Exactly what I was thinking. All of the ones on the list do good in rough water.

Best thing to do is go look at and drive on the water as many as you can and see what fits you the best.

LOL, what a dream boat that would be Ken,,,,,,fish like a Skeeter and run as fast an an Allison.



I haven't been the boating market for a long time so I haven't looked at boats lately. Where did Caymas boats come from? I haven't heard of them until now.

New company of Earl Bentz. Built out of Ashland City, Tennessee. Boat has a 17" pad on it, CX 21 will run 73-74 loaded down with a 250 HP engine. Hi speed water pick up for your live-wells, built in wedge for trolling motor mount, entire front deck is padded, sea deck flooring in the [censored]-pit area, access panels built-in the bilge area for easy access to pump and aerator cartridges, all finished fiberglass compartments with no carpet.

These brands were building boats when many on this forum were either in diapers or weren't born yet!
I'm sure they figured it out by now on how to build a bass boat!

I wish I had a 21ft Phoenix for the windy/ big water months and my Stroker for the summer low wind ones.

https://caymasboats.com/earl-bentz-bio/

I am sure this will be a good boat. The one I saw looked like a blend of Triton up front and Skeeter to the rear. It has the sponsons on the transom to help minimize backsplash. This will also make the boat more stable at high speed. The early Tritons performed well but required driver input at high speed& high trim angles.

Earl Bentz knows how to build a boat that performs and fishes well. He raced for Mercury for 8 years and won two world championships. He went to work for HydraSport back in the mid-70's, then left HydraSport to start his own company, Stratos in 1983. He later added Javelin. He sold Stratos & Javelin to OMC and started Triton in the mid-90s. The key selling feature for Triton was there was no wood in the boat whatsoever. It was a first for the bass boat industry.

I was working the Triton booth at the Dallas Boat Show for NTX marine and we had a piece of firewood sitting on the front deck of each Triton with a sign that read, "This is the only wood in this boat." He built Triton into a very successful company that surpassed Ranger at one point as the #1 selling fiberglass boat in the world. He sold Triton to Brunswick in 2005 but stayed on as CEO until 2018.

I know he spoke to Joe Wallace of NTX Marine but Joe was not interested in picking them up even though Joe & Earl remain friends. Joe is the Vexus dealer for NTX and is doing well with the Vexus aluminum boats. Since the BASS Classic Joe told me he has sold two fiberglass Vexus boats. I happened to be there when one of the buyers was there picking up his new boat.

Billy Sartin also told me he was approached by Caymus and asked to be a dealer but he declined as he just became the Falcon Boat dealer for NTX.

Rumor is that Triton will be going away after 2020. This came from a very reliable source that is a BASS Elite Pro on their Pro Staff. Notice all the Triton pros are leaving the brand.

Pro Gator
Not the prettiest or the fastest, but tough as nails and small family owned.

Like doctorb said, I did have a choice and I chose a Ranger. I'm not rich and not a "big" boat kind of guy, so I chose a used Z118C with a 150 Evinrude that I bought from a post here on the TFF. I had a Ranger Reata 180VS with a 150 Yamaha for about 9 and a half years before the Z118C which I've now had for almost 2 years. I'm happy with both but the Reata fish & ski was not really set up for bass fishing. Good for a combo version but not so much just for bass fishing and it definitely was not nearly as good on rough water! Bought that one because I thought I'd use it more for family outings with kids and grandkids, but that didn't really happen much. So when the opportunity presented itself, I made the change to the Z118C and I much prefer it for bass fishing. Although I do miss the Reata windshield on those cold days while running!

I just retired beginning 1/1/20 and plan to fish more than I had been but still as just a fun fisherman. I doubt I will ever buy another boat but if I do it will probably be a 18'-19' aluminum for a little lighter weight towing and also to still fit it in my garage. I did hear that JM Bass Pro bought Ranger, but still would have picked Ranger as my choice till I read Ken A's very informative post. Now my choice would have to be Vexus even though Ken said they missed the mark big to take a major chunk of the premium bass boat market, but that would be more for the fiberglass market. I've always been a Ranger fan because of Forest Wood and how it all started. I love fishing the White River in the jon boats out of Rainbow Drive Resort and the White River is one of the places Forest first started guiding. Ken A gave great summaries and I think most bass boat manufacturers make good boats, but for me it's more about the story behind the boat and that's why I choose Ranger or now Vexus.

I also agree with Ken A's post about Mercury. Would love to have a Mercury Pro XS 150 on the back on my Ranger Z118C! Who knows maybe I'll win the Texas Lotto jackpot one day and have to make my choice!

Been hearing that for a few years, all we heard last year at the owners tournament in Kentucky was this is the last one so you you better enjoy it and triton is done. Even the staff at PL was saying it, then they announced at the banquet dinner they signed a three year deal with PL. Who knows what’s going to happen? So many people know so much about nothing, when and if it happens it will be another story.

the rumors that triton is done is wishful thinking from smaller builders thinking they will get more of the pie .

I truly hope BPS keeps Triton around. I could certainly see the market bearing three brands for BPS. Nitro as their entry level boat, Triton as mid-level and Ranger as their flagship. There are just a lot of signs Triton will be going away soon. Not hating here.

As far as the Vexus metal boats they are super nice. It is a welded aluminum hull with a fiberglass deck & consoles. When you get into the boat and start crawling around in it you would swear it was a fiberglass rig. It is a very innovative idea and past due for the bass boat industry.

Don't misunderstand what I am saying about Vexus. I am sure the new 20 & 21' FG boats have excellent build quality. They have some very cool features. The boat has anodized aluminum and textured surfaces that speak of high quality. The seats are air-ride like a high-end Peterbilt truck. The overall styling of the boat is just off-putting to me and apparently a lot of others. Vexus also chose to do automotive paint finishes instead of traditional gelcoat. This is out of the box thinking.

Three of my buddies from DFW went to the BassMaster Classic last March to put a deposit on a brand new Vexus. They were ready to buy the boat that Forrest Wood had just put his name on and had his family build. They were standing there when Forrest Wood's grandson jerked the sheet off the first one. There were a bunch of guys standing there looking at it like a calf staring at a new gate. All three of my buds came back home and bought something else. These were all guys that love to bass fish that went to the Classic prepared to plunk down $100K on a new boat. Here again, not hating on Vexus.

It's hard to describe how deep this boat is. Look at the new owner standing in it and compare the distance from the bottom of the vee to the top of the gunnels. It is a DEEP boat. This is the bigger boat at almost 22 feet. On the 20' model it even looks more out of proportion as far as length to depth. This was a very striking boat in person with the pearl white finish. It would match GM's pearl white Cadillac Escalade perfectly. My question to Vexus would be, How many bass boats have they seen behind an Escalade?

That boat makes the ProXS look small on the back.

I was so disappointed I went over to the Bullet booth and ordered a brand new one, lol.