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2021 Polaris Ranger 1000 Review

February 2, 2025

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The Polaris Ranger 900 may very well be the most popular UTV of all time. Polaris sold so many of them that when they made the jump to a Ranger 1000 XP, they kept the 900 in the lineup as a lower cost alternative. The continued strong sales of the machine made it clear that the company needed to keep a machine in that slot, but the 900 was in desperate need of some updates, especially when the 1000 XP had a major revision that carried it to the top of the class. The answer is the 2021 Ranger 1000, one of the smoothest UTVs we’ve driven.

Table of Contents

Clearing up the confusion
In the field report
Should you buy one?

Clearing up the confusion

When Polaris unveiled the Ranger 1000, it caused some serious confusion as to what was going on in Minnesota. They had the Ranger 1000 XP, but now there was a new Ranger 1000 with less horsepower, a lower price and not as many variations as before? We asked a Polaris representative and he described it like a truck. You have one version of a truck with a basic setup and a smaller engine, and then you have the same truck that comes with more features, a bigger engine and a higher price. There’s a demand for both kinds of trucks, and there’s a similar demand for two versions of the Ranger.

The two Rangers share the same frame, have similar bodywork and a similar suspension design. In fact, much of the machine is similar to its big brother. But the engine is different. The Polaris rep added that they setout to see how they could retain aspects of the 900 engine but ended up creating a completely new motor. The Ranger 1000’s motor, like the XP version, is a 999cc Prostar twin, but the internals are different. The major thing you’ll notice is that the 1000 produces 61 horsepower compared to the XP’s 82 horsepower. Delivery is also strikingly different. While the XP delivers a snappy power curve that makes it fun to trail ride with as well as work, the Ranger 1000 motor feels almost electric. It is very smooth with the power delivery and it is perfect for work around the farm or property, while still being perfectly suited to cruising the trails.

