There’s an old saying that goes… the two happiest days of boat ownership are the day you take delivery of your new boat… followed by the day you sell it. Well, maybe that’s true if you’ve bought the wrong boat but with nearly two months of fishing time on my 1950 I don’t just like this new Skeeter… I LOVE it!
19′ 10″ in length. 101″ wide. 225 HP Yamaha doing the pushing. All nestled on top of a custom color matched tandem axel trailer. Colors are White Armor gel coat on the hull, Nassau Blue main stripe and a Pewter running surface. Carpet on the interior is Blue Grey and the upholstery color is Pacific Blue. Yamaha Grey and or Red accents are used on the hull and on the trailer to tie everything together. In my opinion this is one SHARP boat!
Sitting next to the 225 Yamaha 4 Stroke you’ll find a Yamaha T8 kicker anchored to the transom on the port side. The T8 has been rigged to allow for tiller steering at the back of the boat or, should you choose, you can tie the kicker to the big motor with a linkage bar and steer from the console. A Trollmaster Pro speed control unit was installed to ensure that the driver would have directional AND speed control at the console. If you’ve never used one of these Trollmaster units let me tell you… they’re sweet! A speed wheel allows the driver to make small adjustments to the trolling speed of the T8 kicker from anywhere in the boat.
When I was rigging this boat I couldn’t settle on Lowrance or Humminbird… so I did a combination of the two. I have a HDS-8 and a 112C networked pulling sonar signal off a glassed in transducer with one Lowrance unit at the console and the other Lowrance unit placed so I can easily see the screen while running the kicker. Or if someone is fishing at the back of the boat they can monitor depth changes from the back of the boat and I don’t ever have to answer the never ending “how deep is it… how deep is it now?” question. These Lowrance units can be easily interchanged to suit my preferences… or whims.
Lowrance 112C at the Console
Lowrance HDS-8 at the Kicker
I also didn’t feel I could get by without a Humminbird with side scan capabilities. I have a 798 dash mounted to the right of the steering wheel. (The Trollmaster is located to the right of the 798 in this photo). To ensure the best performance the side scan transducer is transom mounted and the high speed transducer is glassed in the bottom of the hull. As many of you are aware as boat speed increases beyond the usable speed range of the side scan transducer the Humminbird automatically switches to the down look transducer while running on plane. Talk about a SWEET setup!
So far my impressions of the Skeeter 1950 are very, very favorable with regards to quality of build and attention to detail. The carpet, upholstery, lids, latches and doors are all rock solid. Little things like the quality of the control switches stand out. In this next photo you’ll see the master control panel for all the lights, pumps and accessories throughout the boat. This is my first boat with push-button switches. It did take a few minutes to figure out what each button did but after a little “push it and see” testing I can say I really like the solid feel of the button, the bright LEDs that indicate power on/off for each item and the reassuring audible “click” you hear when a selection is made. I think the best feature of this type of control panel is it is nearly impossible to accidentally bump a pump on or off unlike the black plastic rocker switches or toggle switches found on most boats. I’ve lost more than a few fish in the live wells on other boats when either I had bumped a switch off… or a guide client had done so inadvertently.
One of the features that I didn’t know that I would like but now find to be a huge plus for the way I like to fish is the addition of the two jump seats at the back deck. The stability of the back deck is not compromised in any way for those that like to stand and cast and having the ability to leave the two rear pedestals back at home opens up extra floor space at the back of the boat. When you need a third or fourth seat for extra passengers they’re there for you. When you don’t need them they’re folded down and the rear of the boat is not cluttered up by additional pedestal seats that are really only needed when the boat is on plane.
At the bow of the boat I have a 101# thrust Minnkota Terrova 36 volt electric responsible for fine tuning the boat positioning. The foot control on the Terrova’s is a MAJOR improvement in functionality and durability over the older power drive foot pedals and the power of this 36 volt electric is really quite impressive. My electronics at the bow is a Lowrance 520c which has been dash mounted. This unit is networked pulling the GPS signal from the installed backbone while the sonar signal is coming from the Universal Sonar feature in the Minnkota. The view in this next photo is pretty much what I see when I’m out there on the water… minus the bumper of my truck of course.
