Skeeter FXR21 Review Part 2 - Great Bass Boat Search of 2020 21- Video 22 in the Series

[@patrickgradyboone]

I watched your 3 part series on the Fxr closely because I had decided to buy one and was scheduled to pick it up the day after watching your series. After I saw the "porpoising" I was wondering if I made the right decision. I went ahead and made the purchase. During the demonstration ride at Marshall's Marine I saw no signs of any porpoising. I then took it to the lake to get the "break in" hours out the way. Absolutely no sign of any porpoising and by far one of the best riding boats I have ever had and this is boat number 15. So anyone that sees that in the video and had any concern don't. Best ride of your life.

[@KenSmithFishing]

Patrick glad to hear you’ve had a good experience with it!

[@dustinpitts2741]

Hats off to Skeeter they have the best product support of any company that I have dealt with and that’s important for sure

[@stevef.9939]

Bought the FXR20 in February and experienced the porpoising at slow speeds. Jackplate at 12 definitely helps. Ended up installing a SE Sport 300 Hydrofoil. With that installed this boat is awesome! I run a lot of very tight routes through trees on Fork and Ray Roberts that demand slow speeds and with the SE Sport installed this boat performs awesome at all speeds. It has a super soft ride in big water.

[@michaelwood3837]

Did the Hydrofoil slow the top end speed down ?

[@stevef.9939]

​@@michaelwood3837 No it did not influence the top end at all. I do run an Atlas hydraulic jack plate but do not think it would really matter. With it however you can really tune the ride on the FXR. The porpoising I experienced was not as bad as what you saw in Ken's video. He is coming out of a Ranger (lead sled) that is very nose heavy and is probably why he had the jack plate at setting 1 (all the way down) because that setting forces the bow up. This extra bow lift is not necessary on the FXR. This SE Sport hydrofoil really works great. A fishing partner of mine was a Tracker Marine manager for many years and we put one on is Nitro Z20 when we needed to get into a backwater on the Red River and needed to get up quickly over a sand bar. After using it he made the comment that he thinks all bass boats would benefit with one and that he is surprised that the manufacturers do not offer their own version as an upgrade. I have experienced no downside to having one but huge upside. Not only does it help the low speed porpoising but if you get into some really big water it really helps with the slow speed plow through without spearing any waves. I crossed lake Tawakoni 2 weekends ago with 6' waves just took my time. I am a long time tournament angler and previous Lake Fork fishing guide. I have a lot of experience in different boats. The FXR is my first Skeeter and it is a sweet ride! But in my opinion it does need to have the hydrofoil if you have a tournament setup like mine (Atlas, 2 10' Talons, 4 size 31 batteries, dual console, tournament load of tackle, etc.) All the best to you. Numbers 6:24-26

[@michaelwood3837]

@@stevef.9939 Steve, I appreciate your feed back on the SE sport 300 Hydrofoil. I have an FXR20 LE. on order and can't wait to get her on the water ! I already ordered my 300 Hydrofoil on Amazon $69.00. What kind of speed are you getting with your FXR20 Tourney loaded, Full tank of gas and live wells full ? Thx Mike

[@stevef.9939]

@@michaelwood3837 I can get 69-70 tourney loaded and 74 light loaded and just me in the boat. It is not one of the fastest boats but is super soft and super stable running and as a fishing platform. You will love the boat!

[@michaelwood3837]

@@stevef.9939 Steve, I know your right and I will be very Happy with my Skeeter FXR20. Thx Again Mike

[@efgreen137]

You mentioned that the Gauges are hard to see around the steering wheel, but you didn't say anything about the graph. It looks like Skeeter got it right about mounting a large graph in the console. It doesn't appear to block any of the gauges. It also looks like it is fully viewable over the steering wheel, yet it does not block your view to drive the boat. I know you knocked some of the other boats for the graph console setup early on.

[@robertjacobsfishing]

Thanks Ken. I have a big soft spot for the laciest Skeeters!

[@iowaal7671]

It would be great if somebody with this boat would do a video on how to stop the porpoising. Jack plate settings, more set back or whatever the trick is. Seems solvable. I’m sure Ken would have figured it out if he had more time. He might even pass the info to us if you let him know. Also, being a big tall guy those seats are the best I have sat in so far.

