boat shopping

[filletandrelease 17]

I have been looking for a bigger boat mainly to fish nipigon and superior as I am sick of having to give up because the waves are too big for my 16'. I am considering the lund genmar, lund sportfisherman, crestliner sabre or eagle, starcraft islander, princecraft corsica and sylvan offshore in the 19 - 23' range. Just wondering if any of you have one of these if there is any feature you would want if you got another (pump out head?) are there are any problem areas in these boats. (eg. do the welds crack in certain areas on the crestliners or do the transoms rot out prematurely in one corner on the starcrafts? are the hulls too thin to handle rough water running on the sylvans?) I will be using it mainly for specs lakers and salmon. I do want an aluminum and either an inboard outboard (4.3 v6 if I can find it) or a 4 stroke outboard though the latter will likely put the boat out of my price range. any thoughts? thanks in advance

[Jayfishin 63]

I might be bias but you can't go wrong with a Lund. The lodge i used to work at on Lac Seul ran 20' Tyee's with outboards. Nice boat all around. Good in rough water and can take a beating externally as well as providing long lasting interiors that take alot of wear n tear.

Jay

[eyelander 164]

my bud had a Crestliner Great Lakes Sabre for about 20 yrs. Great boat, no issues with it. We were out in some nasty stuff, but we didn't pound the boat, we rode the waves when it got hairy. Might have taken longer to get back to the landing in those situations, but we're still here. It was a welded aluminum hull. It had a 2 stroke outboard if I remember correctly, a 90 Rude or Yamaha. IMHO, an outboard is the way to go. It had all vinyl flooring, easy to clean. The cuddy cabin was nice to take a mid day nap if needed, and we all used it for that, LOL!!!! Add to that the full canopy to keep us out of the sun, fantastic.

Of course, other models and brands of boats have this stuff, I can only comment on the Sabre as I rode in one.

[AB 98]

Crestliner Saber - the G/L - or great lakes addition is a solid hull, and a good platform for Superior.

The Eagle might be a little better as it has a walk around cabin compartment.

I'd stay away from the Starcraft Islander if you like you kidneys where they are now. Post '75 Bayliners look great but make sure the hull and transom are sound.

These are big hulls and they aren't going to trailer from one spot to another easily. You are going to have to consider the cost of mooring and storage.

The Lund Baron, Tyee and Crestliner Sportfish (at under 22') would be easier to hit productive areas by trailering. Whatever model you chose, have a marine survey done before putting down a deposit. It will likely save you a lot of cash in the long run.

just a little jealous!

iceman