I agree with Mark if I was going to chase hybrids or stripers CC is he way to go but if you are primarily a LMB fisherman IMO bass boat is the way to go. To me it is a matter of these boats were designed pretty much for a particular style of fishing. Yes you can bass fish from a CC and chase whitey from a bass boat but that is not their primary design.

I have a skeeter zx20 bay and love it.I live on Athens and bass and crappie fish. I have a 150 and dont find it underpowered at all. I don't fish in tournaments or anything like that, but really like the walk around room, and especially the visibility of driving standing up. I looked forever to find one that had a rear factory seat pedestal and rod lockers. The seat is great, but the rod locker tubes were removed for more storage.

i had a sea fox bay boat and it was awesome! imo they are much better boat for fishing and can take the wife and kids out. my nephew is a big bass tournement fisher and when we would meet up for our family get togethers all you head was clean off your feet youll ruin the carpet, dont step on the seats, and the storage was very small compared to a bay boat. i have taken my boat through 4 ft seas and in 10 inches of water. self bailing cockpit and raw water wash down are very nice features you dont find on bass boats. i also like to be standing up so i have a batter view of things. plus you can add the t top to it and have your rods at the ready and more storage. the nautic star tournement edition boats are nice and rigged very well. was about 1/2 inch from the 24 te, then got a smoking deal on a 21 ft sea hunt cc. shear water is a ullet proof boat but you better have deep pockets. for the best all around boat id go bay boat or cc again. bass boats are fast but thats about it.

The AMS Shearwater X22 seems like a good hybrid of a bay, flats, and bass boat. It definitely has my attention since I'd like to be able to take my boat to the salt water.

http://www.americanmarinesports.com/shearwater/x22/x22-gallery/

i had a 21 foot ranger for 6 years and just switched to the 23 foot Shearwater. The Shearwater is absolutely incredible, granted you cant go up in timber as well due to the length, it does draft a few inches deeper but the sides arent near as high like the traditional bay boat. Like Chuck N Wind said, if you go for a bay boat with versatility, i would look to the Shearwater TE (Tourney Edition) or the X22.

I've got a 22' Ranger Bay with a 200 yamaha 4-stroke and wouldn't trade it for the world. It's extremely smooth in any rough water and rides very dry. The only drawbacks to it are it's top end speed and it's holeshot speed. It fishes well in the wind and doesn't get blown around as much as other center consoles just due to it's shear weight. My friend has a 22' ranger bass boat and I can't get into as skinny of water as him but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. The Ranger bay series have tons of dry storage throughout the boat and also lots of live well space. In my opinion they're one of the most well made and well designed boats on the market right now and are worth the price (which isn't cheap). I've been on other center consoles such as Pathfinder and NauticStar and haven't been too impressed with either in comparison to Ranger. If I were in the market for another center console, Ranger would be my first choice and I think it's definitely worth your time to check them out.

Great info guys...this helps a lot....keep it coming

I have a 18' ranger that I fish out of till summer. I then switch to a 22' bay boat in the summer. I can't fish the flooded timber out of the bay boat. Especially on a windy day. I mainly fish Ray Roberts and Fork.

There was a good discussion in 2010 on this same topic. http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/5309046/Center_Console_Boats_vs_Bass_B

I'd love to hear a few years later what others think about this question. Seems the wind would be just as prevalent on any of the Redfish trails. Why wouldn't one of those set ups like Pathfinder, Hewes, East Bay etc work well in bass fishing conditions? And with the advent of the power pole and gps enabled trolling motors, aren't some of the wind concerns also addressed? I admit stump fields are a little different than oyster reefs.

Scott Gordon tds both bass and redfish tournaments. What boats is he seeing on the coast that would make good crossovers?

Anyone run a blue wave pure bay?

Go see chris at fish and ski marine and he will take you through the ins and outs on a center console

We would be glad to take you in a couple of different Skeeter CC models we have in stock. Call Brad or Monte at our Hurst Fun-n-Sun.
817-280-0303

I have a new 2200 Pure Bay with a 200hp Suzuki and I love it. It has tons of dry storage and has 19 rod holders (5 in storage, 6 around console, 4 on k-top and 4 in gunnel). I fish for anything that bites, but primarily catfish. We have a place at Fork and I've used it there to fish for cats, LMB and crappie with no issues. Adding the K-top made it blow around more, but I'm adding Talons right now to resolve that issue.

If I had to get another boat, it would be another Blue Wave.

This is the baddest bay boat I've seen. It would definitely be the one if I could afford it.