2024 Smoker Craft Adventurer 20 GLS

Boat Reviews

Boat Review by: Rick Layzell

smokercraft-adventurer-210-gls-running

Smoker Craft have long been building quality fishing boats with a well-earned reputation among today’s multi-species, multi-waters anglers. Their innovations have been copied by competitors, and their engineers are always chasing new technologies and new designs to keep the brand in the upper realm of the game. The Adventurer 210 GLS is a statement boat that thrusts the brand to the forefront of the big water fishing boat market.

Taking learnings from her smaller 17’ and 18’ Adventurer siblings, the 210 GLS rests at a stout 20’8” length overall while carrying a very trailerable 8’6” beam. Her transom allows your choice of up to 250 HP and her cockpit capacity is up to 7 anglers. With a 19-degree deadrise and a massive interior depth of 30” there’s little doubt this boat was built with big water in mind.

From the exterior she’s esthetically pleasing with sweeping hull colours with soft grey paint finishes on the upper and lower hull that pulls seamlessly into her interior. It’s nearly impossible to miss the width of the gunnels – another clear big water fishing message. This boat is designed for full customization with your choice of gear. Her windshield is tall, meaning longer angling seasons and the heavy black trim adds an element of subtle toughness.

The standard IGTS – Integrated Gunnel Track System runs the full length of the boat on both port and starboard sides to deliver even more customization capabilities. Rod storage is offered under the port side gunnel and within a lockable floor storage compartment. The trolling motor panel is fully prewired allowing you to select your choice of power. The bow also features lockable storage.

Worth noting is Smoker Craft’s warranty commitment. They stand behind their products with their “Lifetime Plus 6” warranty program giving you a lifetime parts and labour warranty on the hull and structure, and six years on all components, flooring, and upholstery (some exceptions may apply).

The dual console is intentionally positioned well forward, creating extensive interior space for fishing. The captain’s helm offers up your choice of traditional gauges or the optional Pro Dash set up. There’s also ready access to the onboard sound system and rocker-style toggle switches for your electrical needs. The passenger side features a small ice chest and lots of open access storage.

Checker plate steel is used extensively throughout her interior lending even more to that big water feel. We noted an aerated stern livewell and appreciated how readily the stern jump seats could be stowed under the gunnel creating even more space for angling.

Our test boat was equipped with a Mercury 250 Pro XS and the following options: dual Solix 10” graphs at the helm, a Terrova 112-72” I-Pilot, dual batteries, and the HDTS Pro Package of fishing accessories.

Our test day itself was less than ideal. Lake Wawasee was serving up a dose of 18-24” waves with swirling winds, creating a bit of chaos on the water. Add to that the intermittent rain showers and it was a perfect day for testing a big water fishing machine. After designing some rain gear for the cameras and equipment, we ventured off the docks ready to put the 210 through her paces.

The conditions made for an empty waterfront, so the lake was ours to safely execute our various tests. First up – ease the throttle and get her up on plane. We do this to get a sense of how much power she needs to get on step. The 250 delivered exceptionally well with barely 1/3 throttle handily putting the 210 on step. Next – hole shots. From a dead stop, we pushed her up into the waves and she consistently gave us hole shots in under 3.5 seconds. After taking some running footage we then moved into cruising speeds. She will stay on plane at under 20 mph, and with the two of us on board we found she liked to cruise anywhere from 22 to 29 mph. The last data we record is top speed, and this is where I thought consditions would negatively affect our results. We played into the wind, and with the wind at our back, and she gave us 48.8 mph at 5,550 RPM which far exceeded my expectations.

The part that stands out is how well this boat rides. She sits very tall in the water and with all that freeboard it felt like I was on the second floor! She is strong, incredibly stable, and despite my best attempts to stuff her into corners she runs like she on tracks. The Adventurer is a fun boat to drive and more importantly she is designed for the big water angling community that knows what they want. Her customization capabilities will allow you to rig her the way you want for any fishing you may do.

All that’s left is to get into your local boat show or Smoker Craft dealer and get her on order.