Crestliner 1850 Bass Hawk Review

The Crestliner 1850 Bass Hawk delivers the best of boat worlds with its big water hull and bass boat interior.

Built on the hull of its acclaimed Fish Hawk series while incorporating the raised bow and stern casting decks of its PT series aluminum bass boats, the all-new Crestliner 1850 Bass Hawk is designed to deliver the best of both worlds, providing bass boat-like amenities in a versatile hull design that’s better suited to handle the rough, open waters of large northern lakes. This unique capability gives the Bass Hawk a ton of appeal with walleye, pike and muskie anglers too, and in particular, anglers who like to fish for all of the above.

The Bass Hawk comes in both 1850 and 1750 models, with the 1850 stretching 18 feet, nine inches in length and the 1750 model coming in one foot less. We’ll focus on the 1850 model since its extra length will appeal most to the big water anglers it’s made for.

An integrated LED strip light illuminates the bow deck panel when fishing at night or in low light conditions.

The interior layout is at once familiar, with its raised bow and stern casting decks. Unlike on many multi-species boats, these decks come all the way up to the gunnel, providing extra height for better visibility when casting around shallow water cover. That height above the water is also appreciated when pitching or flipping. Yet thanks to its versatile hull design, you’re still low enough to the water that anglers of average height will have no problem reaching over the side to lip a hooked bass.

The high deck allows for increased storage capacity – the bow deck rod locker holds 15 rods in total, each in individual tubes.

The bow deck is topped by a carpeted bow pad, which is the ideal spot for mounting an electric motor. The adjacent bow panel includes a coffee holder, a tool holder for forceps, pliers and other essentials, a smooth flat panel for mounting a sonar unit, and a recessed deck well that houses the electric motor’s foot pedal. A strip of LED lights on the bow panel illuminates this area when fishing at night or in low light conditions.

Crestliner’s SureMount system lets you add extra tool holders, rod holders or other accessories where needed.

If the standard tool holder isn’t quite enough, you can add a second one nearby since the Crestliner 1850 Bass Hawk comes with Crestliner’s SureMount gunnel as standard equipment. This great system lets you add accessories like tool holders, rod holders and other equipment anywhere you like, and without having to drill a single hole anywhere in the boat.

A grab handle, tackle tray and cup holder for the passenger are useful standard features that any angler will appreciate.

Having the deck raised all the way up to gunnel level doesn’t just improve this boat’s overall fishability, it also increases the amount of under-deck storage space by quite a bit. There are four in-deck storage lockers concealed under the bow deck, plus a huge in-floor rod locker that holds 15 rods in individual tubes. Its wide lid raises on double gas rams, leaving both hands free for adding or removing rods. Fold-down cleats that stow flat are a nice touch, protecting against stubbed toes or snagged fishing lines.

The helm features a fresh, contemporary styling with plenty of space front and center for a large, flush-mounted multi-function display, with the key gauges mounted up high where they’re easily observed underway.

Step down into the cockpit and that deeper hull again comes into play, allowing a choice between the traditional bass boat-style bucket seats with a seat/step between them, or twin pedestal-mount seats sandwiching a small console. The pedestal seat arrangement comes with two more jump seats in the stern, giving this boat added passenger capacity than one normally enjoys in a pure bass boat. In either case, Crestliner offers the Bass Hawk with a single or dual console layout. The helm features a fresh, contemporary styling with plenty of space front and center for a large, flush-mounted multi-function display, with the key gauges mounted up high where they’re easily observed underway. A grab handle, tackle tray and cup holder for the passenger are useful standard features that any angler will appreciate.

The raised stern deck features multiple storage compartments, surrounding a large 28-gallon aerated live well with a divider for tournament fishing.

The raised stern deck mirrors the front with features multiple storage compartments, plus a 28-gallon aerated live well to keep catches fresh.

An available pedestal seat option includes two jump seats in the stern, giving this boat added passenger capacity.

Maximum power for the Crestliner 1850 Bass Hawk is a 200-horsepower outboard, 50 more ponies than the nearly identical 1750 model which once again will give the bigger boat an edge with serious anglers. The hull is hefty 0.100 gauge aluminum plate for extreme durability, retaining the Crestliner Fish Hawk’s 12-degree deadrise for a smooth, stable ride in choppy waves. A huge 34-gallon fuel tank gives this boat has the range to fish hard all day without having to stop for gas, while its comparatively light weight – 1,625 pounds on average – makes it easy to tow and easier to launch from even unimproved ramps on remote back lakes.

With its proven Fish Hawk hull design and versatile bass boat interior, the Crestliner 1850 Bass Hawk really does bring the best of both worlds to multi-species anglers looking for a tough, do-it-all boat that’s equally adept at working shallow bays or trolling open waters.