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| i am looking a t buying a boat to guide out of. what are the best boats that you have guided out or fished out of? |
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| guests rock |
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Posts: 670
Location: Otsego, MN | Well you will need some room and I think the most fishable space would be a key ingriedient. A 620 Tiller can save you gas $$ and allow you to fish in any conditions. I think there are some guides out there that would agree. |
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Posts: 8
| No doubt, the longest tiller boat is the best guide boat. For all species, in my opinion, based on my 45 years of guiding. 18ft'ers work fine (2 clients)but longer is better.
With the new Merc power steering allowing optimum horsepower ratings on many big tiller boats, the 20ft. tiller rig is the way to go. There is very little difference in the amount of water you need to load/unload a 20ft. boat versus an 18ft. boat--if you have some shallow ramps to deal with on some lakes. Simply--I can't find any reason to go back to the 18ft. boats for guiding. The 20ft. tiller rig is ideal for guiding up to 4 people! 3 people works great! 3 pepole in an 18ft.'er is tight--especially casting.
All the big tillers are goodboats. Take a hard look at the 2060 T Osprey Tuffy
Feel free to call anytime!
Steve Fellegy
218-678-3103
http://www.npaa.net/memdir/49.htm
Edited by Steve Fellegy 8/31/2008 9:17 AM
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Posts: 1887
Location: syracuse indiana | well i guide out of a crestliner 1850 tournament sc and there is tons of room for me and up to 3 clients, and all my gear and i use 2 lakewood monsters, plus ithas a huge front casting deck....bill |
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| I ran a single counsel 1850 for 2 years then went to a 620T this year. There is no way that you can effectively fish with 3 clients and yourself out of a 1850.
Longer is better and a custom casting deck extension on a 620T will provide you with more deck than you know what to do with. |
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| after guideing for 15 years running tillers, i switched to a dual console with wind shields you lose a little bit of control but the comfort factor outweighs this,it is nice to hide behind the wind shields when the weather gets nasty,i am running a tuffy 1890 osprey with a 200 merc and a 9.9 pro kicker,it is a great 2or 3 person guide rig, very smooth and dry ride. huge deck for casting all day great storage,i have had this boat since last july, no problems , this is a very fast boat, 55to 60 mph,it runs nice at 45mph, the 200 when ran at 40 to 50 mph is easy on gas, there is allot of boats out there , in my opinion this is about the perfect multi species boat made, |
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Posts: 86
Location: University of Hartford | the one with herbie at the back. LOL but anyways i loved the tiller that he had, i believe it was a 620T ranger. that or the Lund tiller with the 175 on the back, that one was sweet too. my opinion is tiller and the bigger the better.
Alex |
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Posts: 1887
Location: syracuse indiana | yes herbie uses the 620t , he loves it and told me that it gives him better control and room for his clients.. thats what he was running when i was there 3 yrs ago |
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Posts: 32958
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | 20' tillers are perfect for guiding two clients. Some have big decks, some do not, some have room for a Frabill on the floor, some do not, etc. Ride the rig first on the type of water you intend to guide, and take a look at the up front cost VS what you expect to gross in a year of guiding; a $700 per month boat payment on top of gasoline, tackle, insurance, and other costs can nick you hard, especially since those payments are year-round. Used is nice, but as a full time to mostly full time guide an active motor and boat warranty is absolutely critical, even somewhat minor breakdowns can cost you a week's guiding profit or more. |
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Posts: 2427
Location: Ft. Wayne Indiana | I run a 2008 Polar Kraft 1910. It has the biggest front deck of any boat I have seen or fished out of. Bigger than Ranger 620's and bigger than the 20 ft. Lunds....is my boat "THE BEST"... depends on what you are looking for.
I love the huge front deck on my boat, gives my clients alot of room. I also love the storage in my boat. I used to fish out of a Crestliner 1850 and it wasn't big enough for me and two people, so I had to step it up a notch.
If you plan on just guiding a few days a month, I am sure you can get away with a 18 footer, but if you plan on guiding alot, I would get a 20 footer for sure.
