While I’m sure James would’ve given me a chance at the wheel, I wanted to share my perspective on this rig as an angler. Ultimately, the ride/feel of these boats is something that any prospective boat-buyer can learn for themselves. By attending one of the Ride and Drive Events, or scheduling a test-drive with Dean at Skeeter Boat Center, you can get a feel for the controls, the performance, and the overall ride you get while in-transit. But how does it fish? What does it track like at trolling speeds, how does wind affect it, and how is it laid-out to either help or hinder your day on the water?
Don’t get me wrong, I was more than happy with how it handled a windy day on the water. The way it handled the churning mess coming out of the can-line at the head of Lake Pepin, where current was headed one-way, and wind was pushing another…..was, well…impressive in a word. I say this after fishing the very next day out of my rig. A Pro-V with a 150 Merc EFI on the back-end. Same conditions, two days, two different boats. My Pro-V, and its passengers, had a hard time dealing at 20MPH, what that 2025 could do at twice that speed or more.
Fishing the very next day in my own boat, was also good from a “fishability” comparison as well. Keep in-mind, that my Pro-V is custom tailored to the way I like to fish. I’ve owned it for about 6 years, and I’ve got it just the way I want it. Or so I thought. This isn’t the first time I’ve fished in a Skeeter obviously, but it’s the first time I’ve been able to directly compare my current boat to one of the Skeeters so aptly.
The MX is designed to be a multi-species boat, but what does that mean? Just before launch, I took out an extended casting deck from the back. Skeeter calls it a rear deck extension, and it’s exclusive to the 2025. Maybe an extra 10″es or a foot to stand on, this feature locked in well, with its own folding supports. Nice option!!! If fishing bass or pike/muskies for the day, that extra room makes the spacious rear casting deck into a platform.
You can see it in this picture, just behind the two seats with the two support braces touching the floor. This also creates some extra room to stow odds/ends:
Storage, especially tackle is what makes a multi-species boat the most problematic of all to rig and store. Take my boat for example. No matter how much I try to turn that thing into a do-it-all boat, it’s limited by a few features, especially in storage, that limit its use. The way that Skeeter has solved that dilemma is a series of plastic sleeves or rear-drop-in-boxes that James found holds eight (8) of the 3700 sized boxes perfectly. Pull the whole sleeve at the end of the day, and you’ve got a boat-specific tackle box that can be added to or taken from a number of different ways. They even have drain holes in the bottom…..perfect for a pulling some eaters out and stowing in ice for the trip home; complete with drain holes in the bottom so the fish didn’t sit in their own pile of slime!!!
A simple sleeve fits inside these rear hatches, and can be added/removed with ease:
The rod locker comparison isn’t fair, so I won’t dwell on it. Dedicated, primary rod storage in the side of the boat has been a thing of the past for some-time, but to have the option for center console storage AND side-storage for the long-rods? Luxury. Especially when trolling like we did. Two 10’6″ Eyecons, 7’6″ Tidemasters, several rods to spare, plus all the other rods we needed in either of the spaces. Another multi-species hallmark. How often have you wanted to troll to find fish, then cast to concentrated numbers of them? This just isn’t possible in my rig, at least to the level I’d like to take it. Here’s pics of both:
As for further storage, I won’t post pics of the deep wells up on the front casting platform, because the pictures just don’t do it justice. The amount of tackle, coolers, production cases and camera equipment we put up there is something you just have to experience. You literally have to “try” to overload the thing just to see how much room those storage areas have. The little things I liked most are actually the most subtle. Who’d have thought how valuable a glove box is? Or under console-storage? These are for cell-phones, cameras, snaps, anything we needed directly and easily accessible, yet had to be stowed to protect from water, wind, waves, etc.:
Now down to the trolling. This boat fishes solid. I had a hard time reproducing the results from the day previous because of the wind we faced. Don’t get me wrong, it blew from the same direction, and the same speed each day, but the way that boat handled made our trolling runs much more consistent and fishable. My Pro-V surged at the bottom of the waves and stalled on the climb when going with the wind, resulting in speeds that spiked over 4mph, and dwindled to the low 2’s. Our rods were constantly loading up and stalling out, resulting in fewer fish at least in my mind. When going into the wind, it was even worse, as quartering into the waves rolled us hard left, making it difficult to correct for without over-correcting our steering. It made me appreciate the stability in that MX and what it meant for trolling. While we didn’t cast, I can only imagine how much more stable a platform you’d have to pepper shorelines or slowly work deep structure.
All in all, it gives me pause when looking between the 1825 and 2025. One of the two will be my dream-boat, and I never would’ve considered that 2025 without fishing out of it recently. There are too many features, that offer multiple-points of practicality, to ignore it. I’m looking forward to spending more time in it to help make my decision for me!
Joel
I also had a 1800 PRO V and was very happy with it. I also had it for 6 fishing seasons and had it set up pretty well. I started following the MX story here on IDO and asking questions of some of the first people to drive and/or buy one. Went to a dealer closest to my location to look at one first hand. Never had owned a glass boat or thought that I ever would. Needless to say I love my MX1825. 
There is no comparison to an aluminum boat when it comes to ride, dryness, or handling compared to the MX. Skeeter has almost everything thought out with these models as far I am concerned. 