I have a buddy with one that I've been on a few times. I'm not a fan of how they ride, especially at speed, they feel shifty to me.

 

My buddies 19 is surprisingly squirrelly when trimmed up running wot. Ride is decent for a 19ft boat. Sides are too low in the back.

 

I’ve owned a Shoalwater 19 Cat for 3 years. I don’t have a whole lot of experience riding in other cats to compare it to, but I’ve been impressed with the ride for a 19ft boat. And if you can see water it will run in it! I run all over Trinity Bay area a lot. Of course I have to pick my days. I went from a 30ft twin engine offshore boat to this 19 cat so again, have to be realistic about the conditions. As you move up to the 21 and 23 cat they get a lot more capable

 

Y’all know anything about tha 20 v

 

I know i would buy a 21 cat over it, once you have a cat, you don't go back. You'll be fishing places you never thought about before. That 20 isn't big enough to give you a great ride to begin with.

 

I looked at a new SW 23’ with a 250 and with the jack plate all the way up and trimmed out some there was a good 7” of prop below the bottom of the boat. No way that boat would run in what I call skinny water. If set up right I think they will run pretty skinny but if you look at the transom and how it’s built they are limited some by design particularly the 23’. The 19’ with a 90 will get skinny.

 

A 23' runs extremely skinny, 6-8 inches depending on load. Idk what setup you saw, but prop shouldn't be that low. I've been alot of hrs on one, they are a hair behind an Illusion, just watch Chuck Mckinny videos. Ride is no V hull ride, but raised consoles help a bunch.

 

Had a 23 cat and it rode good. I can’t compare it to other cats and it‘s not a v-hull but i fished the jetties, bays, lakes and rivers. Even slung kids on tubes, knee boards and wake boards.
It takes learning how to operate it in the various conditions. I liked the 23 cat.

 

and i'll add the that 20 is way under powered. other brand boats are rated higher in the same size category

 

I think you may be talking about the 20 Cat, the Op is looking at a 20 V Shoalwater makes now.

 

My 21' SW 250SHO I had for several years and the 23' SW I have now with a 300 proxs will run as skinny as you want it to. my skeg is practically even with the bottom of the boat full jack and a little trim with great water pressure. the boat runs on top of the water not through it. had an illusion for a while and got tired of the it chattering like driving a truck down a washboarded dirt road. The illusion and all notched transoms for that matter has an advantage getting up in a foot of water with out being hard on the prop but that didnt make up for the ride for me. everything that makes a boat run smooth makes it run deep and everything that makes it run skinny makes it run rough. cats are a great compromise but don't expect it to run like a v-hull. and not all the cats are the same either. some are smoother and some are faster. some slide some don't. some have notched transomed some don't. tunnel v's are the best at both worlds they just ain't sexy and are slow.

 

had an illusion for a while and got tired of the it chattering like driving a truck down a washboarded dirt road.

Mine didn't do that at first but then seemed to be doing badly after a while. I thought I had an unbalanced prop or loose shaft and had it all checked out. Everything was good but it was super annoying soni sold it.

 

I have a 23 and can't imagine having another brand for how I fish. It can be wet and it can be back breaking in bad water so I try to avoid 30mph fishing days but it makes up for it in shallow water performance I think. I do have some very weird drift issues with mine, especially if the engine is in the water but that is trivial. If you are running full throttle in glass with JP all the way up and any kind of trim it will feel sketchy so I don't do that lol. Loves chop, like 5 to 6", runs really easy and top speed for me is 53 in that kind of water. I can get up in under a foot, been in 9 mile hole many times in a falling tide so I have experience in it. I avoid Corpus Christi bay unless there is no wind, 2-3 foot tight sequence is absolutely no fun. Good luck finding the right boat for you!

 

you get the "mind of my own " drift also..??? I thought that was just me..???

my shoalwater ( I SWEAR ) will sometimes "Drift" upwind ... that boat really does whatever it wants when its drifting .. its NEVER simply drifts downwind

 

Flats Cat has my vote, only from experience and none on SW. Insanely skinny…

 

You may have an inch or two on that SW cat, but ride is way way better on the cat. I've been on both. Unless Flats Cats have changed in the last 20 years.

 

X2 ON THE FLATSCAT

 

I did look at a couple flats cat boats seems like they would ride like a big flat bottom in any kinda seas

 

You’re spot on. They are one of the shallowest running glass prop boats around but don’t do well in chop.

 

Head on, no. Quartering just right, yes, like rock-a-bye-baby. Depends on which bay system. Upper coast, no… middle, likely… lower, very likely excluding Baffin.

But again, no experience on SW.

 

I have a SW 23 cat with Evin 300 eTec with jackplate but no trim tabs. I've run it for 200 hours over 3 years between Corpus and Baffin. I've been happy with it. Relatively dry ride even in heavy chop. Gets up quick although I haven't tried getting up in really shallow water. Cruises at 48mph short of wot with a full-size T top. Low gunnels make it easy getting in after wading. Also great for drift fishing. I have 24v Terrova iPilot, but I would go with 36v next time.

 

I have a 20 Cat with Mercury 150. Does well in the Galveston West Bay system. Not very good on a chop with 16+ MPH winds. Drafts really shallow but my prop is not set for shallow water hole shots. Once on plane it stays on top and runs well in shallow water.

 

the 19 shoalwater cat will allow you to explore every creek and back lake that exists.. its a airboat with a prop


the 19 cat will actually float in 8 full of gas and texas sized men. ( I own one) - the 19 cat must have a heavy cup 4 blade power tech to run properly (otherwise it cavitates all the time) . Once you learn how to get up it will get up with the hull sitting on on the hard sand.

you will need to replace your kidneys once a year due to the ride quality.. but man she floats skinny ..