[@michaelwood3837]

Ken, You have us ALL waiting in suspense for Part #3...Lol

[@JuanDoe1776]

I enjoy watching your boat review and comparison videos. I’m on the market buying a new bass boat. I’ve narrow it down to the Skeeter FXR20, and the Vexus VX20. I also like the new Ikon LX 20. Any chance you doing a Ikon LX2O boat review to compare as well?

[@danebergeron4478]

I fished with a friend in his FXR. I hate the co-angler rod storage. I got two broken rods from that trip from them sticking up. I prefer the Co-angler rod storage of my Legend A211 where you have a compartment protecting your rods.

[@KenSmithFishing]

Legend had some great features

[@herbsteiner1013]

One complaint I have with my Skeeter is the battery/sump hatch access lid being hinged inboard instead of hinged to the transom. You can't reach the cranking battery terminals for charging or jumpstarting if you're on the water. The new Skeeter split lid setup removes that problem.

[@spikesb1]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge of bass boats!

[@OklahomaLandPro]

I have truly enjoyed this video and have learned so much. Thanks so much!

[@tomgates5696]

Good stuff!

[@adamnation5672]

Ken you have my wife and I dying laughing with the camera work LoL great video though.

[@KenSmithFishing]

one particularly good up the nose camera shot...

[@adamnation5672]

It was priceless!!! You would say you see this... and she was like nope can you get a little closer LoL

[@okoutlaw33]

Something cool would be to post factory boat tours how they’re made. Not many up to date videos.

[@kevinscott6301]

Yeah I have a FXR fully loaded rode tackle everything I can touch 73

[@bgrigsby1889]

I love the Skeeter boats.

[@jeffporter100]

Great video! Now I’m wondering the speed at which mine starts to porpoise. It hardly ever does but we’ll see. Can’t wait for part 3!

[@jasonpierce1118]

35

[@jeffporter100]

Thanks! Now Im curious to get my basscat out and see at what speed it starts to porpoise.

[@jasonpierce1118]

Basscat is a wonderful boat there performance hulls ready to run 😁be safe out there .

[@licojjo]

Ken, I think if check out Jesse review video, I think he added that Seadek in the rod box.

[@jessefloyd8224]

Nope...it’s factory

[@jessefloyd8224]

I put a small piece of carpet in there to help protect my reels

[@stumpbumpers]

I wish someone would review these bass boats with attention to a second angler and rear deck space. I don’t fish alone as much as fish with my son and daughter or take a friend out. As far as my wife, when she goes we take the deck boat or pontoon, but for fishing I need rear deck space too. From what I can tell online and seen in person the Ranger 520 has a small rear deck and the old Stroker, old Procrafts had large rear decks. And Skeeter whether old or new seem to have ample space on the rear deck.

[@KenSmithFishing]

I've tried to pay some attention to it, specifically looking at back deck width, where to co holds on and where they store their rods.

[@stumpbumpers]

@@KenSmithFishing Yes. I appreciate the details you have provided. It’s definitely a treasure. There was a chart you provided in one or two of these videos of some dimensions for comparison. What is not stated there or others is length or square inches/feet. The length of the rear deck is more important than the width. The majority of the widths are close to 80” fishable. I would think square inches would give the most info on fishable space. I’d also like to add that we tend to use seats for panfishing or spider rigging and bike seats for bass. Any seat in the rear, greatly reduces fish ability in most bass boats. It’s hard to fight a fish, net or lip it with a seat in the way, especially if it wants to take around the motor. Just thoughts, but power poles come into play with children and noobs as well, so deck space in the rear is critical. Thanks for the response

[@ronwallace7563]

Don't worry about the camera stuff. The cut away bits weren't that bad at all, but I get how it would increase your editing time, for sure. Appreciate you doing the work.

[@scottlrussell3606]

Most guys I know that run either FXR or ZXR set there jackplate to 12, no porpoising at low speeds

[@jswartz1999]

Great stuff

[@miketadlock4150]

Ken, my 2020 FXR 21Limited Livewell lids open to the back not the side.

[@chrishall6500]

They changed them back to open to the sides for the 2021's.

