whats the biggest bass boat you've towed?

I got the amazing opportunity to tow and fish off of a Ranger Commanche, 19 or 20 foot with a 225 merc on it yesterday. it taxed the truck pretty well, like starting in second gear. still managed 55mph up the grade in 4th gear though!

very very different than towing the old bass-tracker I usually fish from. the guy said he thinks the ranger weighs about 4k pounds on the trailer.


any hardcore bass guys on here? I very much want to upgrade to a fiberglass boat 19-21 feet, but am wondering how the truck would like going all over cali with it, up and down grades like the grapevine, cuesta, etc. etc.

btw, that was my first time on a ranger, 70mph through rain and 2' swells, and not even a rattle from the rods. . . . . . amazing

 

Ranger z21 commanche with a 225 here

 

Sharks ftmfw

Buddy just bought a 22ft with a 200 on it pulled it fine witg n
My truck since he has no hitch

 

do you tow it often?

lol yea the case yesterday is that my co-worker is currently in-between trucks, waiting for the right one. isn't that funny how some guys have these super nice boats without a means to pull it? cracks me up

 

I wish I could "fucking just get the ranger"! this is going to take a while, I need a used one, but they are pretty rare in my area. skeeters, stratos, and even a couple tritons pop up on craigslist quite often. they are unfortunately always way to new, or way to old for my budget.

I had the perfect skeeter last year. it was even dark blue/ black to match my truck. I waited to long for her to lower the price and it slipped through my fingers. DAMN!

 

I think the Taco pulls very well for what it is. This was a real concern of mine before deciding to try and purchase one (yes, try, I still don't have one yet).

I've pulled my boat with my friends 07 and it's great. My boat is a 22' Whaler (sorry, not a bass boat. I fish in the ocean), probably around 4000 - 4500lbs loaded. I've used it towing four grown men, boat full of gear and ice (i'm talking 200lbs of ice not just one bag), 90 gallons of fuel and it handled just fine. Only complaint was the rear sagging w/ stock 3 leaf.

As someone else stated, no it's not a diesel but if you don't have a huge boat and do not expect the truck to tow "like there's nothing back there" it handles just fine.

 

Did you go to Kaweah? I go to Sequoia and camp at Lodgepole almost every year. Many times have rented one of those wooden splinter ridden house boats at Kaweah.

 

I tow my 375V Comanche. It is heavy for an 18'. Tacoma tows as well as my 2001 5.4 Ford with the exception of passing on 2 lanes. People are spoiled with power these days. When I bought boat I had a F150 with 351 and 150 hp. Biggest in 150 at time. I am in Texas on fairly level ground for most part.

 

lol yea good old kaweah is where I fish most the time. its such a horrible lake overall, but at times it really produces fish.

we used to take those lame houseboats out in high school to get well, fucked up. without even being abusive, we would always manage to break something. . . . usually the throttle cable. they have some newer ones now that look much nicer

 

Yea I agree the lake isn't the nicest I've seen, and has really dried up in the last 20 years.

I remember swimming under the houseboats, in between the foam sides. I couple times remember other boats stopping and yelling 'HELLLLOOOO, anybody there?'. Funny stuff.

 

I pull a 20 foot 4 inch Puma FTD Basscat with a 250SHO on a weekly basis with no real issues other than a little straining on larger hills,other than that a pretty smooth pull.

 

Just my 16' old Sea Nymph Bass Attacker
Towed it from Humboldt to Portland and all over the Oregon Mountains. It doesn't weigh that much though...I want to say 2500 lbs loaded up, but I could be mis-remembering the scale. Power is just fine, it's the braking that I would be worried about. My brakes get heated going down Mt. Hood if I'm on them too much. I just got a 2013 dclb though, haven't towed it yet because I only have 500 mi on it.

 

IMO this question is more about knowing the weight of the boat than the size. Ranger bass boats are know for being great bass boats, on they are generally on the heavy side.

I had an 18' Winner with a Yamaha 150 ProV many years ago, and it was a light as a feather compared to other bass boats of the same size, so you can't really make this call based on the size of the boat alone.

 

good point. and his is a "98 which I hear is notoriously heavy. I was just kind of interested to see what people run behind their tacomas

 

he he. looks like my "normal rig." 82 bass tracker with a 45hp Chrysler, yes, CHRYSLER motor. ill get a picture of it sunday when I go up!

 

ok heres the "normal rig" specs as stated above. the 4.0 doesn't wince at this thing. hell I remember going with my dad and towing this when he had his 22re powered 91 pickup. those were the good ol days. 5 of us in his truck, and 5 of us on that boat. my hands are full with my one 3 year old. notice how he inspects the trailer connections

 

Bass boat? My fish have teeth.

 

oh boy what do you downrig for?

no seriously, im interested. I would love to hear

 

Da fishes love it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wuKVzW3-lY



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I love videos of speakers. . . . . his phone really picked up the sound well