold a TON of rods and have built in rod holders inside with the tubes for the tips and a place to hold the rod butts so your rods don't get tangled. The seats are also awesome, very comfy and supportive. The console is unique, it has a very sporty look to it, and is very spacey for big guys. I'm 6'3" and 260lb's, was wearing quite a few layers under coveralls and had plenty of room to move around behind the console.
All in all, the Phoenix is a great boat from what i saw today. It runs great and fast, handles well, has a ton of storage and unique features, and fishes great. It is truely a tournament anglers boat.
Check one out for yourself! Give Jr Slagle a call up at Winner's Marine or call Bee Line/Phoenix directly if your are in the Southeast. I'm sure either place will set you up with a test ride and take care of you.
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