Re: Any Ski Fish bowrider owners?
Hey impatico - Happy New Year.
You can count me as a very happy Fish and Ski owner. Scout has an impeccable reputation and we've been absolutely delighted with our Dorado 175. It's a dual console bowrider and although my watersports to fish ratio is about 10:1 it's got the basics down. Good nonslip, no carpet, lots of storage, big livewell, couple of rod holders plus in-floor storage for more gear.
Fit and finish is as good as I've seen on any mass produced boat although Scout would have you believe these are all but custom built with hundred percent hand layup versus chopper gun sprayed. You will find even the underside of hatches finished smooth and the floor locker is nicely lined with smooth inserts that are easy to clean.
The Yamaha 90 4 stroke we've got on the back is equally happy idling away quietly or running WOT in circles trying to toss the kiddies off their tubes. She also gets incredibly good fuel mileage and is sewing maching smooth. Mine is the last of the carb models so I imagine the fuelies are even smoother. With a full tank and family she scoots along lively enough although is no rocket at 42 mph giver take WOT. She's relatively light at just over a thousand pounds dry for the hull alone. All up and ready to go with that admittedly fatso of a motor hanging off the back she is probably still tipping the scales at 1700 or so - certainly under 2K. This makes her real easy to trailer and launch solo the few times a season I go exploring other lakes.
I love the stainless ski pylon which with a pull of two pins lifts out and away. The upholstry is thick and tough and snaps in and out for ease of cleaning. Cockpit is self-bailing and there is a nice big anchor locker built into the bow. Tilt steering, stainless helm, swivel chairs, and removable rear bench round out the niceties. She came pre-wired for a front-mounted electric kicker, complete with connector built into the bulkhead although I don't have one mounted. There is a good balance of space between the bow and main cockpit with room to stretch your legs up front.
Like anything else, she ain't perfect. I hate the digital gauge package (give me big ol analog dials any day), the tilt and trim indicator is so inaccurage it's useless, they need to add a couple more fender cleats amidship, and the latch for the floor locker tends to fill with grit and seize up. Her featherweight nature and wide reverse chines does mean she can rattle your teeth a bit in a quartering chop but nothing too drastic. I'd of course recommend a good sea trial to see if she's the girl for you.
All in all, very small issues on a boat that's given us hundreds of hours of enjoyment. She is of course a compromise of the two missions. You won't find a raised casting platform or mounts for pedestal seats up front. There is only the two purpose built rod holders in the transom and of course with factory power you are not going to be winning any bass boat hole shot duels. One intersting touch is the extra wide gunwhales at the stern which incorporate a removable cutting board for cleaning fish on the go.
Dealer and factory support is top notch. Even though I bought used it's been about the best customer-focussed experience I've ever encountered. As for your price range, you will need to call a dealer for some pricing. They discontinued my model (the 175) and are making them a foot longer these days with 115 as the standard powerplant (Dorado 185). I believe mine was $24k brand new in 2004. I picked it up with 20 hours on it for $17K. It's worth spending some time on their site reading up on the Scout story at scoutboats.com
Obviously I'm a bit biased having investing the $ but like to think some natural light is still getting through these rose coloured shades.
Anyway, any other questions, I'm happy to help out. Couple of pics below.
