If you wish you could find a bay boat boat-motor-trailer package that was easy to afford and easy to tow, launch, and retrieve, but was also built tougher than the norm, it's time to meet the G3 Boats Bay 22 DLX, which comes in stock form with a Bear aluminum trailer and a Yamaha F150 outboard at a base price that squeaks in under the $30K mark. The entire package barely breaks 3000 pounds so it can be hauled to and from the ramp with a modest SUV or pick-up, but it has a hull thickness of 0.125” gauge aluminum and a Tuff Coat interior liner.
Along with the easy trailering another big advantage of running a hull lighter than fiberglass is the comparative performance and efficiency, and even with the stock 150 horses you’ll be breaking the 40-mph barrier. Upgrade to 200 horses and it’ll be an eye-watering ride with a top-end in the upper 50-mph range and a 4500-rpm cruising speed in the mid-40s. That makes for efficiency of better than 3.5 mpg and if you can force yourself to slow down to around 30 mph (yeah, right!) you’ll be getting between 4.5 and 5.0 mpg.
Unlike some aluminum “bay” boats that seem like bass boats in disguise, the 22 DLX is designed and rigged for serious saltwater angling. The elevated aft casting deck (which has flip-up jump seats to either side) houses a 31-gallon livewell, the aluminum leaning post has rocket launchers (and holds a 48-quart cooler), and the elevated bow casting deck has locking rod stowage. There’s also integrated tackle stowage with three pull-out Planos behind the front console seatback. That console is a recent redesign, too, with three vertical flush-mount holders on each side and an expanded electronics flat that can handle a nine-inch flush-mount display. There’s a flat designed in at the bow, too, so you can add forward electronics if you so choose.
Also unlike many aluminum rigs, this boat is built tough to handle the brine and the waves that go along with it. The hull is all welded and G3 backs it up with an unusually strong limited warranty: five years bow-to-stern which is transferrable to a second owner, plus a limited lifetime warranty on external seams. That’s on top of component manufacturer warranties, so you can step into owning this boat with some healthy confidence.
Note: this model is pre-templated for factory-installed SeaDek flooring, an option that we’d definitely recommend. It only adds around $1600 to the price tag, and you’ll love having the padding underfoot on those long days of fishing. Another a critical plus to consider: when you drop a weight or drag a tacklebox across the deck the sound-deadening foam will prevent any fish-spooking noises from reverberating through the hull.
You have sticker-shock after looking at 22-foot bay boats? You’d need to buy not only a boat, but also a bigger tow vehicle to haul it? Check out the G3 Bay 22 DLX, and you may be surprised to discover that problems like these aren’t really problems at all.
G3 Bay 22 DLX Specifications
LOA – 22’3”
Beam – 8’1”
Displacement – 1676 lbs.
Draft – NA
Transom Deadrise – 15 degrees
Fuel Capacity – 30 gal.
Max. Power – 200 hp
Area Dealers – Anchor Boats, North East MD, (800) 773-2628.