ApacheGuns515

Say screw it, take a hunk of whatever you brought for lunch, put in on the hook, cast it out and catch a catfish. Rinse and repeat until the bass start biting. Thats what I always do.

I do believe that much of it has to do with ignorance rather than outright rudeness. Of course there are some out there who are just plain rude. I almost always fish alone and I have had people on a number of occasions simply walk on up and set up shop a few feet next to me. They almost always try to start up a small conversation and I can see that they were just looking for companionship and wanted to fish with somebody. On the number of occasions that it has happened the person usually spent much of their time trying to untangle a reel or something so I could tell most of them were inexperienced and sort of wanted help. I don't usually mind. Very rarely am I out actively "hunting" for fish. I just like to go out and fish for the experience so I don't mind when people come up to me and try to get just close enough to where I will say hello. I let a guy reel in a decent sized bass the other day and he was thrilled, said he'd never caught anything larger than a bluegill. Ive only actually had 2 or 3 blatantly rude people come up to me and claim I was in their spot and try to fish around me. 9 times out of 10 people just want someone to fish with them. If I don't feel like being bothered I'll simply trek up into the spots that I know casual fishermen won't visit. Or ill just hop on my new little boat that I purposefully equip with only one seat

I dont understand why boaters fish the "bank" spots when there are people around. You have a boat...go fish where they can't reach from the shore... I've been bank fishing my whole life and just recently got a bass hunter boat so I know where the bank spots are at all of the lakes around here. The fish love the spots that are accessible from the shore and I fish them when nobody else is around. When people arrive to fish from the shore I take my boat and go elsewhere. I have noticed that many boaters seem to think that common courtesy goes out the window once they are on the water. Nobody would walk down the shore casting their line right next to other people so why do it from a boat? Many boaters do try to hog the entire lake just because they have the mobility to fish anywhere they want. I've been the victim of arrogant boaters before and I will never act that way. I'll never forget the day I was fishing in a remote spot that takes a real 4x4 truck to get through and a decent pair of hiking boots. I get set up there and a boat just decides he was going to literally pull right up to my spot and cast. Pulls out 2 bass then tries to spark up a conversation with me as if what he did was totally acceptable. Some people are just ignorant.

Thanks A-Jay. I'm probably going to end up keeping this boat through thick and thin forever. Shes part of the family now after all of this mess lol. Well from the demeanor of the lady at the dmv today I assume that I was "supposed" to have an original receipt for the boat since it was never registered. When she asked me what type it was exactly I said I wasn't quite sure the year but I showed her a picture of it from my cell phone. She saw it and chuckled and rolled her eyes and handed me my paperwork. She said "they gave you all that hell over that tiny little thing..." Sounds to me like they do things on a case to case basis there while the other office deals with cut and dry rules. I'm sure if I were coming in there trying to register an untagged expensive bass boat or something things would have been different.

Sort of a funny question but for those of you with Bass Hunters where do you put your registration numbers so they aren't below the water line? The Bass Hunters don't have the large top part of the pontoons like the Bass Raiders do and they dont sit as high off of the water.

Well guys I was FINALLY able to get this thing registered today! I never even thought to try something as simple as going to a different office in a neighboring city. Walked in with the paperwork that I had and the lady asked me why it wasn't registered and I said it was used on a private pond as stated on the bill of sale. I told her about the hell I was going through trying to get it registered. She simply says "So it was used on a private pond it's whole life because if it wasnt used on private property then I would need an original receipt from you so again are you telling me it was used on private property ITS WHOLE LIFE....right..is that what you are saying? wink" I say yes thats what I am saying. She simply says ok no problem I just have to make a quick call with the Marine Police to verify that it wasn't registered and you will be on your way. So she calls, they say it was never registered and I'm in and out of the place within 10 mins with registration. When handing me my paperwork she just tells me that if I sell it make sure I give the new owner the registration so that they don't have to deal with the BS I went through. She said that other office are a bunch of well..."unfriendly" people and I'm not the first person to come to them after being frustrated with the other office. Happens about once a week she says. Can't believe it was that easy lol. i knew I couldnt have been the only person to ever have this problem. Turns out that if you have any problems like this just don't goto that particular office. Glad thats over with, thanks for all of your suggestions fellas. Now I can finally get on the water.

I have applied all of the efforts I know to follow and obey the law here. I have spoken to the DMV, the DMV manager, and the Marine Police. All have spun me around in circles and from the words of the DMV manager unless I have an original receipt of the boat being purchased or a previous registration it cannot be registered. I really don't want to try and skirt the system but I honestly don't know what to do right now. I understand the system is in place to stop the registration of stolen boats but my boat was purchased fair and square 2 weeks ago. As I said earlier I could understand such a protocol for larger more expensive boats but this is a tiny plastic boat. If somebody was going to steal a boat I doubt it would be this one... I just find it very frustrating that I am having so much trouble simply registering a small boat that I purchased legally. As you said Im sure Im not the first person to try and register a boat like this but I literally have no idea what those others have done to remedy this situation. I have contacted everyone I can think of for solutions and all point back to the same thing. Its the DMV's choice whether or not they choose to register any vessel and they have chosen not to allow me to register mine. I don't really know what to do at this point would you happen to have any suggestions?

Hmmm you know that might actually work. I'll talk to a few local shops around here and see if they can help me. I'll check into Florida's registration process and see how theirs works. I'm close to the Florida border and some buddies of mine live there not too far from me. Hopefully their registration office would be a bit more understanding. I'll look into those options thank you for your suggestions.

