My Fast Cat, a month later...

[OutdoorFrontiers]

Well, it's been just about a month since I took delivery of my Fast Cat C20. I thought some of you might be interested in my thoughts on the boat after a little time.

First of all, the more I fish it, the more spoiled I've become. Moving around the boat is like walking on a sidewalk. With the wide gunnels, getting from the front of the boat to the back with a client is a breeze. Busy lakes are no longer a problem, I don't worry about the client losing his balance when the boat rocks, because this boat doesn't rock period! Unlike other boats I've been in...... 

I've found too that the boat handles well on the trolling motor, being able to spin on it's axis. Equally important, because of the waters I fish, I've found that the boat slips through stumpfields with ease. With the shallow draft, I encounter far fewer than I did with my last boat, and those that I do, simply slide off. I've yet to hang the boat up on a stump, but more time will tell there.

One thing that I really appreciate over a "conventional" bassboat is the way it drifts. With my last two boats, as soon as I got off the trolling motor or shut the outboard off, the boat would swing, nose downwind and drift. Not the Cat! It actually drifts sideways, which is great for muskie fishing large weed flats. 

The highly aerodynamic/hydrodynamic hull, coupled with the Mercury Optimax 250 XS Pro has proven to be a very fast, yet as important with today's fuel costs, extremely fuel efficient combination. My fuel consumption has dropped at least in half (if not more) over my old boat!   

The ride is superior to any boat I've been in as well. I've been running with some "other" boats that when it got a little rough, were left far behind me! I was dry and very comfortable the entire time too, not once concerned at all because the boat handled the waves so well. 

As a fishing guide, I like the fact that I can now seat three clients safely and comfortably. Anyone that's looked at bassboats know that 99.999% are designed to seat two anglers, three at the most. I can now seat four! I like that and I'm sure the clients do too.

I was initially concerned about getting the boat in/out of shallow landings because of how the boat sits on the trailer. This fear has been proven to be a false one. The Fast Cat is actually easier to load/unload in shallow landings than my friend's 18.5 foot bassboat! And at the risk of sounding "Politically Incorrect," Stevie Wonder could load the boat on the trailer! It's impossible to screw up loading the boat. Once you've got the nose of the boat between the two side-guides, the sponsons automatically center over the bunks. Just a shot of gas on the HotFoot and the boat bumps against the bow stop. It probably takes longer to read this paragraph than to load the boat!

As a muskie angler, I would like to see the livewells combined with the rear storage compartments, or better yet, have one long livewell, with a removable divider directly behind the driver's seat. 

Originally, when I looked at the storage on the boat, I was worried. My old boat had "TONS" of storage, and to me this new boat appeared lacking in storage. Well, that was another false fear! I have everything in this boat that I had in my last one, and I have compartments that are still almost empty!!! Storage will NOT be an issue...

But, even though it quite possibly has the most storage for boats in it's class, based on volume, I still haven't been able to organize things as well as I would like to. I'm going to be putting a lot of thought into this and submit some ideas to Fast Cat Marine for their feedback. 

On Monday, I found a bad thing. My wife and I went to a close-by chain of lakes for a fun day. We wanted to stop at one of the on-the-water watering hole/eating establishments. Because of the 8' 6" width of the boat, I couldn't fit it into any of the slips! 

I do have another negative to report. I have lost more "stuff" in this boat than in any other boat I've owned. Unless it's in a locker or held onto quite tightly, things have a tendency to disappear from this boat. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I've had to turn around to retrieve my coffee cup (full or empty, it doesn't make a difference), baseball caps and soft drink bottles! 

So, I'd have to say that overall, I'm extremely pleased with my new boat. It's not your daddy's fishing boat, it's a whole lot more!

Steve

[Sabertooth]

I love this stuff! You thought I was BSin ya. I can't wait till next months report!

[OutdoorFrontiers]

I've talked to a LOT of boat reps, ridden in quite a few different big name boats, even owned a few myself.  All of these have made the same claims, quality, ride, stability, room, etc.   

NOTHING has lived up to the claims like this boat has.  Yes, I was dubious when Janet and I came down in February.  But our day in the Everglades changed my tune.  With all four of us fishing off one side of the boat, and passing boat wakes didn't rock it, when I rode in Brent's boat at 104.3 and it didn't feel any different than at 65 mph, and when you let me borrow your boat, all of those things made a believer out of me.   

Now that I have the latest generation of hull design, and have had some time in the boat, I make the following offer to all UltimateBasser's.  If you don't believe me, give me a shout.  If you're serious about getting the "ultimate" in boat design, I'll make arrangements to travel a reasonable distance and let you experience the thrill yourself!

How does that sound?   

Steve

[spetro]

Nice report Steve... by far the best bass boat out there......period