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Posts: 841
Location: Southwest PA | What is everybody's preference on consoles and why is that your preference? I have a walk through windshield on my old dinghy and it will be the first thing I switch up upon purchasing my next vessel. I'm hedging towards single console for the additional fishing room. Hopefully everybody chimes in! |
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Location: Contrarian Island | all have their pros/cons. I own a single console Ranger 690. I spend a fair amount of time in a Dual console 620. and I've been in full windshields. to me if you're going to go dual console, might as well get the full windshield as to me they are about the same..and the full windshield is nice in crappy/cold weather. For casting a single console is far better to me than the others... nothing to get in the way on that side when a big one hits in the 8...
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Posts: 7049
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | Single console. Gives me more room in the boat and when driving, I'm protected (warm and dry). All complainers need to buy boats with dual consoles or walk throughs for us to fish in! |
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Posts: 20229
Location: oswego, il | I have a small boat that is a tiller, i prefer that. My bigger boat is a single counsole, i prefer that because i also troll with it. If i just trolled a full windshield would be fine, if i only casted would prefer a tiller. |
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Posts: 443
Location: Indiana | I like to be able to hide behind my full windsheild in the winter. I am in a 620 and really don't feel the front deck is smaller because of the windshield. |
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | Despite its propensity to catch wind and act like a kite at times, I will never go back to anything but a full windshield. I think it looks better cosmetically, and I like having it there protecting you from the elements. It also stores things better and I no longer have stuff flying out of the boat that I don't want flying out of the boat... |
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Location: Green Bay, WI | Being out on Green Bay, and any big water for that matter, you may be "out in the open" with no real cover for a few miles when the weather hits. So having the ability to get under a Bimini top cover with side curtains (or not) is pretty handy. Also when the wind is howling in the fall, having a top up is great to get out of the wind. So for me, the full windshield is the only way to go anymore.
I don't cast at all anymore, at least for muskies. So it really doesn't get in the way at all. Also, I'd never get the boss out in the boat, if she didn't have a place to get out of the wind/weather. So since she's the one who green-lighted the new boat...she gets what she wants, in terms of cover. She's the one who actually picked the Ranger, as we had been looking at other boats.
TB |
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Posts: 386
| I have always and will always run tillers. I primarily muskie fish but when I walleye fish I really appreciate the boat control offered in a tiller, especially for the way I fish. Besides having more room in a tiller, the ride is also substantially better and I REALLY appreciate that on Leech and LOTW. I don't fish much past mid September so weather doesn't affect me much and if it's nasty I throw the goggles on. |
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Posts: 104
| I prefer a tiller as I cast 99% of the time.
Here in PA all the lakes are small and most have HP restrictions. So your never really flying around the lake over 20mph, you don't need the wind protection. The absence of the consol allows for extra room for lure boxes, rod holders, cooler, Etc... It also allows you to strap your 9' rods down on both gunnels when transporting them. I used to own a side consol and was pretty happy with it. But I took a guide trip out in Wisconsin in a Tuffy Tiller and really liked the extra room, so I went that route this time around. I doubt I will ever switch back. |
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Posts: 1209
| Single console for me, I am protected, maximum hp, more space than a dc, however I wouldn't mind having a new warrior 208 turfy 2100 or ranger 620-21 with bubbles or full windshields if I didn't fish for bass as much as I do. |
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Posts: 463
Location: Sw Pennsylvania | If you plan to cast mostly and staying out of the weather isn't an issue I'd go tiller or sc. I own both a tiller and full windshield boat. That full windshield saves your ass on big water alot, or in the late fall and early winter. I fish some bigger waters and smaller. You lose some room but it's worth the sacrifice to me |
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Posts: 410
Location: With my son on the water | I prefer the single console. I run a Tuffy 1760 esox w/ a Merc 150. We spend roughly 4 to 5 weeks on LOTW every year and we do just fine. The rig can run rough water, doesn't catch the wind, good on gas, fast when the storms come in and has tons of dry storage. If it is really bad the passenger puts his hood up on his rain jacket and faces backwards. To me this is one of the top 2 muskie rigs out there with the Ranger 690 single that BN runs being the other. Too bad it isn't made anymore. (Ranger do you hear that?)
The main positive thing about the single console & tillers is WHEN a guy hooks a fish and has to run from one end of the boat to the other they don't have to worry about maneuvering around or threw a windshield opening. It happened to my son just this week, he hooked up on the 8 in the back and the next thing you know he is standing up front fighting the fish, and then back again before I could seal the deal with the net.
I am sure a dual or full windshield has there pros (mainly able to handle the weather) but the cons (no side tank to lay rods) (I also find it difficult to store a large muskie net with the handle extended so it is ready 100% of the time) are not for me. Plus rain gear is so much better today.
If I was a Walleye guy I would have a tiller but I am not. I run the motors 99% of the time. Granted a tiller has a ton of space but I when I had one I didn't like having to have me walk to the front for the TM and my partner having to switch to the back to fish. This is what I didn't like the most. I know they have improved since I had mine but it also seemed like I got soaked in the back from the spray that flew into the back on windy days .
But they all have there pros and cons, much of it is how big of water do you fish and how you are able to deal with the elements.
Oh how many arguments have been started because of this topic?
But enjoy your freedom this weekend guys.
