I'm a Ford guy but my current truck is a Chevy and my previous truck before that was a Nissan. All comes down to the price for me. I'll always have my preferences but if I can get a steal of a deal on it, then I'll probably buy it. That's the same reason why I bought my current boat. 2013 Triton 19SE and I love it. Rides good and has plenty of room (even for me at 6'5").

Welcome to the TFF. It is a great place for fishin 411. Lots of good guys on here that are happy to help. Like most public forums a few are jerks but I am sure this is not your first time on SM

The boat I just sold was a Legend Alpha 211 with a Yam 250 SHO. The finish-out of the Legend was pretty awesome. They did not cut any corners and you could tell when you started looking closely, poking your head down into the bilge area. It was finished out just like the outside of the boat. No wood used in the hulls. The seats were gel filled, not the cheap foam padding that retains water. They were built with vinyl ester that costs about 4X as much as the cheap Chinese resins that many mass-produced boats are made from. The hulls are vacuum infused. It was a great boat and I would buy another but alas Bass Pro bought them & killed them.

Skeeter TZX 190. It's an 18.5 foot fiberglass bass boat with a 175 horse on the back. It had 25 hours on the engine when I bought it. Here's why I bought that boat as opposed to a 21 footer.

1. It fits in my garage. So no need to external storage.
2. It was about 50% cheaper than a comparable 21 footer.
3. I rarely tournament fish, so if the wind is blowing 30 mph and there are 3 footers on the lake, I just don't fish that day. My 18.5 does just fine with reasonable wind.
4. It has all the same functionality as a bigger boat. Nice electronics, live well, you name it.
5. I was okay with only going 62 mph vs 74 mph.

So for me it was mostly a matter of economics.

Love my Basscat Caracal!

Mr. Rick builds a solid boat with his trailers and puts storage, etc where a fisherman needs it. Mr. Wayne at the Boat Shop in San Antonio will get you in the boat of your dreams.

https://texasfishingforum.com/forum...0dfe5340_2cf3_4255_b88b_a46d86aa048a.png

Ken beat me to it. In my opinion Legend built the best boats ever made. I have a V-20 and have no interest in selling it for a long time as it now has every bell and whistle I could ever want on a boat now that I went full Garmin.

Xpress X19 w the Yamaha VMax 150.

I had a super nice Legend but figured out I was cleaning and taking care of it more than fishing! Couldn’t stand to see it dirty....
Bought the X19, ripped out all the carpet and hard decked it. Can psi wash it out/off in minutes after it’s parked in the horse pasture for months and go fish. Really enjoy it!

The best bass boat for YOU is the one that YOU like, and can afford. Most of us want the biggest, fastest, most expensive boat out there, thinking that it is the "best". Doesn't work that way.
I assume that you are a first-time boater, so I would definitely buy used. And until you are a little further up on the learning curve I would go with a smaller boat, say around 18 feet. You would feel terrible if you put a big gouge in a brand-new boat. It's hard to say, "Oh well, part of the learning process." A 2-3 year old aluminum boat like the Ranger RT188 would be my recommendation. It's wider than most other aluminum boats so it is a more stable fishing platform. It is easy to handle when running across the lake. It has adequate storage for almost anything you need, and several power options up to 115 hp. The only real drawback is it does not like wind. Any wind over about 15mph makes for a rough ride when running, and a rocky experience when fishing.
Whatever boat you decide on, before you buy, take it to a reputable marine mechanic and have it checked out. No need to go into details with him, if he's good, he will know what to do and what to look for.
One last thing...before you even get near the water, PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE! Practice towing, parking and backing. Find a deserted parking lot and take a couple of traffic cones with you. Try to park between the lines. Set up the cones where the corner of an imaginary trailer would be, and pull into the parking spot without hitting a cone. Also use the cones to practice backing up.
And don't beat yourself up over a bonehead mistake. We all make mistakes, some worse than others. As long as you don't hurt someone or tear up some expensive equipment, it's all good.

To answer your original question, my current boat is a 2014 Ranger RT178 aluminum which I won in a radio station promotional drawing

And Welcome to the forum!

2004 Basscat Cougar FTD 225 Optimax. I love it. I had a 1991 Pantera II with a 150 before this boat. I really like the extra safety factor in rough water of a 20' boat with a 225.

You worded this perfectly. Most ask about the “best” bass boat and we are an opinionated lot.

There are so many great boats available and it’s all a give and take. Some want a big boat for fishing bigger lakes in adverse conditions but there are details like cost, storage, maintenance and resale value all to be considered.

Glad you’re hopping into to conversation and welcome to the TFF.

Jackson

took about 5 yrs. for things to fall in place and I got my dream hull, 95 champion 202/95 200 xri/efi.

hands down best ride in rough water.

bought hull/engine/trailer and built it out like I wanted, now have what I consider to be the best bass boat for me (and it is all paid for).
full garmin set up, everything in it is new and the only thing now is a repower to a bigger engine.

it is all personal preference and what you want/can afford although the afford part can be tough.

Like Hopalong. I own a Champion because I fish a big frequently rough water lake ... Rayburn. Champions have the best ride out there. Now Basscat and Charger have now copied those Champion hulls exactly because of the legendary ride.

JacksonBean,
Any thoughts on a Ballistic boat?

I had the opportunity to look at a couple of Caymas boats this weekend at Fork and seeing them brought back old memories of the first ZX models from Skeeter back in the mid 90's. Those were some of the last before the composite showed up but they were the best and were quick hulls. The Caymas looks just like them. GOOD LOOKING RIDE!

Hands down the best Customer Service out there.