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Hey guys, thinking about buying this boat. It's got a 150 Honda Four stroke on it. Boat and engine are 2004, but are brand new. Dealer is very reputable around here. This boat is priced at 24,200. Also looking at a Skeeter ZX20 bay for a good price. Also, he may have a Scout around 20 ft available, but he doesn't think so. I like to fish in the marsh in Louisiana, but I also like to run 15-20 miles out for snapper. I'm leaning toward the Key West. What do you guys think? Any other boats around 25K that come to mind? Skeeters look like they might ride a little rougher than the KW. Thanks.
The KW Bay Reef is a good boat, and that's a decent price (esp. considering that motor). Easy pick over the Skeeter, IMO. I would also look at the Scout though -- it's even nicer.
The KW Bay Reef will have greater deadrise/freeboard than the 20' Scout Bay though, so if you frequent choppy water, I'd lean toward the Bay Reef.
Good luck,
__________________ Ed P., St. Pete., FL
Scout 172 Sportfish
For 20 miles offshore, definitely the Key West. The KW has a much deeper cockpit and is more of an all-around boat. The Skeeter ZX series, on the other hand, have the lowest gunwales of any bay boats on the market and there is no way you will catch me on one of those glorified surfboards 20 miles out.
For 20 miles offshore, definitely the Key West. The KW has a much deeper cockpit and is more of an all-around boat. The Skeeter ZX series, on the other hand, have the lowest gunwales of any bay boats on the market and there is no way you will catch me on one of those glorified surfboards 20 miles out.
A little harsh there Stretch... but I agree with the sentiment. Go with the KW for offshore fishing.
Luis
__________________ 2004 NauticStar 2200 with a Yamaha 150 TXRC (Carbureted) - LOVING IT!!!
The Key West Bay Reef is a very useful boat. You can bass fish, red fish, fish for trout, and on good days go out and catch snapper. I do it all the time. I do however pick good days and it is still safe if the waves kick up to 6 feet (got caught once). You wont like it. I don't go out in winds over 10 knots and when there are no fronts or sqaul lines in the gulf. You have to run safely and wise in waves like that. Once, not knowing, I had a aireator pump come apart in the hull. It filled the complete hull full of water while running since it has the under the boat through hull pick ups so you can use the live wells while running. The water started running out of the center console since the hull was full and it had no other place to go. We were in good 3 foot seas. When I slowed the boat down to find out what was wrong, the boat floated well. This boat is safer than the boats over 20'-0 long that do not have level floatation. They think I am crazy for going out but I have read some of their horror stories. There was not a report that day that stated a 196 Key West went down. It was a success story. Turn off the valve under the aireator, pump the water out, keep on going.
It rides very well at about 30 mph in 1 to 1 1/2' chop. Two feet waves straight on, 24-25 mph, larger than that, you have to adjust depending on the "slop". Even 5'-0 waves straight on, I can run 18-19 mph. I am talking about keeping the boat in the water.
The boat has a very sharp entry. This boat will suprise you what it can do. The vee is deep, so when you run the front raises up very high. It seams like a larger boat when running. It is wet on a cross wind, but most are. Every boat is a compromise. This is not a fast boat due the 20 deg. dead rise, mine will do 47-48 light, 44-45 with four fisherman and all the gear. Cruises great at 32 mph with out burning a lot of gas.
The Key West is a very nice boat for the money and if I were in the market for another bay boat, the Key West would be right up there at the top with a few others.. Then again, so would the Scout, but it's a little more pricey..
I would be careful with the Skeeter though. I have heard and seen mixed reviews on them. A friend of mine had one and loved it, but he knew some other guys that had problems with theirs in the form of cracks and transom issues. I can't speak from personal experience on them though. Again, He liked his a lot and the layout was nice..
__________________ - Chris
Guess What?? I got a Fever.. And the only prescription is.. MORE COWBELL!