Brad 
Edited by btfish 7/1/2017 1:58 PM
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Posts: 983
| Single console great for the xtra room and to sit on that side stretch legs out and tie new lures on in comfort...Problem is when you fishing in the winter months moving across the water person without console gonna freeze their ace off...Love dual console for that reason |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | have had center consoles and now in a single console. both have advantages and disadvantages ... center for driving in big stuff and having vision but at the end of a long day it can wear you out and it eliminates some dry storage. single console for the space and driving comfort and improved HP over a tiller. i'd get claustrophobic being behind the full windshield boats, but that's just me. having one on the big water salmon fishing would be nice though to tie in an enclosure in-case wind or weather made it uncomfortable. |
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Location: Green Bay, WI | jonnysled - 7/1/2017 4:07 PM
have had center consoles and now in a single console. both have advantages and disadvantages ... center for driving in big stuff and having vision but at the end of a long day it can wear you out and it eliminates some dry storage. single console for the space and driving comfort and improved HP over a tiller. i'd get claustrophobic being behind the full windshield boats, but that's just me. having one on the big water salmon fishing would be nice though to tie in an enclosure in-case wind or weather made it uncomfortable.
For casting for muskies, it's very hard to beat a center console boat. I had one awhile when we lived in Florida, and we brought it to Wisconsin once or twice and I fished muskies a few times in it. Fantastic ability to move pretty much anywhere in the boat.
TB |
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Posts: 735
Location: Apparently where the Muskie aren't | I can't even vote in the poll because I like them all (under the right conditions)
Full windshield/walk through:great for big water, keeps you dry. makes the boat feel a little smaller, especially when casting off the front.
Dual: does same thing as a single but provides more storage
Single: (what I have now) I think this is the best all around option. Great fishability. Gives you comfort of having a console. Depending on you brand your windshield might help keep you dry. (Mine does good. Lowe)
Tiller: great if your getting a smaller boat and are fishing bodies of water that don't get too rough. All the room in the world. Great waterfowl boat.
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Posts: 328
| Had m all.Where n how I fish=full windshield all day.About 50% of the time you'd be a cold,wet,rat riding to or from heaven with me.Not in my way and with todays trolling motors u can control the boat.
'where n how' u fish is the key.Fish big water,full windshield. |
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Posts: 815
Location: Waukee, IA | Full windshield. I'm not too macho to say I enjoy a reprieve from the cold and wind during late or early season trips across the lake. A icy shot of water to the face first thing in the morning is no way to psych yourself up for fishing bad conditions. |
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Location: 31 | dickP - 7/2/2017 5:35 AM
Had m all.Where n how I fish=full windshield all day.About 50% of the time you'd be a cold,wet,rat riding to or from heaven with me.Not in my way and with todays trolling motors u can control the boat.
'where n how' u fish is the key.Fish big water,full windshield.
Hey Dick, good point on today's trolling motors being able to control the boat… remember when a 24 V was it?
I would add that most full windshields are on larger boats with larger decks that can accommodate two casters up front these days… this certainly wasn't the case years ago. Also, having the versatility to quickly throw a top up to get out of an all-day rain like Tom mentioned helps to prevent being one of those cold wet rats… heaven or not 
I think as you get older you tend to fish bigger water, and creature comforts also play a bigger role… full windshield for the last 25 years for this guy.
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Posts: 770
| I have a 17.5 foor with a SC... of i could go to a 20 or21ft boat i might go with the DC or windshield... i like lots of room and i dont fish many big lakes |
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Posts: 328
| Jerry I sure do remember.Loved tillers,enjoyed singe consoles,but now on big water will never be without the full. |
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Posts: 352
Location: Vilas County, WI | I bought a new single console Impact last fall but still go back and forth on if I should have went full windshield. My wife talked me into a single console because she wanted the extra room and casting deck if the four of us were all fishing (She and I musky fish, while my boys cast smaller stuff for bass/northerns. I'm up front with one; she's casting in the back with the other). She added that if the weather was sketchy, she wouldn't be going out anyways - therefore a full windshield not needed.
However I do a few tournies each year and I fall fish. I recall a tourney a few years ago when it was 50 degrees, raining sideways, and blowing 30+ mph with 3 footers. I would have paid anything for a full windshield that day. |
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Posts: 99
Location: Tulsa, OK | I have had a single and a dual console boat. They both have their place. For example, I had a Lund Pro-V 1775, and it was single console. It was perfect for Canada musky fishing because there was the open side of the boat for a third person to fish. I have a Skeeter for bass fishing and it is dual console. You don't really need that space as bad to bass fish as was needed to musky fish, and it is much better on passenger to be behind a console when travelling. |
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Posts: 300
Location: Minocqua, WI | I have two single console boats, on top of a river boat which is a tiller. I do a lot of bass fishing, so the single console help maximize space, nothing is in the way & no obstructions, and it's an ideal setup for my mode of fishing on top of the musky fishing I do.
I prefer single consoles. One of the consoles is a Ranger 681Vs, and the other console is a Lund Guide Special tri-hull........ I might convert this one to a tiller which would make it a far more effective platform for quick lake hopping, trolling, far better boat control, and help make its 16ft space even more spacious. I feel it also fishes muskies far better than my Ranger....... probably because it doesn't require as much effort to operate, trailer, slide on and off trailer, and also doesn't need as much water to slip into even the most unimproved landings. And it's more hands-on operation than my Ranger.
And for the one tiller I have, I fish and float rivers a lot. Without it on my jon boat, I'm not fishing hands-on and with precise boat control and navigation like I prefer on such waterways.
Walk-thru windshield I will never own unless I fished Great Lakes as a primary destination and location. I do not like them for the same reasons some mention.
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Posts: 1638
Location: Minnesota | I had a single console button passenger gets the wind and bad weather. New boat is a dual would have a full windshield but to tall to fit in garage so bought the next best thing |
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