Used boat

[drag4striper]

I am asking for general thoughts on a used 2009 Stratos 1760 DV multi species single console boat. It comes with a Yamaha 115 4 stroke motor. A few features are two hummingbirds w/ gps, lake card and a terrova trolling motor w/auto pilot. I have never had any experience with Stratos ,Yamaha or Hummingbird. There looks to be enough room for a bait tank on the left side opposite the drivers console. I feel this would balance the bait tank weight . Thanks for any help.

[striperjohn]

I used to have a Stratos Fish-n-ski, back in the 90s that I forced a bait tank into and tried it. It worked out with some success. I put mine directly in the middle of the windshield and stepped over it to get up to the trolling motor. LOL, a real pain in the butt. But you must do what you must do. I made a filter box similar to the SBT II box except it was a separate entity in a 5 gal igloo water container!  It was a neat design that worked with just about any cooler and/or bait tank. Fully adjustable to the different depths of each. The damned thing worked really nice but took up a great deal of space when added with the bait tank.
     Your questions begs a great deal of questions back at you, simply because there are so many variables to consider. How much bait do you plan on carrying, how long you going to fish, you going to have buddies with you? What type of fishing you planning on doing, planers, downrods, freelines? What type motor is on the boat--is it capable of planning off okay with a bait tank and a couple guys in there with you? My old Stratos--one guy had to be up on the bow to get it to plane off with the bait tank full. You catching bait with a throw net? etc etc.
     I'm surprised no one has commented here to help you out, but there are just so many things you have to consider before trying to turn a boat into a bait fishing boat. You mentioned having it on the port side (passengers seat area?), well if you get just a small say 20 gal tank, when filled with bait etc that's going to weigh about 200 lbs or so. That's a great deal of weight on one side of your boat when running down the lake.
     Now all that being said, you can make it work-I did, and the guys on here will give you probably more advice then you want.
Pm me if you like with more questions or on here doesn't matter to me.
Cheers,
John

[Gator]

I was just like you. All about the artificial side and this damn site gave me the itch for live bait fishing. My boat (17' cc)is perfect for artificial but at 17' it makes it more difficult for live baiting. Went from a tackle box and a few rods in the boat to 8 or 10 rods, 30 gallon bait tank, castnets,tackle box and a crazy obsession. But I make it work because that's what we do.

[johnr]

I fish from an 18' multi-species tiller. I love it, but it is not for hardcore live baiting. Even with a 96" beam and no consoles, anything over a 20 gallon tank would get in my way. That said, a bait spa or homemade system similar would turn my boat into a fine live bait platform with the large oval livewells it already has.

Some things to consider:

Carpet. Mine has carpet on the decks and vinyl in the cockpit. Catching bait would ruin the carpet in no time. Most multi species boats are carpeted.

Room. Most multi species boats aren't designed with room in mind for a large bait tank. A 20 gallon would be my choice.

Stability. The Stratos has a fairly sharp v hull. A tank anywhere other than center may cause you to list.

For strictly live baiting, a standard multi-species boat would not be my first choice.

[drag4striper]

Guys all the input is appreciated a great deal. Some points you have made were right on the spot. But going to a larger sized boat and engine was my main objective. I made the trip to kick the tires and test drive it. A very smooth riding boat I might add. I think most cons that were brought up I can deal with. Very few things are perfect anyway. The opening on the port side looked plenty big enough for a 20 gallon sbt, maybe 30 gallon. I forgot to measure the opening. It may sound silly but my head was spinning with all the info. Johnr brought up a possible list from the tank being on the port side. I am a large person so while driving my weight plus filling a large live well on the starboard side should be close for balance. The carpet will be a problem over time for sure. I thought about changing the cockpit to vinyl. Gator was right we adapt because we have to. That's striper fishing or any type for that matter. Even though I will try to add all the striper fishing methods that Striperjohn has listed it will be a slow learning process and expensive...... Can't take it with you when you leave this world. Those were good ideas that striperjohn had on homemade bait tanks. I may have to go that route to start with. I will always like to trolling artificial baits so I'll need to slow the speed down some. Maybe the weight of the bait tank and the two large live wells filled will help . On another boat I owed pulling one or two five gallon buckets to slow it down worked for walleyes . Or I may get one of those trolling plates for the leg. Even with a bait tank I think three to four could fish from it. Having four pedestal seats and eight different location to put them in will help. Most of the time it's just two of us.