What's the boards opinion of an 18' bay boat?
 

I'm probably gonna be ready to buy this winter when prices hopefully drop a little but. My question is, would an 18' boat be big enough for me? I will be fishing big lake mostly and occasionally grand isle. The only reason Im looking at 18' is because of the price... I've found some really nice ones for just a Lil over 10k.

:grinpimp:

I fished out of an 18.5' kenner for a few years in both of those places. Nothing wrong with that size boat. Any more than 2-3 people it starts to get crowded. I have fished 4 before but everybody needs to know what they are doing or somebody will get hooked. The right boat will handle rough stuff decent in that size.

It would be only 2 people in the boat the majority of the time, once in a while 3.

If you look you can find some pretty decent 19-21fters for $13-15K might just save up for a couple more months and get a bigger boat with less bells and whistles. You can always add those at a later date. Kinda hard to add feet to the boat or freeboard (unless you're W)

get as big as you can afford.

big time. I will not own shorter than a 20' bay boat again.

18 footer will work, only problem is you will be looking for something bigger within a year, I have a 20', but won't go shorter than 22' next time.

Go Big for sure. Im in a 21 and going to a 24 .Never enough room.

I don't spend alot of time on the water and I have a 18.5 Blazer and it is like a yacht compared to the 1436 jon boat I upgraded from. All depends on how serious a fisherman you want to be. I do agree with the other guys, if you buy a 20+ footer you will never gripe about having too much room.

Well I'm upgrading from nothing so I've only got one way to go. Hah

I fished 18.5 Kenner w 135 opti for yrs b4 I guided bc it's what I could afford it handled anything big lake offered and it went 50 miles offshore if winds blowin 25 why u wanna be fishing growin up I fished bl out of 15 w 25 and would smoke a lot of guides out of it. If I didn't guide I'd have another awesome fuel mileage wasn't heavy could trailer it to Toledo river etc. it's easy to dmsay go big when u ain't paying 4 it if that's ur range and u fish 2 or 3 go for it plenty room

There's an 18' Nautic Star with a 115 on it for sale in the classifieds. Looks like a pretty nice boat.

we have a 1910 nautic star with a 115, so this boat should handle well also. Our boat handles pretty big chop very well, and is very dry as long as you are heading into the wave or quartering them. Side chop, not too dry, but I don't think any boats are dry with a side chop, because the wind blows the water into the boat. But as most others have been saying, next chance i get I'm getting nothin smaller than a 22, but mainly because we have been bringing 3-4ppl and theres not enough room

Is this the boat y'all take out of the pass when y'all go? And how does that 115 push it with three grown men in it?

What he said!

I fished in an 18 footer for years. And when it was time to upgrade I still couldn't afford the 22 footer I wanted. I ended up getting a 19 and that one extra foot makes a huge difference in the ride and room to fish.

I have a 18 footer and like others say it gets crowded quick and doesn't handle bad stuff as good as a bigger boat, but it gets the job done. I'll be upgrading soon to a little bigger boat. It all just boils down to how much $$$ you want to throw into one.

Exactly. Sure, I'd love a 24' boat, but try explaining that to the mrs. Right now my options are either an 18' glass boat or a 20' aluminum... Orrrrr no boat at all.

Do you plan on guiding with the boat? Do you plan on frequenting offshore fishing trips? Do you plan on fishing more than 4 people on a frequent basis?
If you answer not really or no to any of the questions then a 21' or less will do.

hold out for at least 20. much more comfortable going over waves and especially boat wakes. 18 foot seems to buck and 20 seems to span the waves better.

And heaven forbid financing it:shaking:

I have a 18.5 Kenner. Its great. No issues with running Trinity, Sabine, or Big Lake. Its a poor mans boat with rolled edges. Keeps me dry though and handles the waves great. Like they said, four or more people gets crowded quick. I took six out a while back, four teens. My whole trip was basicly finding the fish and then keeping everyone from hooking each other. For me and my two boys though, it works great. I have to hold out at least three more years, then I will be upgrading. Not sure I will go over 20 foot though.

Trans cat

I fish out of an 18 foot sea fox and that little boat takes every bit of punishment I throw at it. Comfortable for 2 occasionally 3 people. Takes waves well and has plenty of room for me. Bigger is allways nicer but like you it was all I could swing at the time I bought it and I enjoy it and dont regret waiting to afford something bigger.

Me and my dad fish out of an 18ft wellcraft deep v. Its room for two, decent for three but four people better know what theyre doing.to me price would be the factor. If i coukd get a bigger boat for the same price i would bigger. I had a 22ft wellcraft and loved it for the islands but for bayous and marshes it was just too big and too heavy plus towing it sucked.all things to think about

I ended up going with a 21' bay stealth. Thanks for all the info.

We run an 18ft baystealth. I like the boat but it is a wet ride!