[@pastorbillyedgar4986]

Just a comment on battery straps.as a auto body tech for thirty years any metal battery keepers are going to rust I didn't see the bass cat set up well but if it has any regular steel it will cause trouble later. It would net to be stainless steel or brass or you will have corrosion problems where the straps are easy to replace

[@dannycurtis1939]

I'm not for certain, but I believe they're usually a powder coated or anodized aluminum.

[@daviddawson5136]

Should poll some of your buddies with newer skeeters to see if they've had the problems you had with your old one.

[@jrthomas3581]

go back and read comments on first video, several guys comment that they have same problems

[@Dylan_Miller]

what problems did he have?

[@lancemabry6707]

You know your doing a lot of the ground work for me lol.. Skeeter was in my top 3 until you showed me the porpoiseing while at low speeds. That alone took it off my list

[@dustinpitts2741]

If you work your trim going on pad and coming off pad it does not do that

[@dannycurtis1939]

I agree... that's a hard one to overlook. Someone posted that a Hydro-foil will eliminate it, so that would be interesting to see.

[@lancemabry6707]

@@dustinpitts2741 for 90k you shouldn't have to do that in my opinion sir..

[@chuckspencer2703]

I had a Skeeter for two years, I hated the porpoising! My old Stratos never never did that. I never realize how much lower speed I was doing for scanning structures. And when you’re always dealing with porpoising it was a pain in the ***.

[@chefpoet1972]

@@lancemabry6707 good freaking point! I mean, for 90k there really shouldn't be much wrong with it.

[@clarence1149]

Since you have tried 11 boats now, have your opinions on the earlier ones changed (good or bad) now that you have tested more out?

[@Crankinstien]

Should have picked Skeeter bro!

[@harveywalker1560]

call Mercury and tell them to make bluetooth trim switches. If I was smart I would try to make an aftermarket set

[@sheaffergrubbs6056]

Is running bass boats in rough water bad for the boat.

[@KenSmithFishing]

Sheaffer it can't be great for them, they'll take a certain amount of abuse, but you can't just beat the crap out of them, bunch of guys found that out at Erie last year.

[@kensimpson8581]

Does skeeter still have wave slap in the front?

[@KenSmithFishing]

Ken funny I know exactly what you are talking about, you could hear a boat coming down the lake and immediately know from the sound that it was a Skeeter. I haven't thought about that but I guess not since I haven't heard that in a while so I'm going to say no.

[@kensimpson8581]

I meant while fishing. I rember back about 10 years ago i was fishing in a buddies skeeter and that wave slap on the front left and right was super annoying. I'm sure they have fixed it since then.

[@MRbassmasterman]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@parkerstewart4649]

Put Dakota lithium batteries and a 4 blade prop and this boat is a 70+ mph tournament loaded boat

[@johnwhitten7311]

I don't know why that "bull rider handle", is so popular with boat manufacturers. They can do alot better than that.

[@perrycorbett6846]

👊👊👊

[@dustinpitts2741]

I like the boat but 20000 cheaper ZXR 21 is the way I went

[@dustinpitts2741]

@Forklunkerman it rides awesome and handles big waves great I like the heavy boat in rough water I’ve been in 4 and 5 foot waves and always felt safe and strayed dry too this is my first Skeeter and can say it’s a great smooth ride loaded it’s with two people all your gear it’s a 70mph boat but I choose ride over speed

[@Sean_Eynon]

@Forklunkerman go look at both and really crawl around in them. Then sit behind the wheel and tell me which one has a better feel. If you say 721 then you need to get back in the Skeeter and get a better feel.

[@Sean_Eynon]

@Forklunkerman the guys at Fun N Sun are great people. We sell both Skeeter and Vexus bass boats and service the SETX are with two locations. Pretty confident the guys at Fun N Sun would tell you the same thing I am saying about over all fit and Finish of the Skeeter vs Phoenix. If you have any questions give us a call. Our business plan is about earning a customers business and that is why our CSI score is one of the highest in the country with Yamaha.

[@chanceehuiet]

I’ve always thought skeeters were one of the uglier boats out there. I REALLY like these new ZXR though. I like the layout and simplicity more than the FXR