Absolutely torn between Small Jet Boat (190 FSH) and Small Outboard Center Console

[westlake10]

Hey everyone, first post on here, first time boat shopper.

I've been scouring these forums as well as other such as THT for answers to this question but still am torn here, hoping for some non-biased (as non-biased as you can get on a jet boat forum!) advise. Thanks to everyone willing to help out.

I'm looking for a center console boat because I'd like to have something I can do a little bit of everything with. I live in Cleveland, Ohio and will primarily be launching onto the open area of Lake Erie that Cleveland faces.

Here are the primary things from holding me back from a jet boat (190 FSH in particular):

• Debris (sticks, plastic, weeds, etc) that Lake Erie contains, especially near beaches and in marinas. I'm really worried that I'll get small items lodged between the impeller and its housing causing me to end up stranded on a large lake. Is this a justified concern?
• Hull Design. Some of the outboard boats I've been looking at online such as those made by Parker and Robalo seem to have deep V hulls which are somewhat well-equipped to handle some chop. Would the 195's hull be comparable at all?

Here's what I love about the 195:

• Seating, amenities. I absolutely love the room in the back of the boat and the lack of swim platform obstruction by a large outboard. Would be so nice to swim off. Also lots of nice comfortable seating for days with friends on the boat.
• Ability to beach the boat without having to worry as much about shallow areas hitting my prop.

Like I said, advise is greatly appreciated everyone. Thanks again.

 

[Julian]

What do you plan to be using the boat to do?

 

[westlake10]

What do you plan to be using the boat to do?

1/3 fishing, 1/3 pleasure cruising with girlfriend and/or close friends, 1/3 watersports

quick edit: Before anyone suggests going with a larger boat I'll just say that this boat will be going in my garage for these horrible Ohio winters so it needs to fit... hence the size limitation.

 

[Julian]

It will do 2/3 of that list just fine....its the 1/3 fishing that might be an issue. What type of fishing do you plan to do?

 

[westlake10]

It will do 2/3 of that list just fine....its the 1/3 fishing that might be an issue. What type of fishing do you plan to do?

I'm just getting into fishing but Lake Erie is best known for its Walleye so for now that's the plan. Don't plan on ever going more than a couple miles offshore for obvious reasons.

 

[Julian]

OK....jigging for Walleye I presume? If so, you'll want a solid electric trolling motor with a keep in place function to hold your position. If that is what you plan to do, then it should be ok.

Trolling is less optimal on jets as nearly constant steering is required to keep a straight line.

 

[Bennie]

I believe @Blindduck has a FSH190 and fishes in coastal waters as well.

Maybe he has some feedback on the fishing/ performance of that model.

 

[westlake10]

The trolling aspect is definitely something I would address with an electric motor regardless of which boat I chose. To be honest my primary concern is the jet system and debris causing malfunction and failure which could leave me stranded in a relatively unforgiving lake. Here's an actual image of the boat launch area at the beginning of a season.

 

[McMark]

Walleye fishing on Lake Erie is trolling with planer boards mostly. I think you’re going to want as deep a v as possible for the Lake Erie chop.

 

[Weeb]

I went with Yamaha for dependability and the rear swim deck. Looking at that mess I’d be thinking outboard and I agree a deeper v would probably ride a little better in the rough chop.

 

[YamahaKub]

When the ramp area is that messy, I just use my trolling motor to get out of all the floating mass. Works great. For the FSH line of products (I am a newbie with a 210) trolling motor operation was a breeze. Boat went everywhere I wanted it to go.

 

[YamahaKub]

Also, jigging off the rear swim deck works awesome.

 

[westlake10]

Good info. I was thinking about using the trolling motor to get out of the boat ramp area. Is the "stick stuck in the impeller tube" super common with you guys or is it a bit overblown?

 

[the MfM]

@ClemsonTiger is an expert regarding trolling and the fsh.

 

[ClemsonTiger]

If you want to troll...DO NOT BUY ANY JET BOAT OF ANY KIND!

Period!

 

[Matts18]

I wouldn’t drive any boat through that crap! Getting sticks and other small debris in the intake should not strand you as you can clean them out through the clean out port and isn’t much of an issue at speed. The waters around the marinas where I boat are pretty debris filled after heavy storms and I have only had two issues so far this summer which I easily remedies by pulling sticks out of the cleanout port. For what it’s worth I did test ride a Key West 186 DC a few years ago and it was way rougher than my Yamaha. Why not take a few test rides and then go from there??

 

[YamahaKub]

I did a bit of trolling and it seemed to work fine. Could dial in between 1 and 6 mph with the combinations of wake speed control settings and running one or two engines. Still need to play with it a bit more. But I thought it worked ok. With keel, it seemed to track pretty well. TVs probably helped also. My next experiment will be to use the auto functions of the trolling motor to augment the control of the boat so I can just kick back and let the boat do all the work.

I intend to spend time this fall trolling in Lake Michigan.

 

[ClemsonTiger]

Beware the Yamaha/jet boat fan boys!

Read THT...thoroughly...no one on there will back a jet of any sort....yet you come to a jet board and everyone says they are the greatest boats.....odd?

I’m a former FSH owner...lasted 7 months and I realized my mistake!

I wish you the best and hope you make the best choice for you!

 

[Julian]

THT (the hull truth) is full of Jet Boat haters like Clemson. I agree the FSH doesn't make a good 100% fishing platform, but if its only 33% of the time and you want a versatile all round boat, then a jet fits that bill well, and it is the #1 open bow boat sold in the 20-25' range.....which speaks a lot about what people want.

That said, jets do have disadvantages that need to be weighed against their advantages. They don't do well in weeds or water with lots of debris. They do require much more steering input to track a straight line (although I've not used a GPS controlled trolling motor on one).

I do love fishing off the back and just got back from Bimini doing some deep drop fishing and had a great time.

 

[YamahaKub]

Agree with not planning to drive through that type of stuff. But if it stood between me and a day on the water, I would find a way. Most of that stuff is on the surface and if you troll through it off plane (on a trolling motor), your intakes are a bit below the surface and are not trying to vacuum the lake. My limited experience with the situation proved that the stuff parted out of the way. If I did not have my trolling motor, I would not go through stuff like that. I saw other fishing boats doing the same.

I assume you are looking at low speed trolling for walleye? An obvious and common Midwest premium choice for that is a ranger multi species 620 or 621 with a kicker for the slow speed stuff. Are some of the other CCs you are looking at able to run a kicker motor? That is what I would target of the outboard CCs

I did not say a jet boat is awesome, excellent or good at trolling. Just that it worked fine and I do think I can troll with it for the day. But being new, I have not done a day of trolling yet. So don’t take my opinion as even a remote expert opinion.