-2011 Blue Wave 2400 Pure Bay / Yamaha F300 4.2 with Command Link Plus
-2003 Sea Fox 195 Bayfisher - Mercury 125 Saltwater Classic (Sold)
-1994 Wellcraft V-20 Step Lift (Sold)
My dad has a Key West 1900. It was bought brand new in March of 1994. It is not the "Bay" style, but around the same size and it's a Key West. I just flipped through the Key West brochure and the 196 actually has a deeper deadrise and what looks like a sharper entry so it should ride a little better in the chop. The 1900 rides like a 19' boat. If you want to venture offshore 20 miles you just need to pick your days. The boat does float in very little water.
My dad's boat is used in Larose, Point Aux Chene, Golden Meadow and Fourchon. The boat has built duck blinds, hauled pirogues to the ponds to hunt, fished the marshes near catfish lake, pulls a trawl every year for the brown shrimp season, has seen "blue water" three times and pulled many hydrosliders/skiers. It is very versatile and fuel efficient. The construction of the boat is pretty good. It's not a top tier boat, but has held up to the every weekend use my dad, myself and my two brothers have put it through. I think it is a wet ridding boat, but it's a center console. I can't think of anything that has went wrong with the hull in the 11 years of use. Some of the screws for the instrument panel and anchor locker have stripped out, but the last few years it's seen much more offshore than inshore. The live baitwell in front of the console was useless. After 10 minutes of riding we would be wearing the water and the bait wouldn't have enough water to swim. We added a kodiak livewell in the back. The batteries are in the bilge on my dads. I would prefer them in the console or corner boxes because the wiring is starting to corrode pretty bad now. Overall a great boat.
We spend nights on the boat during the summer fishing at Belle Pass and then head offshore the next morning to snapper fish. We usually have another boat with us, but have taken it to South Timbalier 131 which is around 25-30 miles offshore.
If you have not already done so check out the Sea Hunt line of boats at Aquamarine. They are similar built/priced boats. Also Seaswirl at Blue Dot. The 1851 Seaswirl is a nice boat.
I'll check out those other boats Gary. I've been talking to Himel marine regarding the Key West and Scouts. I fish mostly out of Cocodrie and have made the run to South Tim. I love it out there. Good to hear that your Key West is holding up so well. Thanks for the info.
The Himel's are good people. I don't know a whole lot about the boat dealership, but my fiance is very good friends with the owners grand daughter. All the family members I have met are great. My fiance and I did go look at a Key West there, the 2300. They were very nice to us. Went over the boat from stem to stern with us. Even washed the boat before I got there. I liked the boat, but it's out of my price range. After that I started looking at the 20-21' boats. The Sea Hunt's are really nice. The Sea Hunt 207/220, Key West 2020 and Seaswirl 2101 are at the tops of my list now. My younger brother is dead set on a Seaswirl 2101. He plans to buy after his house is finished. The guys from Blue Dot have been great as well. We hope to seatrial the seaswirl soon.
Key West are good boats. My dad' boat has not been babied for 11. It's been used alot and still in one piece. It is on it's second motor. My dad has a 125hp Mercury and it pushes it well.
Good luck and happy huntin'!
Gary
ps......I was told the 23' Scout was $20k more than the Key West when we went to Himel's. Personally I didn't care for the layout on the Scout, but it did look like it was constructed well. It's way out of my league so I didn't look into them further.
Two more boats I just thought of for you to check out. We looked at a SeaFox at Ben't's Marine in New Orleans. I thought it was a pretty decent boat. It looked better finished/constructed than the Proline's they had. You may want to check them out too. On the web I have witnessed people bad mouthing them, but the two (Bay Boat style at the Boat Show in the dome and a Offshore style at Bent's) I looked over showed no signs of being the POS poeple claim them to be. My dad looked at the Sea Chasers at Pelligrin (where he actually boat his Key West 1900 from) in Houma a couple of weeks ago. Said they were very nice. Should be around same price as Key West.
I just ordered a 186 Bay Reef with a 150 2 stroke carb Yamaha, torsion axle trailer, bimini top and hull color. Mine will be all 2006 & cost $22,300, so that price looks pretty good. The Skeeters have less deadrise, shallower cockpits, 20" transoms and holds 15 less gallons of fuel. The hardware, fit & finish on the KW looks nicer also. Would have bought a 196 but it wouldn't fit in the garage
Key West 196 Bay Reef 