Storage in the 1950 is abundant to say the least. The two storage compartments at the bow are HUGE. Actually that needs to be bolded to do it justice. They’re HUGE! I have 2 B&B Crankbait Boxes, over a dozen plano boxes, 3 BIG tubs of plastics, a tackle bag, two sets of rain gear, 2 extra life vests (the other two are on the seats), a throwable cushion… all in the port side locker at the bow. The other locker holds the boat cover, anchor(s), medical kit… and there’s still room to spare in each locker.
Center rod storage is a god send in my opinion… particularly if the rod locker does NOT have those rod tubes that limit storage capacity and often do not accommodate the oversized guides on high end rods. Nothing more frustrating than to have a center rod storage “system” that doesn’t fit your St. Croix or G Loomis spinning rods.
When I took this photo I had at least 8 spinning rods (and one slip bobber 
) in the locker with the majority of those rods in rod socks. Tangles are basically eliminated, the rods travel safely and I could easily store an additional 8 or more rods in this area making it a great use of space by the Skeeter engineers.
So far the best prop on this boat has been the stock Yamaha 21 pitch 3 blade stainless steel prop. Hole shot is very good. Midrange acceleration is good. Top speeds have been in the 51 – 54 MPH range depending on if I’m going upstream or downstream and the weight of the load. With this prop I’m able to over-rev so I’m VERY careful with the RPMs. Based on the “what’s left” feel in the throttle position I’m thinking this prop could easily spin to 6200+ RPMs.
Higher pitch props have been tested. A 22 pitch tempest 3 blade produce similar speed to the 21 pitch yamaha 3 blade but the hole shot suffered noticeably.
A 23 pitch tempest 3 blade was too much wheel for my 1950 with a poor hole shot and noticeable drop in top speeds noted.
At this time the thinking is the 21 pitch Yamaha 3 blade is the right prop for this rig and some consideration is being given to spending some money on some customer tweaks to this prop. Perhaps to additional cupping would bring those RPMs under control and produce a few more MPH without sacrificing too much on the hole shot? If I go this route and have some prop work done I’ll be sure to let everyone know the results.
Where this boat really shines is on the water. Sure it looks good on the trailer. But how does it handle wind, current and waves?
The answer to these questions is at the heart of why I’ve grown so fond of this boat. It tracks incredibly well in the wind making my job of boat control when running the electric at the bow far easier than I’ve ever experienced in any boat I’ve ever owned. Point the bow where you want it to go… apply some power… and you go. The nose doesn’t get blown around and the nose doesn’t “search” from side to side forcing constant corrections when under power.
And the ride…! Man, the ride is incredible. Skeeter put that deep hull under this boat for a reason and that reason was to punish waves. I can honestly say I’ve never, ever been in a better big water boat. I was just out fishing with Dustin Stewart on pool 3 on a day when we had a 30+ MPH upstream wind which was stacking up the waves. As the 1950 glided across the tops he turned to me and said “I’d be breaking my back right now in my boat. It is unbelievable how well these boats ride!”
I couldn’t agree more!
So there’s my 60 day report on my 1950. Unlike that old saying about boat ownership I still LOVE this boat and I just don’t see that changing any time soon. About the only thing I need to change is the way it smells. It still has that new boat smell and that has got to GO! A few more trips should solve that problem nicely. 
If anyone has any questions about a 1950 don’t hesitate to give me a shout. I’ll do my best to answer them. Or if you’d like to get in my boat and take a ride just give me a holler. We’ll meet at Everts and put her through the paces.
I know for a fact that next spring come boat shopping time for me, I’ll really be checking out a one of those Skeeters! 
I don’t normally like blue, but this is sure sharp. Now, if it just had the old man full windshield, I’d say she is perfect. 
