2017 Sun Tracker Fishin' Barge 22 XP3 — Dothan, AL 36301

A 2017 Sun Tracker Fishin' Barge 22 DLX lying at Dothan, Alabama, asking $14,999 through Ashley Marine — the cheapest sensible answer to the family-pontoon question, from the brand that exists to be exactly that. Sun Tracker is Bass Pro's pontoon arm, built in Missouri at catalog-store volume, and the Fishin' Barge is its split-the-difference model: fishing decks fore and aft with livewells and rod holders, a family lounge in the middle, eleven seats on 24 ft 2 in of overall boat despite the 22 in the name.

One note on the paperwork before the poetry. The dealer's ad title reads "Bass Buggy 22 DLX Fishing Barge", which mixes two Sun Tracker model names in one breath. The Bass Buggy line stops at 18 feet; at 22 feet of deck with a 115 on the transom, the boat described is the Fishin' Barge 22 DLX — 115 horsepower happens to be that model's exact rating. Have the dealer read you the hull plate anyway. A boat should know its own name.

Now the honest ledger. What owners praise, per PontoonHQ's owner surveys, is precisely this configuration: the price, the fishing setup, the warranty length. What the complaint boards report, and they run cold on the brand — PissedConsumer holds it near two stars across dozens of reviews — is lighter-gauge aluminum than the mid-tier yards, slow warranty service, and a handful of genuinely alarming weld-failure stories. Both accounts are true at once, and both send your surveyor to the same place: the logs, the welds, and the transom bracket. A nine-year-old example has had time to prove itself or to start seeping; a $300 survey on a $15,000 boat is the best odds you will get on the water.

The interesting comparison is inside the same corporate family. Bass Pro also owns Ranger, whose Reata 220FC is this same fish-and-cruise errand executed with powder-coated tubes and bass-boat fittings — at exactly twice the money:

And if the family outvotes the fisherman entirely, the same season's Sylvan trades the livewells for wraparound lounges:

But nothing else on the power shelf puts a whole family plus two fishing stations on the water for under fifteen thousand dollars. If the budget is the boss, this is the one to survey first:

Sources: Sun Tracker factory specifications; PontoonHQ brand review; PissedConsumer owner reviews; boats.com Fishin' Barge 22 test.