We're looking at changing from current 17' bass boat style fish & ski to a 18' to 20' Bowrider style ski & fish. Have also considered the salt water type dual consoles by Scout, Angler, Wellcraft. I still want to keep some fishability with the boat. Reasons for change are:<br />a) Smoother ride with a BR deeper V than bass boat style hull. Wife & kids don't find small chop to be much fun<br />b) Room for more passenger. Current limit (per capacity plate) is 5. Would like 8 or more so our family of 2 adults/2 kids could go out with other families with 2 adults/2 kids.<br />c) Have developed interest in taking boat to coast for crusing ICW and bays but not off shore. I don't think I would go to coast enough to become comfortable taking family off shore in 18' boat.<br />I've found 3 models on Web I like with nearby dealers. What are y'alls opinions of these pro & con:<br />1) Stingray 195FX - like the looks especially rear casting deck/sunpad, have read they are lighter and might not ride as well as others, not satisfying a) above<br />2) Glastron GX185 S&F - seems to be good contender. Not really sure how it falls in with other 2 models<br />3) Crownline 180BR or 192BR with fishing package. Not sure how this one looks in fish setup yet (no pics on the web). Big plus is dealer is 40 miles away vs 90+ miles for other 2.<br />I would like to get 4.3L EFI (220 HP). Is Alpha stern OK of should I go for Bravo? Or, would a Volvo Penta be better?<br /><br />Thanks for any input and sorry for long read.<br /><br />BL...
