Damn! Bass Boats are Fast!

[Restless22]

I got to witness a tournament start last weekend. I gues I never paid much attention to boats until I owned one.

Those bass boats will fly! The holeshot and speed is amazing to me now.

Curious...

Are there fish and skis made with outboards, instead of stern drives? These look like a great family combo boat to me

 

[Idlespeedonly]

Re: Damn! Bass Boats are Fast!

There are alot of F/S boats with outboards. I love the sound of a big 2 stroke outboard. We have a few Allison boats around here, I guess they are considered a high performance bass boat. Those generally will pass a bass boat like it is sitting still.

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Damn! Bass Boats are Fast!

There are alot of F/S boats with outboards. I love the sound of a big 2 stroke outboard. We have a few Allison boats around here, I guess they are considered a high performance bass boat. Those generally will pass a bass boat like it is sitting still.

If you are talking about Merc V6s they growl, especially the ones with the racing blocks made in England....forget the foundry....do engines for Formula 1 racers.

Pull up Ranger www for one and you will get your eyes full.

Mark

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Damn! Bass Boats are Fast!

Fish-n-skis aren't bad if you like to fish smaller inland lakes, especially if you're more of a weekday boater. However, when the water gets choppy/rough, the bass boats just don't have enough weight/deadrise to cut the chop. You end up having 250HP on the back that you can't use over 20mph without knocking your fillings loose or swamping the boat. They can also be very susceptible to chine walking once up "on the pad" and running 70+mph; very dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. Most of the people I see with fish-n-skis run them more like a runabout than they do a bass boat. I just don't see them used for shoreline fishing as much. Given the choice between the f-n-s and the modern deck boat, I'd probably take the deck boat, lengths being equal of course.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Damn! Bass Boats are Fast!

I had never heard of a "fisn'n'ski" as a boat type until joining here a few years ago, and was surprised to learn my family has had one since 1988. I don't think it is a specific-enough term (as opposed to bass boat or center console) to be useful. I'd describe mine as a dual console on a bay boat hull. All fiberglass; no carpet or built-in upholstery (but snap-in cushions and back rests). And it has an outboard.

Boat types (small recreational) are defined by two features: the hull shape and the interior lay-out. But the manufacturers mix them around--for example my key west DC was also sold with a center console. Center consoles appear on bay boats, flats boats, scows, skiffs, jons, tri-hulls (eg whaler although it's not a true tri -hull), deep v's, modified V's, cats and Chincoteague scows, so you really don't know by that term alone.

There are the ski boats like mastercraft which are a specialty design--maybe that's what the OP is thinking about, since they have inboards (I/O?). A bass boat is another specialty, almost always OB. But often its hull is similar to a whaler or other cathedral hull; it's the interior that makes it what it is. A pontoon is a pontoon no matter how it's rigged.

A "dual console" is also a confusing term b/c like a bow rider it has 2 consoles and bow seating. Was my 1969 starcraft a bow rider or a dual console? Does it have to have the deep v and bow flare and self-bailing deck to qualify?

So when considering options or looking for recommendations, be sure the speaker and listener are talking about the same thing. On one level, apples and oranges are the same.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Damn! Bass Boats are Fast!

I normally use fish-n-skis when I'm looking at a boat that shares the same platform bow/rear deck as the bass boats, but normally has slightly higher gunwhales and more seating. I agree that dual console doesn't mean much unless you are specifically talking about bass boats which may be single or dual console models (and some that have removable passenger consoles, lol). The fish-n-skis also differentiate themselves from the runabouts with the electric trolling motor mounted on the bow, and usually pedestal seats like a bass boat utilizes. Obviously there will always be designed here and there which fall into the grey area of standard nomenclature. If you have a fiberglass deck boat which has a hull shape similar to a pontoon, is it a deck or a pontoon?

Although I haven't seen one in a few years, there were bass boats that had sterndrives. They didn't last too long in the market, mainly due to the poor planning on using a powerplant that had to have the block drained every time it was taken out in cold weather.

 

[bnicov]

Re: Damn! Bass Boats are Fast!

I've got an 18.5ft Larson fish'n ski with an i/o. It's a great family boat and I can fish out of it. It's definitely not a perfect fishing boat but I had to compromise. There are some nice ones out there now with an outboard from Larson, it's not as low as a bass boat and is more of a multi species type hull with a deep v that can handle some bigger water. As for the Allison's, they are stupid fast but aren't that great a fishing boat because they aren't quite as wide as say a comparable Ranger and they don't ride as nice. If you want fast, that's the way to go but Ranger is still the Cadillac of bass boats.