My Mother in Law recently purchased a place on North Padre Island. I live in West Texas and have been wanting to buy a boat to take to lakes around here. I know it would be a pain to haul a boat across the state but any opinions on what kind of boat I should be looking at if I wanted to use it both places? Any special motor? Are there pontoon boats on the bay? I want something I can fish out of but still keep family comfortable and pull a tube, etc. Thoughts? TIA.

We enjoy using our Sportsman 21 ft boat to bass fish and bay fish. It handles chop well and gets pretty shallow, although I would not take it in anything shallower than a foot and a half. Pretty sure it could handle a tube just fine. I have a Yamaha 150 which works well. But a 225 would work better!

I was kind of in this situation a couple years ago with a lakehouse and proximity to the coast. It's really tough finding a "jack of all trades" boat, cause you seem to sacrifice something either way you go.

Not sure what your budget is, but I wouldn't go anything smaller than 21-22' to fit your family comfortably on. If you've got little kids, higher gunnels may be something to look into. The most power you can afford would be ideal.

I paid cash for a used 21' deep v center console, with high gunnels (I've got little kids), and minimal frills. I keep thinking about upgrading to a bigger, nicer boat, but I kind of like the fact that I can do what I want with this boat and not worry about scratching, scuffing, staining anything like I would on a new boat. My thought was to let the family grow with this one and possibly get a nicer boat in the future. I'm limited in the bays because of draft, but I take comfort in a drier ride in less than ideal conditions.

If I were you, I'd go check out as many boats as you have access to. Take the family and crawl over every inch, open every hatch, sit in the head, and explore. Check out different makes because they all seem to have little features unique to them. Make sure there's enough seating and you can move fore and aft comfortably. If you want to ski/wake board take that into consideration as well, they make brackets for outboards.

Hope you find one that fits you and your family and you guys can make some great memories. My kids LOVE going out on the boat every chance we get.

This boat manufacturer popped up in my YouTube feed recently.

Cool boats, but definitely not cheap.

I see pontoons out and about here in corpus /Laguna frequently. I think a blazer bay would be a good boat for the family as well- not as shallow running but higher sides and smooth ride. Also could consider a blue wave.

We have this same discussion in our household a lot. My dad has a bay boat that is never working so it's frustrating to hit the coast and not have a working boat. We ended up with a fish and ski boat for the lake but would love something where we could do both. Right now with everything going on it's definitely not happening anytime soon but would love to see everyone's feedback

Blazer bay 2200. Suzuki or yamaha 200. Hydraulic jack plate. Skip the power poles for water sports. Yes on a swim ladder. It will handle the chop as good or better than any inland boat its size. Float reasonably shallow. Fishes well. Seating for 5 while running. Still small enough to trailer all over with a half ton.

Pontoons aren't a terrible idea either as long as you understand the performance limitations.

Not sure what your budget is but check out the Robalo Cayman 246.

New or used?
Budget?

alittleright said:

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Not sure what your budget is but check out the Robalo Cayman 246.

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This will likely be my next boat.

nothing to say about the boat, but why does everyone use that same stupid song in ads?

I have a Skeeter SX210 with a Yamaha 200 SHO. Use it for bass, crappie, walleye in fresh and then bay use. Very good value for the money. Make sure you take a ride in rough water before buying. They all run good if it is calm/flat.
Tight Lines.

alittleright said:

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Not sure what your budget is but check out the Robalo Cayman 246.

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That's a nice boat! I may look at those in about 15-20 years when the prices for the 2020s get a little closer to my liking.

My budget would probably be less than $50,000.00. Probably looking used. I mentioned fishing but that would be the least used aspect of our time on the water. I would like to be able to fish but for the most part it would be used cruising, pulling a tube, anchored with a lily pad, etc. on freshwater. On saltwater, fishing a bit more, but also cruising.

We recently thru same purchase process. Wanted something that was an all around boat but not to big to tow a few times a year from north texas. We looked at several makes but ultimately zoomed in on the Sea Hunt ultra series and Key West FS series. Nauticstar and had some intriguing models as well.

We ended up with a Key West 219 FS w/ a 200 yammy. It has been a phenomenal boat. Use it with as many as 10 people pulling tubes around the lake. Chasing Strippers on Texoma, use it in the bays no problem. Not a shallow runner but with definitely get you into wadeable depth water without issue. A T-Top is a must. We use T-top to mother ship kayaks if we want to get into the back lakes. Finally it is a fine offshore boat. We have been out 30-40 miles numerous times and it is great. Trim tabs help a ton.

There is always a compromise but this has been best all round boat Iv ever had in the 10+ boats I have owned.

Buddy of mine has a 2012 NauticStar 2110 se
For sale if you're interested

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