iFish Lake St. Clair

Almost 20 years ago I was a tournament bass fisherman.   In 1990 I sold my bass boat and started playing golf.  In 2007 I decided that I was going to get a boat and start fishing again.  One thing I discovered about my golf game, I was definitely a fisherman.

The Quest

Here is my list of needs for a boat:

1. Big enough to handle the chop of Lake St. Clair
2. The ability to seat at least 4 people
3. Offer the available options of a bow mount trolling motor, other electronics, and a livewell
4. The ability to fish a bass tournament

I started reading magazines, searching online, and going to boat shows to gather as much information as possible.  One fishing show in particular had a good selection of all the latest bass boats from all of the major manufacturers.  I talked to all the sales people and picked their brains.  There was one problem that I could not get passed, all of the boats could seat 3 people (2 comfortably) and my family has 4 people.  What was I going to do about that.  I knew that there would be the occasional swimming excursions and not having a safe place for everyone to sit did not rest well with me.  I couldn’t pull the trigger on an expensive boat that did not fit all of my needs.

The Solution

One morning I was watching TV and a redfish tournament came on, never heard of that before.  What really caught my interest was the type of boats they were using.  They were called bay boats. They were perfect for every thing I needed.  Plenty of seating was available and I could get it decked out for bass fishing.  They were also made to handle big water, perfect for my home lake of St. Clair.  These boats would be perfect but there was one problem, nobody sold them, at least nobody had any in my area.

The actual boat that I thought offered what I needed better than any other was the Mako 2201 (Mako Boats).  This make of boat I was familiar with as Makos were common in the Great Lakes region.  The company is now part of the Tracker Marine group, think Bass Pro Shops.  The closest boat I could locate was in Nashville Tennessee.  We packed up the kids and drove down to Nashville, some 10 hours away.  My wife had done all of the leg work of talking to the salesperson and booking a nearby hotel.

Mission Accomplished

We drove down, saw the boat, bought the boat.  The Mako 2201 was more impressive in person and had plenty of room for everyone.  I complied a list of accessories I wanted on the boat so that I could get it professionally rigged by the dealer.  The boat also had a 200hp Mercury Optimax 2 stroke outboard, I would have been happy with a 175, it’s rated for up to a 225hp.  One thing I know about Lake St. Clair is that on a typical weekend day you’re not going to be at wide open throttle.  The chop will be crazy from all of the boat traffic, not to mention on a windy day you’ll be going through some white capped rollers.  I knew from the hull design of this boat it would be able to take what St. Clair had to offer.  I had been in a few bass boats on Lake St. Clair fishing tournaments on a busy weekend and this boat would definitely have blown by those boats and there relatively shallow hulls.  This has proven to be true.  A bass boat with a 250hp would blow me away on flat water, but this is St. Clair, the water isn’t flat most of the time.

In Closing

The Mako 2201 has been an amazing boat.  The closest Mako dealer to me in Auburn Hills, MI doesn’t stock any of these boats, which I feel is a big mistake, but they obviously can order one for you.  I offer local folks rides in mine if they’re interested in any inshore bay boat.  Most people aren’t going to drive to Nashville to buy a boat.  The boat has been a solid performer on the roughest days on big water and is plenty fast, my wife would say too fast.  The Mako 2201 is the best bass boat made that isn’t a bass boat.  If you’re in the Detroit area and want a ride in a Mako, send me an email.