I spoke with the person in charge of that department and was told the same thing. Apparently it's policy that you must either have previous registration or the receipt from when it was originally purchased. It can't be registered without one or the other. I'm very irritated. I guess this is my own fault in the end for not thoroughly checking the laws before buying the boat. I just never even fathomed this sort of thing would be an issue. I now have $300 of wasted cash sitting propped up next to my house. I hate cut and dry rules some things should be on a case to case basis. I could understand if this were a large expensive boat or something. The thing is a plastic boat the size of my couch... Looks like Im going to just be cutting my losses and have this be a lesson learned.

Hello all, don't mean to vent but well...I need to vent lol My process of registering my small Bass Hunter has been nothing short of a nightmare. Just a caution for all, if you buy a used boat MAKE SURE IT WAS REGISTERED by the previous owner. I bought my boat used from a gentleman who owned a private pond and used it on his own property so the boat was not registered. Which is completely legal. I go to the local DMV to register the boat and that is when the nightmare began. I called the office to find out how to register it and was told I would have to contact the Marine Police since it was unregistered. I call the police and they ask me why I am calling them because its the dmv's job to decide if they want to register it or not. So I call the DMV back and tell the lady what they said. She says ok come on in and we will go from there. As long as I had the bill of sale I would be fine. Well I arrive at the dmv and I provide the paperwork that I have. I was told that my bill of sale was not enough I had to have records of the previous registration. Well I explained to her that it wasn't previously registered and that I called earlier and was told it would be ok as long as I have the bill of sale. Even though it clearly states on the bill of sale that the boat was not previously registered she tells me its not good enough. I have to take the registration application form to the guy I bought it from and have him state on there that it wasn't registered and why. Heres the thing, the guy is gone. He moved and thats why he sold me the boat. I explained this to her as well and she says call the Marine Police and give them the hull number and they will say whether or not it was registered. So again, right in front of her this time, I call the Marine Police and they explicitly say there is no record of the boat ever being registered but its the DMV who will make the determination as to whether or not they will let me register it now. DMV says that I must then have a record of the boat being purchased from the store from like 10 years ago when it was first bought by the guy since its unregistered. Again I say I dont have contact with him he is gone. So I am told that I cannot register it without that. I am honestly about to just scrap the boat and count my losses and buy a fishing kayak. I would sell it but I dont want to put anybody through the hell I am going through. Any suggestions? I understand policy but there is no reason why it should be this difficult to register a 10' plastic boat.

I've been keeping an eye out for small trailers on craigslist. I was actually planning on getting a bass raider. I was literally on my way out the door to the sporting goods store when I decided to just check on craigslist one last time and saw somebody selling a Bass Hunter for cheap. I went and grabbed it instead not even realizing the differences. I knew this would be a bit of a problem when we were loading it up after purchase. I got too excited and didn't care at the time though. No worries though I still love my little boat. I took her out with just some paddles today because Im still waiting for my boating license to get here and I need one in order to use the trolling motor. No license required for oars though. This is my first boat and I love it. Excellent group of folks boaters and fishermen are as well. At first I was a bit intimidated about trying to figure out how to drag my little boat into the water on a boat ramp with all of these experienced guys with boats on trailers and whatnot. Got to the ramp and multiple people walked over to give me a hand and help me out. Got me set up in the water and I had the time of my life just being out there scooting along. Hats off to you folks.

Thanks, Ill play around with some different ideas and see what works. Unloading is no problem its the loading up part thats a bit of a hassle. Main problem is the initial lifting the front up on the tail gate. I have to hop in the truck and bend over and lift it up. Once I get it on the tailgate I just just go around to the rear and push it in. It has to sit at an angle because I have a Ford Ranger which has the wheel wells sticking up in the truck bed.

Thanks. Guess Ill just have to be patient, hopefully it will arrive this upcoming week so I can be ready for next weekend. Just a bit of a bummer I went out to the lake this morning and the weather was absolutely perfect. Water was as still as glass. Managed to pull in a small bass from the shore so it was still a good day. I was half tempted to just leave the trolling motor behind and grab the boat and paddle out there. Don't need a license for that lol.

For those of you without trailers how do you load the boats up by yourselves? I have the 10' Bass Hunter and while its not super heavy its not exactly light either. I was able to man handle it up into the bed of my truck but it took a lot of work. I have a feeling that Im doing something wrong here. Any tips or tricks or do you guys pretty much just dead lift the thing up there?

Finally got myself a small 10ft boat and got it all set up and ready for this weekend! Took the online boating safety course and quiz and thought I would be good to go. Turns out I have to wait for the course to physically mail me the completion certificate before the dmv will give me my boating license. I guess showing them that I completed the course and paid the money isn't good enough. And the online course doesn't offer you the option of just printing out a completion certificate like other states do! They have to mail it....1 - 2 weeks. Guess Ill be fishing from the shore again this weekend. What a bummer. Other states offer temp licenses or something as long as you have completed the requirements. Doesnt seem like Alabama does this, does anybody know for sure? I dont mean to be impatient but I really dont want to wait another 2 weeks to take my boat out especially since I have done everything I need to do. Thanks

New guy here from Alabama. Been shore fishing for years and after reading through countless posts on here about the mini bass boats I decided to pick one up. Its usually just me fishing so I figured a 10' Bass Hunter would be perfect for me. Pretty much no maintenance and low cost. Plus I can stick it in the back of my truck so I have no need for a trailer. Great forum here, I look forward to being part of this community!

Well guys you've convinced me! After reading through this entire thread and seeing all of your setups I decided to pick myself up a 10' Bass Hunter. Found her on a local craigslist ad. Shes quite dirty having been stored in a barn for awhile but thats nothing some Simple Green and elbow grease can't cure. I did a test to see how much work it would be loading and unloading it into my Ranger and its not too bad at all Ill be able to do it by myself. Its just the boat itself so i have to buy the other stuff. I should need Trolling Motor Battery Battery Charger Paddles Life Vest That should be it to get me started right? Can't wait to get out on the water!