jitterbug127 Posted July 10, 2015 Posted July 10, 2015 I am finally getting bored of fishing the bank and farm ponds. I am looking to get a boat for the lakes and reservoirs to fish. I am completely new to boat fishing. I really just want something to get out on the h2o. I don't need anything fancy or expensive so thinking John boat, but not sire. Wanting tips what to look for and things that would be essential to have. I have a crv so I am sure it can pull a small boat fine. I bass fish exclusively Quote
Ski213 Posted July 10, 2015 Posted July 10, 2015 I'd start as inexpensive as possible. I've heard nothing bad about kayaks. Basically unlimited access to small water and I've seen yaks on pretty big water as well. You could get off the banks where you're fishing now and see how you like it. Johnboat would be a good choice as well. Either can be built into a pretty solid fishing machine as what you need/want changes. Whatever boat fits your needs I feel a decent sonar unit is a pretty good investment to start as well as a good trolling motor and dependable battery. Quote
Cootz Posted July 10, 2015 Posted July 10, 2015 Look on Craigslist I don't really know your $ amount but last summer I was able to snag a 14' flat bottom with 9.9 fishfinder battery with trailer for $850 Quote
Super User Further North Posted July 10, 2015 Super User Posted July 10, 2015 Getting into boats is a long process of figuring out what you like, what you need and how you fish. Starting out with an inexpensive option is a great way to find out some things...It's probably best to plan go through several different rigs until you figure out what you like. Quote
thomas15 Posted July 13, 2015 Posted July 13, 2015 One thing to consider is what are the rules for the lakes you intend to fish. A lot of the water around here have either horsepower restrictions or they are electric only. I happen to live 1/4 mile from one of the few unlimited horsepower lakes in the area. This lake is about 1000 acres and there is a lot of boat traffic. There are a lot of big boats and many paddle boats also, a real mish-mash of watercraft. Â Those who have jon boats with 5 hp motors can spend half the day getting to the place where want to fish. But those same boats are better if you mainly fish very small or restricted lakes. Ideally it would be best to have more than one boat! Â So i guess in my opinion any boat will be a compromise unless you only have one or two places to fish. I'm always keeping a look out for an inexpensive jon with electric motor but for now one boat is enough. I got my boat last year. It's a 16.5 foot aluminum. I grew up with boats but it has been many many years. The day I brought it home I thought it was big enough now it's too small. Still, I like my boat and after working out all the kinks, it's become a pleasure to operate. Take your time and set a budget. Then buy something that is twice your budget! Just make sure it's seaworthy. Â Just remember that fishing is fun but fishing from you own boat is funner. 1 Quote
JOBU1967 Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 I am finally getting bored of fishing the bank and farm ponds. I am looking to get a boat for the lakes and reservoirs to fish. I am completely new to boat fishing. I really just want something to get out on the h2o. I don't need anything fancy or expensive so thinking John boat, but not sire. Wanting tips what to look for and things that would be essential to have. I have a crv so I am sure it can pull a small boat fine. I bass fish exclusively my advice would be find someone that already has a boat & see if they would let you go fishing with them for a day. that way you can learn the step by step preparation into boat fishing. for example hooking the boat trailer to the vehicle, loading & storing your equipment in the boat, making sure the batteries are charged, boat drain plug is in properly, all the proper safety equipment that you will need to legally be on the water, backing your trailer down the ramp & launching the boat, loading the boat back on the trailer. once you have experience boat fishing then you will know what size boat you can fish out of comfortably. if you can't do that I would suggest that you start small as possible. depending on the size of the lakes you will be fishing will determine the size of the boat you will need. some lakes are electric only, speed limit, or unlimited horse power.  I see a lot of small boats, canoes & kayaks on unlimited HP lakes & can't believe that they don't capsize when those large boat wakes & waves start rocking the lake. I would suggest a 14-16 ft aluminum boat with a 9.9-15 H.P. outboard and a 30-40# thrust trolling motor. fish it for a couple of years & see if that suits your fishing style. once you have gained experience on the water then you can move up to a larger boat. good luck 1 Quote
5 Dollar Fishing Game Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 Look on Craigslist I don't really know your $ amount but last summer I was able to snag a 14' flat bottom with 9.9 fishfinder battery with trailer for $850 ^^^THIS^^^ I paid $500 for my bass boat on Craigslist. Put $1000 into it. Now it worth $5000+ and looks and runs like new. Guy selling it didn't know much about the boat that he inherited from his recently deceased father in law. He needed fast cash. I found this great deal on CL. Keep looking! Quote
Global Moderator Bluebasser86 Posted July 19, 2015 Global Moderator Posted July 19, 2015 What kind of water you fish is largely going to dictate what kind of boat you're looking for. If you mostly fish ponds and small lakes then a johnboat would be perfect. If you like to get out on bigger water well then, Quote