Tillers are great and single consoles are great. I would say away from dual consoles or full windshields unless you really need them. Get the biggest boat you can afford and hopefully it has some warrenty time left. |
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Posts: 46
Location: Central Illinois | I ran a tracker 17 ft single console and switched to a Ranger 620 tiller this year. I built a custom front casting deck ordering the carpet from Ranger so it matched perfect. With the front casting deck is has more then enough room for both clients up front. It's really not a fare comparison between the two the Ranger is so much better in every way. I'm still surprised at how shallow of a launch you can get it on. |
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| thanks for all the input. any thoughts on a 20ft alaskan tiller |
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Posts: 1906
Location: Oconto Falls, WI | The boat Paul Klein guides out of is the best I have fished out of. I know it’s a Tuffy with a tiller, and pretty sure it is 19’. Don’t know the model. Perhaps Steve Worrall remembers. Anyway a ton of room in that thing. Much more than Rangers I have been in. Trailers pretty dang nice too. I am also pretty sure he is looking to sell it so you could get a very nice used boat.
Big boats are nice to fish out of, but does the cost of having one really necessary for the water you fish? I know some guides that fish some pretty out of the way water and can’t have a big boat. It really depends on the waters you intend to fish/guide on. Guiding on Mille Lacs vs. a 300 acre lake in WI will require different boats to some degree. Most people will agree fishing out of a huge boat is nice and comfortable, but some of the smaller boats can come pretty close. I guide out of a 17’ Smokercraft Millentia 171, and can tell you I would rather guide out of that than a Ranger. Plenty of boat for three people to fish out of. Just isn’t the greatest when it comes to a dry ride or windy conditions.
Steve Worrall hit it on the head about cost. If you got lots of money to spend and can afford all the other things like gas and such go for the gusto. If you don’t have the money I wouldn’t worry about getting the next best aircraft carrier. Guys have guided out of smaller boats like the Tuffy Esox Mag for years, and will continue to, without problems. The boat doesn’t make the guide!
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Posts: 999
| Well said Travis!
Mr Musky |
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Posts: 1996
Location: Pelican Lake/Three Lakes Chain | Paul guides out of a Tuffy 1890T, I guide out of a Tuffy 1890 Dual Console. Personal preference. I love mine, Paul loves his, Mike loves his, Travis loves his. All different boats.
Best advice is to buy what you can afford and what works for your lakes and techniques.
Edited by nwild 9/5/2008 11:57 AM
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Posts: 1906
Location: Oconto Falls, WI | Thanks Norm for Paul's model.
Nope, I don't love mine though. I do live with it and it works for what I need it to do. It was what I could afford, and gets me into some waters others can't get into with larger boats. |
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Posts: 8865
| Depends on where you're guiding, who you're guiding and what you're guding for...
I've fished out of a good two dozen guide boats and liked things about every one of them.
If I was going to buy a boat and use it to guide I'd ask myself a few very important questions:
1. Where am I fishing? If I was fishing somewhere that's a few hundred thousand acres, gets really rough, and fishing it in November, I'd want a boat with a full windshield that can handle big water, waves, and get me to my next spot as soon as possible. If I was fishing a bunch of little lakes in N WI, that boat would be too big to launch in some of them, and the big motor would be stupid.
2. Can I troll? Let's face it -- a kicker looks cool hanging off the boat, but if you can't troll where you're fishing and you could row to shore in 10 minutes if your big motor took a dump, the kicker is just an ornament.
3. What am I towing it with? If you have an S10 Blazer, you might not want a 621 Ranger, especially if you're towing it to Canada and back three times a year
4. Why am I guiding?? If you're trying to make a living at it, payments on a $55,000 boat might put you in the "spending more than I make guiding" bracket. If you're guiding to help subsidize your fishing addiction, and you don't need the money its a different game all together.
5. What am I guiding FOR? Do I need to keep all different types of rods, tackle, bait, etc? Do I need a big livewell and a baitwell?
6. Fiberglass or aluminum? WHY?
7. What might I be doing with this boat when I'm NOT guiding?
I guess the bottom line is there's lots of ways to have too much boat, and lots of ways to have not enough boat.
I will say this. A few years back I was halfway to writing a check for a 619 Ranger. Last year it was a Tuffy 1760GC. Both boats would have been a mistake, not because they weren't great boats, but because of where I'm likely to domost of my fishing both were way more than what I'd need, and quite possibly would prevent me from fishing some of the best lakes I have access to.
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| imo bigger glass all the way is better...620/621 console or 620 tiller...maybe a windshield 621/621 if you spend your time on big water in the fall...glass just doesn't get blown around like aluminum...boat control is far better in glass than light aluminum on any size waters....and the ride is better too...
personally I think big Rangers are about the best you can get if you can afford it!
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best guide boat?