Well...the boat show is over and lets just say they had plenty to choose from but the one that really caught my eye (besides the Shoalwater Cat with camo acccents) was the Majek Illusion. Does anyone here know much about that particular boat? It sure is a nice looking rig. I just wondered how it would ride in the East Maddy chop.

Here's the bottom line fact on boats and hulls:

The better the shallow water abilities, the crappier the rough water ride will be. Everything that makes a boat ride smooth, also makes it ride deep. You will need to decide what you will compromise on, if any.

shoalwater all the way

the majek illusion is a great boat, my business partner is one his second, up graded from a majek skiff. as Pat said in rough water it will beat on you. if you are looking for a softer ride look at their X treme or V series, you lose 1 to 2 inches of draft for a smoother ride.

Majek Illusion is a pretty good boat.
Not to be rude but the extreme will draft several more inches of water and will take more like 2.5 - 3 ft to get up in where as the illusion with a 200 etec HO only needs about 13-14 in. You really can't compare the illusion and extreme because they are completely different styles of boat.

If you want to run shallow I would go with a RFL and if you want to run shallow and fast and smooth in chop I would either go with a cat hull from another maker or a v-hull. Shoalwater 23 cat is smooth and fast. SCB Stingray is just bad*** but will set you back a littl more. Haynie just finished their 23 cat today in time for the Corpus Boat show it is supposedly going to be sweet and I know of a couple people on their waiting list for one. The other cat hulls like trans and Ultra cats are solid and dry but you will lose a lot of speed.

But back to the illusion

Pros
You can do controlled drifts
Turns pretty good
Will run about 50 WOT

Cons
The illusion will not run as shallow as a RFL
Customer service on Majeks is not as good as on some of the other Texas made boats.
The boat does not have a motor that really pushes it right. If you look the rig everything from a 150 to a 225.


If you get one, I would get it elevated because it is a MUCH drier ride in chop sitting up 18 in higher. Its a good boat, I just think for the same price you could get a boat better suited to your needs.

The more honest you are with exactly how you intend to use your new toy, the happier you'll be with your decision.

"I want a ultra shallow running boat" Do you really? Are you *really* going to run 6" deep? Or are you *really* thinking two feet is really shallow? Are you really wanting to pole looking for fish, or just drift a bay, slinging at what comes? Or mostly stake out and wade from there?

What water you will use *most* of the time is what I would focus on, if it's a deep bay like Galveston or Matagorda, shallow ability is not near as important as rough water ability. On the other hand, if you're fishing out of Mansfield, and you can't run tight, you're limited greatly where you can go...it's a tricky trade off.

Best way to help, make yourself a matrix, with a column for every aspect you want, take your time, ride in everything before you buy, and grade each on it's own merits. Fishermen are complete liars, whatever I'm running is always the "best" and you should have one too.

And remember 90% of a boats abilities are achieved by the setup, I can make a dog boat run pretty good, and I can make a really great boat run like [censored] if I don't set it up right.

Look at www.shallowsportboats.com, my personal favorite. On my 2nd boat, the company has been in the business for over 25 years, and my 20' flush deck runs shallower than a majek or shoalwater.

I know the Jay and Jay Ray Watkins left them and went with Haynie. That should tell you something about Majek!!!

I seen a TPWD MAJEK boat once, it was one of the nicest bay boats ive ever seen. Not sure the exact model though, but it was a sweeeet boat.