I like the layout of the 22BX better. It's a sweet boat for sure.

Bent Marine is the only dealer for sea hunt in the area, and I am not sure I can get a deal from Bent. I really did not want to go out of state for the purchase. Only reason I am favoring Nautic Star right now is the locale of manufacture leading to tons of dealers in the area. I live 15 minutes from aquamarine in Denham Springs and I hear they put good deals together.

I bought my Nautic Star with Mr. Chip at aqua marine and he is a top notch guy. He was extremly helpful and went the extra mile to make sure i was happy. I was just there yesterday and they have a 22' TE and a 24' TE on the showroom floor. The 22' is rated for a 250 and the 24' is rated for a 300. In my opinion you should always put the biggest motor you can. Im not as concerned with speed as some people but if you have the boat loaded with people and gear you have the power you need without straining your motor to get where your going. Good luck with your purchase and be sure to post some pictures when you get it.

You would be crazy too only put a 150 on it. No less than a 200 for either boat. If your leaning toward the sea hunt I'd put no less than a 225. You will definitely need the power when you enter some rougher conditions. You are already spending the money so why get something with minimum power. I don't think you'll ever see 35 mph with a 150. And you'll probably cruise lower than 25mph and if it's rough, the ride will suck at those speeds. You want to be able to crush waves and at 25, you ain't crushing anything.

Btw we have a 1910 nautic star with a 115 opti and the ride is sweet but our speed could be better. We top out in the low 40s with 2 guys and little gas. With 3 guys, full tank, and gear we are lucky to get to 33-35mph top end with a perfect chop. If you have a heavy chop, the too little horse power makes it hard to get on step and stay there. We are trying to find a better prop for our boat,which may be part of our problem. But I wish I had a 150 on our 19' boat to be able to cruise at faster speeds. My next boat will definitely have max hp, I think it would improve te ride of any boat significantly.

Reports from users, the yamaha performance center and those that own the boats state all come up with similar numbers. Top Speed 45 +/- with the 150, Top Speed 50 +/- with the 200 depending on the boat. Those numbers sound right since the 150 is underrated and in reality pushes closer to 185hp. You would have to jump to a 250 to see any real performance gains.

I am am not spending another 10k to jump up to a model to have a bigger measuring stick. Does anyone here own a 22ft Bay Boat with the revamped yamaha 150, I think they had revamps in 06 and 09 for more power and fuel efficiency yet keep the 150 number for insurance reasons.

Considering I will spend most of my time going 2-3 MPH I am really not too concerned about the 4-5 MPH gain from 10K. If it was a 3k upgrade, which is about what it should be, I might consider it, but not for the 10k to change packages to be able to get a bigger motor.

Sounds like you've already done your homework, now go get it and tell us how you like it. :)

Research is never done until you sign on the dotted line. Looks like I will have to make a trip to N.O. to check out the 22' versions of the Sea Hunt and Nautic Star, I can look at some of the Nauticbay boats in Denham, but they don't have a 22 footer, the TE or Sport. Then there is also finding a quality used boat, you start of 9% ahead by not having to pay sales tax, and I am sure there is someone who didn't get much use of their boat is just sitting in a driveway waiting to get used.

My next problem will be having someone teach me to find the fish, with bank and pier fishing, either the fish are there or not. I have limited out on trout in a couple hours in the surf, and other times didn't see a fish. I limited out on the GI bridge one year, I had to catch 100 trout to get 25 legal, but it was a fun night of constantly catching fish. That is what turned me on to using mirrolure top water lures in school situations, the bigger fish are the only fish that would hit it, and I didn't have to add shrimp between casts. I would cast just outside the shadow of the lights, and almost every time I came into the light the lure would get slammed.

I will also be able to drop crab traps in Lake Pontchartrain, go fishing, then pick them up. Possibility of Fish fry or Crab Boil, if you strike out on both then "Its better to have a bad day fishing than a good day at work." If you get both you call up a relative and say you have crabs and fish and bring the mess to their house.

Is there a decent boat salesman out there? I ask about a 35k boat and they try to sell a 50k boat. I say if I was spending 50k I would be getting a bigger boat. They say well they can take 5k off their 50k boat. Well then why the hell wasn't the boat 45k to begin with. I went and pulled it up on the website and the boat he is pushing is a demo boat with an older Yamaha 2 stroke, apparently NOS. I tell him I don't want a 2 stroke, then he tries to talk me into 2 strokes. I tell him to email me when he is ready to give me a quote on the boat I asked about, even if I had to wait for it to be built. Hopefully other dealers will be better... Good thing there are a couple dozen to choose from within driving distance.

was that at cajun outboards? I had a similar experience to what you are talking about there. Except the boat I wanted to look at wasnt even for sale anymore after I called ahead to make sure I wasnt driving an hour for nothing

It was a place out of Fort Walton beach, they are showing the boat I was looking for as in stock, but it is not even though they have 4 listed. They just list a bunch of boats they don't have in stock for sale, I guess it makes it look like they are a big dealership. Turns out they only have 4-5 Nauticbays in stock, but they have 20+ listed as in stock. I would have hopped in the truck and drove out there to check them out side by side, maybe a side beach trip for the wife and kid. I am going to try Aquamarine one day this week, but the local one only has one bay boat in stock, and it is not the one I am looking for.

I think ive said this a couple of times already but i was at Aqua Marine Saturday (7-14) and they had a 22' TE and a 24' TE on the showroom floor. Dont remember what the 22' had on it but the 24' had a 250sho. They also had a 21' SE outside in the back and it had a 150 on it.

The Aqua Marine in New Orleans? I plan to go there my next trip to New Orleans.

I am going to go to the one in Denham Springs sometime this week.

The one in NO most of the boats still have the plastic factory shrink wrap on them so you can't see the inside of the boats. I would hope they take them off if you are interested in a boat. They only had three in their storage yard down the street from the showroom. Their website only shows 4 or 5 in stock. I would call before you make the drive.

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No, the one in Denham Springs. I'm not sure if the 21' SE was for sale because it was in the back outside. That 22' TE is pretty slick!!! If you go there ask for Chip, hes is a top notch salesman and extremly helpful.

I am trying to get a sea trial with Bent Marine, they quoted 33k for a BX22 with a 150 without any type of negotiations. Doesn't look like I am going to get a sea trial on a Nauticstar, but I will crawl from one end to the other on it.

that sounds like a pretty good price. If you do go on sea trial, make sure to find rougher water and put it to the test! I would fill every livewell up and try to get 4 ppl in the boat to really check out power, because I'm sure they will have minimum fuel in the boat and only one battery. On a 22ft boat I know I would have a 36volt trolling motor so just the batteries would be about 180lbs, 2 icechests with ice/fish would be another 150lbs easy especially if they are full of fish. And on a 22ft boat it would be easy to bring 4-5 ppl fishing, so you can really load it down. We bring 4 adults in our 19ft all the time. Goodluck and hope you find what you are looking for! Btw I saw a bx22 the other day and that is a FINE boat!!

If u want to ride in nautic star if u around big lake gimme a call also call Jerry's marine tell him Jared Adams sent u and he will beat any nautic star dealer in ms tx and la

I am always willing to go take a ride, no need to waste the ride without catching a couple of fish... Watcha got? Just tell me what to bring!

I run the 24 te. Now that's just test ride I ain't mad at fish I catch em everyday. But u can book fish trip if ud like. If u call Jerry's ask for Darrel Jerry's son 337-5834088

I got in touch with Jerry, he is all out of 2200s, apparently it is a popular boat. From what I am reading I can go wrong with either boat, I just need to go for the best deal.