I am an absolute die hard fisherman for striper, crappie, and whites. I have two younger kids that are 3 in a half and our little boy is 8 weeks old yesterday. I am a boat rookie that wants to make a good decision based on my needs. I was looking at the ranger reata fish/ski until my wife saw the lowes victory deck boat. I need it to be family friendly as I will be able to go fishing more often if my wife as place to lay down from time to time. I realize that pontoons are also an option, however for right now I would like to concentrate on the deck boat option first. I have done some online digging and noticed that there was quite a few options. Can anyone give me any feedback as to draw backs on any of these boats? Keep in mind that I will have an i pilot on the trolling motor as well. Additionally I will pull some tubers as they get older.

Thank you again,
Brett

The Lowe SD224 deck boat looks better suited for fishing than the Victory.

As you have found, there is no perfect solution to your problem. Any boat you look at is going to be a compromise and will not fish as well as a fishing boat and will not play as well as a deck boat. I have always thought the Hurricane line was a good compromise. Not perfect, but a nice boat that fills a lot of your needs. Good luck.

http://www.hurricaneboats.com/boats/2014-HC-FunDeck-FD-198-OB

Playcraft boats has a really nice fishing deck boat layout.

You are correct. I did not mean the Victory, but as you have stated the sd224. This is the one with live wells ect.

hurricane deck boat all the way.Love the high rails on my boat and the fact it sit so highout the water i have two kids myself it can make for a rough ride on windy days.

Not sure that I would want an aluminum hull for a fish/ski boat. Several have had stress cracking issues.

I have heard mostly bad things about the Lowes. I have a Ranger fish and ski and my kids grew up in it. My F&S is the old style that was more fish than ski but still did fine. If I had bought the boat after having kids I would have probably gotten a deep v fishing boat like a Lund or Crestliner. I do not bass fish a lot so one of those might have worked.

I have a Hurricane 228 REF its a 2007 bought new in 2008 motor has 88 hrs on it, I used it as you have described if want more info you can call 806-786-3095.

Biggest thing you'll notice on any deck boat is that there's no good place to put rods that aren't in use. You can put them in the ski storage locker, but I've never seen one that is convenient for fishing.