Ranger Intracoastal 185

bbb · Post by **bbb** » October 3rd, 2016, 8:23 am

Anybody ever had one? Would be used 50% on lakes and 50% on flats. Seems like it would do decent around Lanark, St Joe Bay, and winter fishing in the brackish rivers.

Post by **SHOWBOAT** » October 3rd, 2016, 11:45 am

Never had the Intracoastal, but I've had my Ranger 22 Bahia for 3 months now and it has met every expectation.

Don't think you'll be disappointed in a Ranger

Post by **onefishtwofish** » October 4th, 2016, 2:02 pm

Love my boat (Ranger Cayman), but every single part on it is proprietary. Unique sized everything, right down to the trailer. You will have to buy your stuff from Ranger. And Ranger does not give part discounts to non-Ranger dealers, so my mechanic pays full pop for everything. I have heard this is true of other manufacturers as well, just the only thought I had on it. They look like a saltwater safe bass boat. Wonder how they do in chop?

Post by **silverking** » October 5th, 2016, 8:16 am

Have not tested one, but FWIW, Greg and Bryan Watts, two long-time pros on the professional redfish and bass tournament circuit, fished one briefly and then sold it and then went back to the regular saltwater model bay, skiff and bass boats. They were sponsored by Ranger at the time.

bbb · Post by **bbb** » October 5th, 2016, 10:17 am

Well its a done deal. I know its just a bass boat with the ability to be used inshore. If I was 80-100% saltwater I would just get a Bay boat. But living 3 miles from the Flint and 10 miles from Seminole, I really needed something that was designed for multi use. I already have a one dimensional lake boat so I did not want another.

After some deep cleaning and fixing a few $15 parts, I hope it will look as good as its sister here.

crappielimits · Post by **crappielimits** » October 6th, 2016, 6:53 am

I have a triton coastal model and love the boat. I don't like sitting while on flats when it's choppy. Definitely the the best freshwater boat I ever owned. I really wanted the Ranger but the only hold up was the layout. I wanted a large bait well and live well which the triton had. The Ranger had a large icebox instead of one of the wells. Congrats on the boat that's a smooth running hull.

Post by **silverking** » October 6th, 2016, 7:36 am

Every boat has trade-offs to some degree but it sounds like this one will be the best fit for your situation. Congrats and enjoy the new ride.

Post by **onefishtwofish** » October 6th, 2016, 12:45 pm

Sweet looking rig. Even if I were only bass fishing, I love the look and layout of that boat. Now you got a nice two-fer.

Everything I said negative about a Ranger can be said about a Land Rover too and my wife has one of those. Just nice to know ahead of time.

bbb · Post by **bbb** » October 6th, 2016, 1:37 pm

Yeah I was surprised to see a "cooler" in the deck vs a livewell. But if bass fishing, it will be artificial only and if flats fishing, i can put the shrimp in the livewell and the fish on ice.

Luckily almost everything works. No power to the Nav lights, but its either a loose wire or fuse hiding somewhere. Already found bassboatcentral which appears to be a high traffic forum with lots of good information on the boat.

Two Eagle depth finder/gps combos came with it along with a new Hummingbird Helix 5. Not sure what people do with all this information on the screen. Most spots i fish I just look down to see the bottom.

I'm gonna have a time trying to fill all these hatches with gear. Not use to having this much space in a boat. Also not use to having a boat that has a well thought out bilge area with plenty of room to get to things.

Cleaned it for 3 hours last night and got another hour or 2 to go before I can wax it. Maybe I'll be able to post my own photos after the weekend.

bbb · Post by **bbb** » October 6th, 2016, 11:19 pm

6 hours of cleaning later. Still have a few items to fix but the cleanup is over.

Post by **MudDucker** » October 7th, 2016, 7:51 am

Looks like a space racer! Get it slimy!

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