See also The Dark Side… Night Fishing for Big Brown Trout Let’s Face It, in Most Cases Those Big Brown Trout in Your Local River Aren’t Falling Victim To a Size 10 Woolly Bugger or a 16 Prince NymphTo be honest, you’re probably unaware of what lies beneath the surface tucked against a log jam or wedged under that giant boulder mid-river that you’ve fished countless times. In most cases in my night fishing experience, there’s almost always a much bigger fish that shows itself at night than any other previous fish you’ve might have seen during the daylight hours.The majority of the largest trout I have ever seen were at night in less than 24” of water. Some of the most dominant predators on the planet feed at night… and brown trout are no different.Before we go further into tips, tactics, and tackle, I’d like to preface that night fishing obviously has its additional challenges and even dangers. Safety is by far the utmost importance when fishing, especially night fishing. Understanding every inch of the river you plan on night fishing is extremely important. Knowing every boulder, drop off/ledge, and casting obstruction can prevent you from going for an unexpected swim, broken rod, or even a hook to the face (speaking from experience). Always wear eye protection (clear or light illuminating lenses), two headlamps (you’ll drop one in the river), and try to take a fishing buddy with you just for peace of mind.Where I live in Pennsylvania as well as many places in the country, night fishing is more of a seasonal approach. By all means, you can night fish every month of the year and find some success, but there is definitely a “prime time” to be on the water. Typically, I personally begin my night fishing season during the “post hatch” season. After the majority of the caddis and mayflies hatch in May, and the water becomes skinny and shallow, this is when I find brown trout to be starved and more eager to eat larger meals.This Will Change the Way You Fly Fish Pressured WatersNight fishing in May, June, and even early July definitely produces plenty of fish, but not THE fish we’re all looking for. Once August rolls around and water temps begin to drop into safe fishing temperatures, that’s when you need to fish until the wheels fall off. Sleep becomes a thing of the past and coffee becomes your best friend. Your best shot at consistently catching brown trout 20”+ and even 24”+ is between August and October.The worst conditions for daytime fishing are your best conditions for night fishing. Low and clear water is by far the best water conditions to target big brown trout at night. Dominant brown trout adapt and hide so well during these conditions during the daytime which make them almost impossible to target. Once the sun begins to fade, the fish will migrate out of structure and move into feeding areas for the night.Swing It! Spey Streamer Fly Fishing TipsA mistake anglers often make is fishing the same deep hole they typically would fish during daytime. Brown trout will move into shallow sandy tail-outs, or push into the head of a run where the water might be less than 24” in depth. The inside seam of a deep pool also offers a great ambush point for a large brown trout.Tackle used when night fishing is very similar to fishing big streamers. Any 6wt, 7wt, or 8wt will suffice. On larger rivers, a trout spey or switch rod works great for swinging streamers or skating rodent patterns across the surface. A floating fly line is the most versatile line for night fishing in my opinion. You can fish surface flies, “pushers” that sit barely subsurface in the surface film, or even a streamer if you want to swing a baitfish into deeper pools. Your leader is extremely important when night fishing as well. Typically when fishing a surface style fly, keeping the leader short and stout is critical. Two feet of 20lb tippet to a blood knot, followed by three feet of 15lb tippet is typical when fishing surface style flies. Your leader needs to be strong and abrasion resistant. It’s not “if," it’s “when” you toss your flies into a tree.I have personally witnessed brown trout eat mice, rats, bats, baby birds, and even water snakes. A large brown trout over 24” is not much different than a musky. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box when night fishing. The biggest brown trout I’ve hooked at night was on a 6” rat pattern. The most important aspect of fly design for night fishing in my opinion is how much vibration, water displacement, or surface disruption you can create while not sacrificing your hook gap. Thin, but wide profile deer or foam body mouse flies work great. If using streamers, a pusher style fly that rides high in the water column seems to be extremely effective as well.Tied with a Surface Seducer Double Barrel Popper & Slider Body.How to fish you fly is totally dependent upon on moon phases, cloud coverage/ambient light, and speed of the current. A mouse is not going to swim upstream against the current.The two most effective retrieves are: Down and across just like you would swing a wet fly Casting upstream and working the fly back to youIf the current is a classic soft dry fly drift, I almost always work the fly down and across. Your rod tip height as well as your casting angle will dictate the speed of the fly. While fishing short and soft inside seams of a faster run/pool, orienting yourself downstream or below the fish will enable you to cast directly upstream and work the fly right to your feet. This is also a fantastic approach to work upstream along parallel with a heavily wooded bank. I have seen countless times where a fish will strike multiple times with this approach and ultimately eat the fly at your feet after missing 3-4 times in one drift.Be sure to always start your casts short, most fish are sitting right at your feet!At the end of a long night as the sun begins to rise; rest assure, that legendary fish most likely got away. More times than not, they have to make a series of mistakes in order for you to land them. Whether it ran you into a long jam, bent a 1/0 hook, or it came off just short of the net; the giants of the dark will keep you coming back for more. Tip your cap, swig some spiked coffee and keep after it. More often than not, they’ll leave you with a memory rather than a photo that you will never forget. Some nights, all you’ll have left is a fly patch full of chewed up foam. Want More Content Like This? Join the Flymen Mailing List at the bottom of the page!About Stephen Nymick:Stephen Nymick is owner of Stephen Nymick Fly Fishing LLC, and a Guide for Steelhead Alley Outfitters. He began fly fishing at just 5 years old on his local streams in Western Pennsylvania. The day his father took him out to get his first fly rod, he also came home with his first fly tying kit. Stephen has been fly fishing exclusively for over 20 years and has guided for 7 years. Throwing big streamers or mice for brown trout and swinging flies for Steelhead are Stephen’s true passions. You can follow Stephen on Instagram @stephennymick. For further questions, email Stephen at paflyco@gmail.com. To book a trip, contact Steelhead Alley Outfitters at 888-453-5899. Written by Stephen Nymick Filed under brown trout, fly fishing, fly fishing tips, fly tying, freshwater Tweet Comments on this post (8) Feb 26, 2024 Hi Sir/ We are manufacturers of fishing flies based in Uganda. We have qualified tiers who can maintain the best quality that a customer needs, we strictly deliver on time and use the right size of hooks.We tie all types of flies according to the customers orders.We are now looking for someone whom we can partner with for progress in both parties. Thank you as we wait to hear from you soon. under management by Fred— Fred luyali Apr 21, 2022 Hi,Re night time fishing for trout article.Thank you for a thoroughly informative article.Could you let me know what the chewed up flies in the picture are called and do you have any tying instructions you could send me?Kind RegardsDerek Coles— Derek Coles Oct 31, 2021 Dear Sir, I am Betty, a professional custom fly tier and the owner of a tube fishing flies fly group in business. With an experience of 20 years in fly tying in fulling mill company, I do produce all categories of fly patterns etc,Nymphs,Dries,Wets,Salmons,Saltwater, Pikes,Terrestrials etc. The quality of flies lies within my finger tips. I am always impressed with each and every fly that comes out of my vice.I have 20 good fly tiers who have experience in producing quality flies for the fly market globally. I will be glad if you would test my flies sample to match the quality of the same. I can assure you that with my flies you will emerge the best in the flies industry. If you are ready to foster flies business with me, I will be supplying you with a lower price per 1 dozen.I am eagerly waiting to hear from you. Best regards— Fred luyali May 04, 2021 This piece really got me thinking about my terminal obsession with netting three footers out of the Colorado where I live. I’ve actually landed a couple of those ghost browns @ zero-dark-thirty, and broke off even more. Your piece has me plotting already for some unconventional post-hatch, stealthy Ninja type spey missions.— Matthew Fullenwider Mar 18, 2021 I’m gonna be that guy and say that my biggest after dark brown came at 11:55 pm in mid-March…but overall I agree that late summer is the best time to raise fish in the late hours of the night. I would also add that a full moon is bad for mousing but great for streamers.— Patrick Houlton Mar 17, 2021 Nice article. Exactly what areas do you guide ?— John Kersting Mar 17, 2021 Great article, very insightful.— David Mar 17, 2021 Excellent article. I just started drifting my big tailwater after sunset last September to get the feel of casting streamers and catching fish after dark in big flows. Managing the boat and maintaining situational awareness is not for the faint of heart. One thing I wish the article had mentioned was technical specs on headlamps for night fishing— Drew Gilchrist Leave a comment Name Email Message

