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Went to the classic with my wife, walked around, saw the other brands, bought a few lures and wondered how any person on the planet would choose any boat but Bass Cat. The only booth that had the owner there, the only booth that showed a commitment to supreme quality and the only boat that thinks about the fishing first. Rick Pierce is la Man de La Mancha. Great job on a great product.
I agree. But it always seems the pros that BC sponsors never push the boat. I watched a lot of the weigh ins and you never hear a shout out to the BC brand. You can barely tell that Ike runs a cat unless you look real hard at the side or you get a tight shot of the underside of the bow. First time boat buyers may mistake “Bass Cat” for some kind of lure, not a quality boat manufacturer.Milton
I just joined the forum and this is my first post (yay me!) but its easy to consider a lot of brands because theres a lot of nice boats out there. No, Im not insinuating that any of them are better than BCB but Im still in the opinion forming stage. Were currently in a tin boat but weve been wanting to upgrade to a fiberglass for about 14 months, and its taken us 14 months to really start narrowing down the options. When you dont have loyalty to a specific brand it becomes actual work trying to sort through the myriad of glitter and hype to decide where to spend your hard earned bucks. When we decided we wanted to trade up, over a year ago, I was ready to run to the Nitro dealer with my checkbook in hand, while my wife (who is my fishing partner and as serious about it as I am) wanted a Skeeter. After looking at the 2 on various occasions theyre both still in contention but, like I said, Im still forming an opinion. Were hitting as many shows and dealers as we can trying to look at boats and really find the brand that is right for us and in our budget. Ive done a lot of Internet research of course and its a giant waste of time because every boat owner on earth thinks the best boat, and the only one worth owning, is the one in his signature. The truth is, in my opinion, there really are no *bad* boats currently in production. Sure, some of them are niche boats with claims of blazing speed, smooth ride in any water conditions or some other well marketed “This is why you should buy our boat” philosophy, but there are at least 12 brands still on my radar as a consumer, and thats after 14 months of research. In fact, in 14 months Ive really only eliminated one brand, and thats just because I dont want my wallet completely drained, even if theyre “Still draining wallets one at a time”.
EastTnJoe,I have owned a lot of different boats in my time as an angler, but have never seen the kind of ownership that Rick Pierce puts into his boats. I have drove them all and my next boat will be a Bass Cat hands down. They have the best resale value, quality, and perfornance of any boat on the market. I will buy a used Bass Cat with less than 70 hours on it and get a boat that will last me until I am ready for my next boat. I cant say that for the other brands I have owned. Look on http://www.impactfishing.com
EastTnJoe, The folks here see the realm of the market differently and as BCB we always want you to select the boat that will make you the most satisfied overall. It may be the fastest or the slowest, biggest or lightest, just make sure you and your bride get me that will make you happiest. We are not about hype, smoke and mirrors. We are just us and that is all we ever want to be. BCB
Bass Cat Boats wrote:EastTnJoe,The folks here see the realm of the market differently and as BCB we always want you to select the boat that will make you the most satisfied overall. It may be the fastest or the slowest, biggest or lightest, just make sure you and your bride get me that will make you happiest.We are not about hype, smoke and mirrors. We are just us and that is all we ever want to be.BCBI hear ya and I wasnt insinuating that BCB hypes their product, that was a generality about the industry overall. There are go fast boats like Allison and Bullet, self proclaimed “rough water” boats like Legend and Stratos Elite/Champion. BCB seems to be more of an all around boat that stands on their customer service excellence more than anything which, as a buyer, appeals to me greatly. In fact, that is one of the reasons I joined here and that BCB is on my short list of possibilities. Right now the decision looks like its going to be budget driven, and were going to buy something in the next 60 days or so, Im just not sure what it will be. We dont tournament fish so a 21 foot boat with a fire breathing 250 is more than I want to pay for, tow or feed. Were in the 19 foot/200 class but trying to stay under $40K. Theres kind of a dead zone in this price range that we either get an 18 foot boat with a 150 with top shelf electronics and dual Power Poles or we go to the 19 foot/200 combo with middle of the road electronics but no poles. We fish Guntersville a lot and poles wold be nice, even though well never use them around home since theyve not yet introduced the 40 East Tennessee Edition Blades.
Joe, you ought to look at this years special on the PIV / 200SHO combo, its a great boat on the big waters.
If I were you. Would get a ride in all the boats you are considering! And dont be afraid to ask if you can operate them, fish from the front, run the tm! Look all through them! Beauty is only as deep as the gel coat!! BCB is beautiful al the way thru to the hull!! I had to throw that in!! I have an 07 puma!! Best boat I have ever rode or owned!! Speed will come from seat time! And since your wife is your fishing partner! Speed is probably not on the top of the list! Not saying bcb are slow! They aint ! It should not be your purchase decision!Last edited by scubaman154 on March 4th, 2013, 3:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
Bass Cat Boats wrote: EastTnJoe, The folks here see the realm of the market differently and as BCB we always want you to select the boat that will make you the most satisfied overall. It may be the fastest or the slowest, biggest or lightest, just make sure you and your bride get me that will make you happiest. We are not about hype, smoke and mirrors. We are just us and that is all we ever want to be. BCBIf you notice the highlighted and underlined part of BCBs reply, this pretty much says it all. Doubt that I will buy a new one anytime soon, but the next will be another BCB product.
Ah the joy of shopping for your first …. what a feeling I empethies with you and the delema you face.Both of you ,dmorrow and Joe , have to fight through a tonne of marketing propaganda to go through.I agree with scubaman , get out for a drive on any one your thinking of. Play in rough water with full gear and passengers. Fish out of them if you can. Get out and join some local fishing clubs. Go out as a co angler and put time in the boats .The big sway for me was before a tournament a group of sponsored anglers were talking and the question came up. “Which boat would you have if you had the choice? “I was astounded to hear so much praise for the Bass Cat Boats.Ive been in a lot of boats as a co angler where I have had to hold the glove compartment closed or replace matches that came off … Stuff like that really make you think twice about the bargain boats.Good luck on your shopping its an exciting time.Practice Angling CPRCatchPictureRelease2010 PIV 200SHO
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