Fish & Ski Advice

I am looking to buy a new Fish & Ski boat sometime next season. My hope is to purchase in time for the opener. This will be my first boat that I have purchased/owned and am looking for some advice as this will be new to me. My budget will be at the most $30k. Some of the boats I have seen in that budget are the Lowe, Smoker Craft, Crestliner, Tracker… is one brand better than the other or come recommended? Anyone own any of these brands with the fish and ski? How have they worked for the family? I would prefer 115hp (+). Finally, any dealer recommendations in the Twin Cities area? Did you order or buy what was on hand? I would like to buy new and have a warranty vs buying used. Really, any advice to a new boat owner would be great!

The Lowes look nice but I do not know much about them and same with Smoker Craft.

Thanks for any info.

A few threads on this very subject but most were concerning used, so those will not help.

The Lowes Cabelas had out front for $25k something if I remember correctly was attractive. Cushions upfront, nice storage and ample room in back. With $30k budget you will have heck of a boat no matter your decision.

Wonder if you’d be able to find a Stratos 3xx new at end of year somewhere, great reviews on those rigs.

Personally, I’d stay away from the Tracker based on their history. I’m not a fan of Lowe boats. My (ex)BIL has one and I didn’t like the boat. Seemed to be cheaply made with very cheap components throughout. Maybe they’ve changed some since then, but I’d look elsewhere. Also, the bottom was rippled instead of smooth, like the plating was too thin for what he used it for. I would look at the Alumacraft Edge, see if you can get in that within your budget. Would likely be close. That’s a nice looking layout and a proven hull. Crestliners seem to be good, solid boats, but tend to be a little rougher riding and wet. Smoker Craft is built by Starcraft I believe and should also be good boats. You just don’t see a lot of them out my way as Alumacraft, Crestliner and Lund are the primary tin boat manufacturers out here (MN).

Assuming you are looking at aluminum? If so they are usually light enough a 115 will pull up a skier just fine. I bought my Lund as a fish n ski. I pulled a skier ONE TIME just to make sure it worked. Never bought any skis though. It turned into a fish n fish boat.

Tell us more about the family and “ski” requirements and what you want to do with it. What are your expectations for what you want this boat to do?

Welcome to IDO!

thanks for the info so far guys!

The boat I think would be used just as much for the family/friends as it would be for fishing. Taking friends out, tubing, skiing whatever. We have 2 kids and nieces/nephews so time up at the lake will be used to entertain them too.

I’m not against fiberglass. Just really want something with space.

I too would stay clear of the trackers/lowes. Crestliner makes a nice boat and in my area (Wyoming) they actually out number the lunds and alumacrafts. I have never been around a smokercraft so I couldn’t say there although I do see one around from time to time.

In my opinion for what you are wanting if you stay under 18ft or so with an aluminum you should be fine with the 115 unless you are at high altitude and even then you can prop it down enough to pull a skier it just wouldn’t have the top end. If you go over that 18ft mark I would at least go to a 150 or with a glass boat I would go with a 150 at least.

I too wanted a fish and ski boat and I looked at all of my options at a couple of boat shows and a bunch of dealers before making my final decision. In the end it came down to 3 boats: the new alumacraft edge, the crestliner superhawk, and the lund crossover xs. After sitting in all three within 2 hours (nice part about boat shows) we decided that the Lund matched our needs better than the others. I am a firm believer that you need to spend time in all of your top picks in order to make the decision. Imagine how you will use the boat when you are in there and pick the one that meets your needs the best.

One other thing to consider is right now is about the worst time of the year to buy a boat. If you wait until november you will start seeing the 2016s that a dealer has in stock marked down significantly and you may be able to get a great deal on a new boat. The other thing to do is order one from january-march which is when the manufacturers have their promotions. You may be able to get some special boat show deals as well.

We placed our order at the Denver boat show which gave us a discount plus extended warranty and it was during the time when Lund was having their promotion. We ordered ours on January 10th and took delivery of it on March 16th and it had been ready for a few weeks before that. The point of that is don’t be afraid to wait to take advantage of some good deals, you will still be able to have it for your opener.