One other thing about the difference between the two machines that will surprise you. Anyone who has ever ridden in a Ranger 1000 XP knows how quiet it is. It is so legendary for how quiet it is that other manufacturers use it as the benchmark for how quiet they try to get their machines to be. The only one we’ve known that came close is the Yamaha Wolverine X4, that is, until now. The Ranger 1000 is even better than the XP at being a quiet riding machine. You can set off on a trail ride and have a pleasant conversation with your passengers without trying to compete with the volume of the machine.

In the field report

To test out the machine, we set out to find as many scenarios as we could to try it in a real setting where you’d find it. We headed over to a farm and got to work to start things off. We loaded up some feed bags and set out to take care of the animals. We didn’t come as close as we would have liked to meeting the Ranger’s 1,000-pound bed capacity. What we did load up didn’t tax the machine in any way. Like we said before, the machine is super quiet too, so no stampedes were caused. We hooked up a trailer to the machine’s 2-inch receiver hitch and actually towed a small tractor that brought us right to the 2,500-pound towing capacity with the trailer counted in too. The added tongue weight had us grabbing the spanner wrench for the rear shocks, but a few clicks and we were all good. You do feel the weight behind you when you’re trying to power along, but it handled it without causing us concern. A word to the wise, never tell a farmer you really want to see how a machine handles doing a day of normal farm chores. In the end, we got a good idea of how well the Ranger 1000 could handle the work, the farmer got a free day’s labor for us and we slept really well when we got home.

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Next up, we set out for a combined trail ride and to check out some spots for hunting season. We had a chainsaw and some other gear we threw in the bed to clean up some brush but ended up using it to clear the trail from a downed tree. Now, we’ve actually used a couple of different Ranger 1000 models, and one came with a Polaris Pro 4,500 winch. If you buy a Ranger, make sure you get one of these. The pro model comes with synthetic rope and they have a rapid return function that reels the line back in super fast after you’re done with it. We winched the tree out without any issues, and the wireless remote is a big help, too.

While on the trail, we did notice that if you want to take the speed up a bit, you’ll find yourself wanting the XP model. The upper range of the power of the Ranger 1000 feels almost governed. It doesn’t cut out or anything, it just reaches its limit, and the machine is so smooth that as you’re hauling along, you’ll run out. It’s the side of us that loves speed and going fast down the trails. We know that there will be those of you that are attracted to the lower price tag and feel of the machine but will find yourself wanting more ponies when you initially thought you’d be happy with what the machine has to offer. That’s a small group of you, but you’re out there. We get it.

One really fun feature, and this is the same with the XP, too. If you plan to or need to use the machine to plow snow, you’re in for a treat. Polaris’ plow system connects right to the frame and can be driven on to. From there, plowing is so easy that it’s fun. You’ll be impressed with how much snow you can push, and the stock 26-inch Polaris PXT tires are pretty basic but get pretty good traction.

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Should you buy one?

If you don’t need the added horsepower and/or package offerings of the XP 1000, the Ranger 1000 is a great machine. It is leaps and bounds better than the 900 it replaces and fits it’s intended audience perfectly. It is such a smooth machine that you’ll find yourself truly enjoying it and using it more than you even intend to. If you ae looking for a new Ranger, ask yourself what you need, because the answer may very well be the 2021 Polaris Ranger 1000.

Clearing up the confusion

In the field report

Should you buy one?

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