J._Bricker

MKing, Boo- Two places to check out for the certificates that I found before I bought my boat were The Bass Fishing Home Page and Western Bass, the classified and boats for sale section. FYI, I know the Western Bass Classified section has a Ranger (posted 5/29), a Basscat (posted 6/3), and a Triton (posted 6/7) certificates for sale. The Bass Fishing Home Page had a Triton certificate as well. The other is search I conducted was for boats or bass boats for sale. The websites are there, I hope this helps-JB

Hey MKing7- Any luck? Just curious

Chris, I'll try to give your question an answer. But the question leaves alot of others be to asked. Most importantly, how much are you willing to spend? New or newer doesn't require as much cash to fix up. The older the boat, the potential for things needing to be replaced becomes greater. After all, you don't want to inherit someone else's problems, right? Of course, you can tell if someone has taken care of his boat, because pride of ownership shows and he'll probably have all his receipts for work preformed. A good used boat will allow you to learn about it and save you some cash, which you will need for tackle and other stuff. Some other questions. How big a boat (length) do you want? Aluminum or fiberglass? How big a motor? Inboard, outboard, or jet (don't know where you live ;D) 2 or 4 stroke? Check the internet sites, tacke shop postings, newspaper and boat trader magazines to give you a good idea of what is out there and at what cost. Once you find a boat you like, take the boat to a reputable shop. Pay the nominal fee to have the motor compresion tested and gone over to find any potential problems. As for the salt water issue, there are boats made by Ranger, Triton, Skeeter that allow for both types of fishing, ie; freshwater and flats. Anyway, I hope this helps, and good luck- JB

I don't fish tournaments either, I pretty much started out like you. I just typed in bass boats for sale, Ebay, bass fishing, pages like this one that list boats for sale. Came up with about 20 sites I'd check regularly, not just for the certificate, but boats in general. Figured I should know what else was out there, and at what cost. Took me about 5 months of research, but I figured getting the boat you want and spending that kind of cash, I shouldn't be in a rush. The longest wait was the 5 months for the boat to be made by Ranger and delivered out west. Anyway, good luck and happy huntin'

mking- check the post for boat price quote for mac7373, I pretty much said the same kind of stuff- Just FYI

mking, to answer your question, at a tournament where a boat is the prize, a certificate is sometimes given instead of the boat itself. It's a more practical way of giving away the boat, easier to park at the house, easier to sell for the person who won it. The certificate would be redeemable at the dealership of the boat that was offered as the prize. Most of the time, the boat can be upgraded, the cost negotiated between you and the dealer. I hope this answers your question and gives you another option for getting your boat.

Hey Mac, couldn't resist adding to the string. 51K is too much for any bass boat. I'll continue to say this, check out a tournament certificate boat. It's what they give the winner instead of the boat. Paid under 30K for my certificate. The certificate was for an '04 519VX with a 175hp Optimax, trailer and all the bells and whistles. Upgraded the boat to a 520 and the Optimax to a 225, and I picked the colors I wanted. Saved a pile of cash (the upgrades were not as much as you might think) and still happy with my 1 year old boat. Saw certificates for Skeeters, Tritons, and Basscats when I was looking for my Ranger. Just some thing else to consider. ;D

If you have 25K you're not that far away from buying someone's tournament boat certificate. Something to think about- new boat in the colors you chose=good deal. That's how I got my '04 and this is just my .02. ;D

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger on this one. I have done it, and I'm sure alot of others have as well. With a file and a little paint as good as new. If you happen to bounce your skeg off the ramp like I did, 100 bucks at the dealer, and it's good as new.

Shadow, it may have helped if you said which are of Cali you are from (Northern, Central, or Southern), as I see you didn't get any responces. Maybe check another site I enjoy looking at, Western Bass, I think you could find a club near your house.

Keep the boat in the garage. Or trap the thing, doesn't take much to bring a stray to the pound. And the good thing, you can use a trap again

My '93 Jeep Cherokee 4.0L pulled my first boat, a '86 Ranger 373V without any problems. My 2002 3/4 ton GMC Yukon XL is now what gets my '04 Ranger 520VX to the water. And having 4X4 capability is really nice to have on slick, steep ramps ;D. Some minor modifications to the engine/ exhaust will help all around performance. Cold air system, aftermarket mass air sensor, headers, and free flowing muffler(s) are what I have done to the Yukon. As I understand it, and if you can afford it, an engine reprograming unit will make the biggest performance change.