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| Looking for some advice from you guys to help me with a new boat purchase. I am replacing my bass boat of 10 years that I just sold. In a new boat I am looking for something that will be able to fish 2-3 people reasonably and be more family friendly then a bass boat. I bass fish most of the time and mix it up some with walleye/catfish/panfish sometimes. I fish mainly northern IL and southern WI waters with 6-7 trips to the St. Germain area every year. I have narrowed down my list to the Lund 1810 predator, tuffy 1700 esox, and maybe a tuffy x190. So far I like the X190 the most, but I really want to pay cash and the X190 is going to be a good bit more $ then the other 2 boats. I would have to finance and I would rather not take on a payment right now. After looking at these 3 boats the common things I like are the higher front decks, and the more open cockpit compared to a bass boat. Some of my concerns that I would like some input on are:
-Freeboard height and being able to flip, pitch, and other typical bass techniques
-Fishing and navigating shallow water(1-2' ft river backwater areas occasionally)
-Rod storage(on the predator it only has the side lockers-tuffys are great here)
-stability when a couple people are fishing in the boat
-weight( I have a nissan frontier so I dont know if I could handle the x190 well)
I know im not a musky guy but you guys seem to know these boats better. Anything you guys can throw out there helps, this site has already helped me a ton to this point. Thank you | |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | that predator would be my dream-boat ... | |
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Posts: 32934
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I fished a 1700 the last two seasons. I regularly too my grandkids and son, so we fished 4 quite a bit. I had a 90 on mine, and it ran near 40. Plenty of cockpit space even with the Esox deck in. I fish muskies alot, and the profile and stability was great. The Esox Deep V 1700 is a great big and small water multi specie boat and will float in a foot of water.
The Predator is in a different class, that's an 18' boat. I fished in a couple, and really liked the rig. The short rod locker was the only issue, and that doesn't bother me much.
The X190 is the perfect boat for you, but rigged out with a 200 and maxed out options might be out of your price range.
I know the Tuffy dealer in your area, and can get you a cash selling price on the 1700 if you want. PM me if you would like me to call him and see what he has to say. | |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | i should have mentioned in my previous post that i am not friendly to my family ... :0) | |
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| Thanks for the help guys, I bought a used 2009 x190 with a 175 pro xs yesterday. I guess Im the third owner, first was a tuff team member, not sure which one. The second owner just traded it in for a ranger. Its in pretty good shape, some scratches and a couple nicks in the gel on the bottom of the hull. The keel guard is also peeling off, can you just glue that back on or is it better to get a new one? Also if anyone is looking for a 70 power drive with universal sonar or 2 minn kota deck hands let me know as I going to be taking them off and upgrading the tm. Im sure ill have more questions as I get more familiar with the boat, any other advice on this boat let me know. | |
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Posts: 383
| I might be interested in one of the deck hands. PMme please with how much you're looking to get and where you're located. Thanks. | |
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Posts: 2323
Location: Stevens Point, WI | Graham, that was my boat in 2009 as the first owner. Shoot me an email if you have. any questions, I could provide you a couple suggestions on how to run that rig properly. | |
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Help with new boat decision