If I were you I would look into the crestliner fish hawk, the alumacraft edge, the lund Rebel or impact or look for a stratos 386 or skeeter wx series. All are great boats and should be close to your budget. Also don’t be afraid to look at used boats, some have very low hours but have thousands nocked off the price of new.

For 30K you will no doubt end up with a heck of a boat! Have fun shopping its fun picking out all of the options.

PS I will include a couple of pictures of my new lund (mainly just because I like showing it off)

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Here’s one of the older threads: https://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/community/forums/topic/ftlgeneral_1032952/

BORGHY wrote:

I’m not against fiberglass. Just really want something with space.

Here’s the crux. Space typically means longer boat. Longer boat means more HP needed. More HP means more money. Good news is that you’ve got a nice budget to work with.

If you’re just pulling tubes, kids on skis, and general socializing then power isn’t the biggest concern. Plenty of choices.

If you’re starting to pull adults or more importantly see a future need for pulling slalom skiers then power is a different question. Outboard should be a 2 stroke for better hole shot. Needs to hit 35mph with people in the boat.

What not to do: Recreational bow rider marketed as a fish-n-ski. Adding a trolling motor to the bow and a live well does not make it a fishable boat.

The Lund above is a good example of taking a legitimate fishing boat and adding some creature comforts for family fun.

Long read but some good stuff in here. Interesting how the thinking changed over time and some stuff on glass boats

https://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/community/forums/topic/fish-n-ski-boats/

June 29, 2016 at 3:27 pm #1626995
Last one I found. Sorry, you can probably tell I’m a regular poster on this subject. Having my own identity crisis on what to
buy in a few years.

https://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/community/forums/topic/ftlgeneral_1257755/

I wasn’t going to post on this thread but the Lowe comments made me. I grew fishing out of Lowe boats. Today I fish out of a 620 Ranger and to be honest the Lowe is the only Aluminum boat I have ever fished out of that compares to the finish of a Ranger.

It’s really not even an opinion as it is facts about the Lowe boats. I’m sure they make cheap models but we had a Roughneck and it was an awesome aluminum boat. It had 100% dry storage in all compartments (I don’t know of another aluminum boat with this feature) and it had a thick all welded hull. It also road great in big water for an aluminum boat.

I’ve fished out of nearly every brand boat made and the Lowe was the nicest aluminum boat hands down. I’ve yet to find another Aluminum boat with all of the features I mention above.

Now to the OP question. For your needs I’d recommend the Stratos line. My buddy picked up a 2012 with Yamaha 150 for $20,000. It’s an absolute awesome boat. Yamaha 115’s and 150’s are bullet proof so there’s really no need for a warranty but if you’re more comfortable that way then that’s the way to go. After all someone has to buy new so I can buy the used Happy shopping!

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Your usage of this boat may help you in price. Once you figure out how much you want to spend, be new or used narrows it down further. Gonna be using it 1-2x a month, 2-4x, 8-12x, how months are you going to use it out of the year?

Sure there are lower end boat quality out there, but that’s for guys who use it, a lot, the typical weekend warriors will not have these same issues.

Horsepower will be your main concern as mentioned. If you do look at the lower end boats, just make sure they got a bigger motor on them to handle the weight of all your friends, and kids, coolers, toys etc. They tend to put smaller motors on those rigs to hit certain price points.

What not to do: Recreational bow rider marketed as a fish-n-ski. Adding a trolling motor to the bow and a live well does not make it a fishable boat.

True for us hard fisherman, but there are plenty of those who would also disagree, much of which has to do with your fishing styles. Fair weather fisherman who likes to punch in the autopilot and sitback and vertical jig mostly, those bowriders will work nicely.

It’s been said over many times figure out realistically the percentage of fishing vs. recreation you will do and how important each will be and everything starts defining itself pretty clearly.

That Lund is the BEST example of a tin fish n ski you can get. Feel free to post as many pics you want of that thing