boat 195discovery

If you're Bayliner, a division of Brunswick Marine, then you take the Bayliner 195, add a few little items to it and call it the 195 Discovery.

The problem with adding those extra items is that when you add them, you take away from some of the spaciousness that has made the 195 BR the bowrider of choiced of thousands of buyers.

In this case, though, if you are a fisherman the additions are all good. For example, the 195 BR doesn't have any provision for long, slow days of bass fishing when you just want to haul along at 1 or 2 kts with a very quiet electric motor and a bass chair -- you just can't sit in an overstuffed fun, comfy chatty chair for any length of time and not fall asleep while you're waiting for your first bass strike.

And, when you are finished, you back is likely to feel like you're one of those paperclip figures that have been appearing in TV ads laely -- the ones that end up getting bent into all sorts of interesting shapes as someone tells you that their heating pad is better than the other guy's -- we know the feeling as we've been that very curley cue guy and we know that ads will be ads. So, Bayliner's solution is to not only drop in their optional 12-volt bass trolling motor (you can troll for trout, too if you have the patience and you can also use the extra sundeck padding as flycasting space, if you want to -- provided there's no one in the cockpit or on the simming shelf -- which does add to the utility of the 195 Discovery.

Overall, that little addition gives the 195 Discovery a bit of character and sets it apart.

Yes, as noted, you do lose some passenger capacity -- two people -- but if you're an angler then it's not a big loss. Besides, the bass motor more than makes up for the extra space. Power comes from a three-liter V-6 fuel-injected engine that can be throttled back to just about idle to max out the 21 gallons available or which, with the right accessory pylon, can have the 195 Discovery available as a skiboat if the spirit and company moves you.

What is more important is the ability to remain out there in all sorts of weather and Bayliner has solved that little problem with a slightly different take on its optional sunroof. They have added full snap-on plastic windowing so that you have a completely enclosed cockpit that will keep you and the elements apart.

We would suggest, though, not using this smallboat much after ther 15th of November -- unless it's unseasonably warm above 25-degrees north -- because there's no heater and space heaters aren't a good idea in a small, enclosed space.

She also includes a fish-finder and space to handle your rods.

At just under $25,000, the 195 Discover is a good buy for the fisherman who is seeking the elusive small mouth or large mouth or just trying to follow some of the stories about the monster bass just hiding in that certain hole (usually just a tall fish story, anyway, but they're fun).

The stern drive 195 Discover can carry up to seven and is about 19-fett long. It's nearly 8-foot beam makes it stable and she does have a rather deep-Vee so that if you want to make full use of the bowriding area there's plenty of vertical space available above he keel.

Like others the other 195 she does draw about three-feet so you do ahave to be careful about where you anchor your fiberglass-bodied Bayliner.