Best ski in your opinion for fishing

[JetSkiJeffC]

I’ve searched a lot and only seen threads on how to setup your ski for fishing, but not which ski is the best platform to fish off of? I know this is very subjective, but I’m looking for your opinion. My biggest concerns are reliability as I’m looking to do some offshore fishing, range/mpg is essential as well as stability and room. I’m on a budget so I’d be buying used, I’m considering a Yamaha FXHO with the 1.1L since that ski is proven reliable or the Kawasaki ultra LX with the 1.5L which is another reliable motor and one of the most stable hulls, I have two supercharged skis now and want to avoid them due to maintenance and reliability, I’m not looking for speed or performance since this will be rigged for fishing. Any input is greatly appreciated.

[TimeBandit]

Well, that is because the “secret sauce” is exactly just that --> “it’s the way you setup your ski for fishing often trumps the base platform”. This is because there isn’t a (used) platform in existence for jet-ski fishing. If there were (which there is not real demand for it), we’d see wider heavier hulls for stability, way more compartment built-ins, transduce-friendly thru-hull location reserved, big fuel tanks, redundant battery systems, included modular rack and rod systems, etc….
Now I had to caveat that above statement with “used”, because Sea Doo is the first now to have produced a fishing-specific platform as of late – yet you mentioned used.

Edit (added info on MR1) :
And as far as the 1.1L engines go . . . I'd caution to you that these HO MR1's are not as reliable as the 1.0L MR1's which were on the older VX skis. Furthermore, MR1's have since been "cloned" and thus many of these lesser quality copy-cat parts and whole-engines plague this older engine platform. In other-words... if you find a 2004-2008 FX HO ski with a "running" MR1 HO motor, there's a 50/50 chance it is not OEM engine and thus highly unreliable.

[JetSkiJeffC]

So the Yamaha VX is one of the most reliable engines? The FX and FXHO both have a 1.1 but the Ho is just tuned for more power? I know the FX140 has issues. The VX is definitely cheap, what years were best for reliability? I’ve never been on a VX before so I can’t comment on the stability of it. I know the Kawasaki Ultra LX hull is pretty stable and good at chop, combined with the reliable 15f motor I'd think that would make a good base for a fishing platform too?

[TimeBandit]

Yes.
Let's put it another way . . . of all the MR1's I've seen (and it's been plenty both in-person & online) that have thrown rods and punched the cases . . . it's been the 160HP "HO" MR1. Not seen enough FX140s. Only the 110HP seems to have had the most reliable track record of all these MR1 variants.
Strictly my opinion here . . . I came away with the notion that the HOs were just slightly pushed too far by engineers.
Kawi 15f ?? Outside my familiarity here . . . hopefully someone else can chime in on it.
If you wanted to get into a 1.8L NA platform - which is a very reliable successor to the MR1, a used 2008-2012 FXHO would be the ticket, and the revised FX hull was well praised as well.

[JetSkiJeffC]

So a VX110 or a +08 1.8L would be the way to go for Yamaha. I’d love a newer 1.8L Yamaha but that’s getting into more money, might have to wait until fall to find the right deal.

[toughluck]

My experience is very limited but I was doing the same research a few months ago. It seemed that the FX HO was the most reliable option overall, which was important to me since I'm heading out solo. I picked up a 2011 a few months back and have been loving it.

Once you do pick one, I recommend a rack with welded rods holders!

[DrivingZiggy]

Seems like folks used to like the Yamaha SUV. Mostly for its size. But then you have 2-stroke.

Unless you switch the motor out and I think WFO does that in the Houston area.

[TimeBandit]

My experience is very limited but I was doing the same research a few months ago. It seemed that the FX HO was the most reliable option overall, which was important to me since I'm heading out solo. I picked up a 2011 a few months back and have been loving it.

Once you do pick one, I recommend a rack with welded rods holders!

1.8L na -- Good choice

[JetSkiJeffC]

SUV would be nice but I’m not risking a 2 stroke. Probably be too expensive to swap in a 4 stroke.

Is the 1.8L more reliable than the VX110? It’s definitey a lot more money, I wonder how the two compare as far as range. Might have to wait until the fall to get a 1.8L

[TimeBandit]

The 1.8L NA very very very reliable.
Having had both, I lean toward the 1.8L HO any day over the MR1 HO.

Some more "1.8L" food for thought :
Wet sump - no tiered oiling pumps / external reservoir. Less temperamental about oil levels.
Bigger liters - yet more wrenching room.
Its labeled an "HO", but that's not because it was "pushed" to 160HP. rather is born to be 160HP motor out the gate.
MR1 core block is 1st gen R1 motorcycle motor - high rev'ing. Yamaha retroactively marine'd that motor into the MR1. The 1.8L is born a marine engine.
No reduction gear - engine & pump - same rpms.
A single intake throttle-valve. (Well, the 110 hp mr1's do too).
Larger sparkplug threads - less likely to shear off / get stuck.
Less peripheral-parts - having wrenched on plenty MR1's the 1.8 NA seems more simplified & more cleanly executed as an engine platform.
Parts - the MR1 is out of production. There are many clone parts flooding the markets - read inferior.