Best Musky Boat?

[fishing4fun]

If I were to start looking for a musky boat, what are you fellow musky hunters opinions. I do a lot of walleye fishing and as the season goes on I do more and more musky fishing. I genenrally fish some of the bigger waters, like Mille Lacs. I like the Rangers and the Lund 2025 Pro-V's. I just want to here someone elses opinions. Is a tiller the way to go? Right now I fish out of a 2000 Lund Fisherman 18.5' with a 135 Optimax. I like the boat for walleye fishing, but for musky it just sits to high out of the water and there really isn't a center position for a 3rd guy to stand and cast all day. The wind really grabs this boat and makes it hard to control.

What are some of you other musky guys recomendations on musky boats. I'm sure I'm going to have to buy used because I can't afford the price tags on the new ones. Like the Rangers or Pro-v's. Wish I could......

[Guest]

To tell you the truth.. I find it VERY easy to fish muskies with my 17ft Bass tracker.. With the big platform, I can walk around the boat and cast without any problems..

[perchking]

I wish I could afford the boat you have right now... I have a ProCraft PikeHunter 17'I really like it but I need to upgrade in the next few years. If I could pick a boat with Muskie/Walleys in Mind I would go with the 18'-21' Tundra SC.

I love that boat.

[RuKiddingMe]

If I were to purchase a boat right now to fish the waters you fish and the multiple species you are fishing, my first personal choice would be a Warrior 1898 Eagle single console w/200 optimax on the back. Nice big platforms front and back, PLENTY of room and a compfortable eye fishing boat. My buddy has one, definetly my dream boat.

RU

[Muskie_Man]

Right now I have a older Ranger Bass boat, If I could afford a new one it would be a Ranger Fisherman 20ft min, with a kicker!!!!!!gotta love the Ranger they ride smoooooooth!!!!!!!! But cost alot too!!! Good luck with your hunt!!! There is alot of very nice boats out there that work awsome!!!! For both species!!!!!

[SteveWilson]

I would look at the Skeeter ZX2050 with a Yamaha 300HP motor

[fishing4fun]

Thanks for all the info. Does anyone have a Lund 2025 and use it for musky fishing? I'm kinda a Lund guy, but I'm not afraid to change my ways either. Should I go with a double counsil or tiller? Right now we have a double full windshield. I like it for rough water, but it takes alot of room up in the boat.

Again thanks for the info.

[MuskyBug85]

a buddy of mine runs a 2025 with the drop back concoul and a 250 verado w/ 15 big foot merc kicker, lots of room and easy to fish 3 guys. great trolling boat if your into that kind of thing as well. if you can find one with the drop back buy today, great boats lots of room. Jonah

[Random guy]

If you figure this one out let me know. I have had the 219 Stratos up for trade a couple times but finding a fast big water/waves boat with front and rear casting decks along with storage for 8'+ rods and massive amounts of tackle is tough.

The best option I have found and it sounds goofy but... a center counsel bay boat. Front and rear decks, takes big water, controls and tracks nice with the trolling motor, lots of storage space, easy to clean musky poo out of (they all dump in the boat) longe range tanks, and the smaller ones 16-18' are not priced to bad.

[38poundbeauty]

Can't say I've ever seen a Muskie dump in the boat?

[randallt]

I agree that a bay boat would be awesome. Unfortunately it just wouldn't be a good family fun boat and at this point that is what I need, but someday a Boston Whaler may be in order.

[Hockey Guy]

My brother has a 2005 21’ Tracker Tundra with a full windshield. It has the 225 Optimax motor. I love that boat! It’s very smooth in rough water and plenty of power with the 225 hp. There is plenty of deck and storage space and I have never seen or heard of the windshields getting in the way. On big water or in bad weather it is nice to have the full windshield with the option of putting the top up. If you haven’t looked at one, you owe it to yourself to take a look. The hull is “stamped” out of a single sheet of aluminum but it is shaped like a fiberglass boat. I haven’t really looked into how they are made but I know that you stay dry in big waves. Plus, we fish a lot on rocky lakes and camp in areas where you have to pull your boat up on rocks. You just couldn’t do that with a fiberglass boat.

On a side note, I have a 2003 17’ Lund Fisherman with a 150 HP HPDI and an 8hp kicker. I fish a lot of different species of fish including a lot of Muskie fishing and I think that it’s fine. I agree that the sides are a little tall but that’s nice to have in rough water and bad weather. I think 80% of the Muskie fisherman out there would love to have the boat you have now. I know I feel fortune to have mine. Just my opinion.

[CommonSense Guy]

Ranger Z22. And yes muskies will dump in the boat.

[RK]

Hiya -

I have an 18' Tracker Tundra, and I love the thing. Fish everything out of mine from muskies to bass to walleyes to panfish. The ride in big water is exceptional, and for an 18' class boat, it has TONS of storage, especially rod storage. One of my big beefs with boat mfgs is lack of adequate rod storage for muskie gear. I've looked at some boats that would probably be nice muskie boats in every other respect, but you can't fit a rod longer than 7' in the lockers, and the locker openings are too small for big reels like Garcia 7000s or big linecounters. In the past I used to take a Sawz-All to rod lockers to get longer rods in there. I can fit 9 footers in my side lockerson my Tundra, , and up to 7.5 footers in my center locker. Right now I have a bunch of bass and walleye rods plus my kids' rods in there with my muskie rods, so I bet I have 25 rods in my boat, and I have room for probably 10 more. One of my side rod storage lockers is basically empty still. So yeah, lotsa room. Biggest thing with the Tundras though is the ride quality. I'd put it up against anything in glass, and nothing in aluminum can come close...

I also have a walk-thru windshield. Really gotten attached to it. Might not own another boat without it. It's amazing how much difference that windshield makes even over a dual console. In late fall, it's a layer of clothes. And this is coming from a guy who used to be so die hard about my tiller boats I'd tell my friends that if they ever saw me behind a steering wheel they should shoot me

I think the best muskie boat is actually 2 boats. Maybe 3... A big water deep-V, a bass boat, and a 16' jon boat with a jet drive for the river...

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[RK]

Oh - yeah, muskies can REALLY [PoorWordUsage] sometimes... Can be worse though. Had a 35 pounder barf a belly full of half-digested ciscoes on my front deck one fall a few years ago. My God... The smell was spectacular. Still kinda makes me shiver thinking about it.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[mtreno]

the best musky boat is my musky boat - end of story

[Ralph Wiggum]

Quote:

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Oh - yeah, muskies can REALLY

[PoorWordUsage]

sometimes... Can be worse though. Had a 35 pounder barf a belly full of half-digested ciscoes on my front deck one fall a few years ago. My God... The smell was spectacular. Still kinda makes me shiver thinking about it.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

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LOL, Rob. I had a 38.5" northern last year puke up al lof it's contents in the boat, including another smaller northern. Yup, it doens't smell to great, and the folks that want to go waterskiing the next day don't really appreciate it too much, either

[traveler]

I just bought a bay boat for musky fishing! 20' Champion Bay Center console, 150 V-Max. HUGE forward casting deck, hose her out and shes good to go. Took her out of Knife River (lake superior) for the first time on Sat to see how she handled the big water, not too shabby! Leaving for Soiux Narrows?LOTW on thursday to chase muskies for 4 days. Bring on the muskie [PoorWordUsage]!