Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | anything that inland water in Wisconsin can put out i'd drive an Esox Mag through without hesitation. the sponsoned hull is surprisingly good at displacing water and making a decent ride out of what looks like a flat bottomed boat. i had no choice and took mine to Eagle Lake in Ontario and on one nasty day had to cross the main basin of Vermillion Bay. i crabbed across and made it but would rather not have to do that more than one time ...
can't speak to the 681's, but i drive a 690 now and i'd go almost anywhere with it ... nothing stupid, but i've run some nasty big water runs home on Eagle with it that can almost be fun as long as everything is strapped down. you could for sure do that with a 681 too with maybe a little more bouncing from the shorter length but it would handle bigger water than an Esox Mag. you might be able to find a 681VS but as i mentioned before, i doubt you will be all in for $10k, maybe on an older 680C (max hp console 90HP) but that's a different animal. i'd personally prefer the Esox Mag to the old 680C's but of course the VS would be great.
a 16-17' class aluminum boat on those trips might break a rib or sacrifice a kidney and a few fillings in your teeth ... short aluminum boats to me are an awful ride in 2' plus waves (note: this would be most people's 4' wave as waves tend to be bigger for the story just like girths on fish) and as much due to the short length as the lighter weight. a fish hawk would be great for small water but the ones i've ridden in are light and a terrible ride in rough stuff and catch wind like a kite.
Edited by jonnysled 5/20/2015 2:17 PM
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