martintheduck Posted July 19, 2015 Posted July 19, 2015 First time REAL boat owner checking in ----  Take every opportunity possible to get out in other peoples boats. NOW, Heres the process I went through that totaled up to about a year worth of thinking, list making, browsing...  What can my tow vehicle handle? The truck I had at the time was sufficient to haul any boat I was interested in. Price range? I decided I was wanting to get in something for around $6-10k. I changed that later on though and I will get to that in a bit... What kind of water will I fish? HP Restrictions? Will I be wanting to move from small lake fishing to big lake fishing? - I concluded I wanted at LEAST a 90hp on whatever boat I got. One of the lakes I love fishing has a 50hp limit, so I had to nix that lake off the list. I found myself more intrigued getting into big lake fishing and river fishing, so I decided I needed at LEAST the 90 hp. Aluminum or fiberglass? I decided on aluminum after I read Mike Iconellis book - he talks about winning his first glass boat and slamming it pretty hard into a dock when he is launching it, thus breaking a decent size hole in his hull. I knew I'd be getting into a learning curve solo boating with a legit boat, so I chose aluminum. Good decision on my part. What kind of setup do I want? Console steer or stick steer? I went with console What amenities are a MUST have? Storage? 4 stroke engine vs 2 stroke? Graphs? rod lockers? My only MUST was decent storage. After getting my boat, I'm really happy it has an 8ft rod locker capable of holding around 10 rods. New or used? Obviously, you're like me and going to be looking for used... so that brings us to the next point.... How USED is okay with me? I decided I was fine with mid mid 90's til current models so long as it was in decent looking shape. I looked at quite a few boats and walked away from all of them because there was something just not right with them. Crappy interiors, super dinged up hulls, just old and unkept stuff... Keep an eye on craigslist and see what boats you like are being listed for in your area. In my $6-10 price range I was finding stuff similar to what I wanted, but all of them were coming up in poor condition and just lacking something. After eyeing craigslist for months, I ended up going to take a look at a few boats and take them all out. I passed on all of them because something was just wrong with them. I got discouraged and decided I'd be willing to go up to $19 to get into something close to brand new that wouldn't give me any major problems for a long time. Ended up in an Xpress h-18 with a 150hp for $19 about 2 weeks later. Love it still to this day. Great boat. NOW - bear something in mind here - Almost no matter what boat you get into, inevitably you will want "more" after fishing out of it for a period of time.   With all of that out the way, it seems like you're just interested in getting a john type boat. Mid 90's Tracker boats go from around $2,000-$3,000 in my area with a 50hp motor. Great boat and good for smaller applications and can handle big lake/ river fishing to a degree. That was the first boat I bass fished out of and would highly recommend those. Or, ya know, a john boat with a tiller and a ply-wood deck is another good option, just not really going to be suitable for bigger applications. Quote
Super User Master Bait'r Posted July 20, 2015 Super User Posted July 20, 2015 If you just want to get off the bank there's no easier or cheaper way than a kayak. Picking up a cheap $350 fishing kayak was the best move I ever made. Can't even express to you in words how big of an impact it has had on my days out. You can carry it to places that don't have boat launches and weeds are a non issue. Boats with motors and such are awesome but not practical or even possible in a lot of the best fishing areas I like to go. Quote
Jed Cutshall Fishing Posted July 22, 2015 Posted July 22, 2015 If you are looking for a great started boat you need to go with an aluminum rig. They're light, easy to learn to drive, and fairly inexpensive when compared to the price of a glass boat. Plus you don't lose any fishability out of them. I've got a G3 Eagle and I love it. I can catch the same fish as the guys in the 21ft boats without the price of gas slowing me down. You can buy a used one at a reasonable price and they hold their value pretty good. Check em out. You won't be disappointed. Quote
jamey1e Posted July 26, 2015 Posted July 26, 2015 First time REAL boat owner checking in ----  Take every opportunity possible to get out in other peoples boats. NOW, Heres the process I went through that totaled up to about a year worth of thinking, list making, browsing...  What can my tow vehicle handle? The truck I had at the time was sufficient to haul any boat I was interested in. Price range? I decided I was wanting to get in something for around $6-10k. I changed that later on though and I will get to that in a bit... What kind of water will I fish? HP Restrictions? Will I be wanting to move from small lake fishing to big lake fishing? - I concluded I wanted at LEAST a 90hp on whatever boat I got. One of the lakes I love fishing has a 50hp limit, so I had to nix that lake off the list. I found myself more intrigued getting into big lake fishing and river fishing, so I decided I needed at LEAST the 90 hp. Aluminum or fiberglass? I decided on aluminum after I read Mike Iconellis book - he talks about winning his first glass boat and slamming it pretty hard into a dock when he is launching it, thus breaking a decent size hole in his hull. I knew I'd be getting into a learning curve solo boating with a legit boat, so I chose aluminum. Good decision on my part. What kind of setup do I want? Console steer or stick steer? I went with console What amenities are a MUST have? Storage? 4 stroke engine vs 2 stroke? Graphs? rod lockers? My only MUST was decent storage. After getting my boat, I'm really happy it has an 8ft rod locker capable of holding around 10 rods. New or used? Obviously, you're like me and going to be looking for used... so that brings us to the next point.... How USED is okay with me? I decided I was fine with mid mid 90's til current models so long as it was in decent looking shape. I looked at quite a few boats and walked away from all of them because there was something just not right with them. Crappy interiors, super dinged up hulls, just old and unkept stuff... Keep an eye on craigslist and see what boats you like are being listed for in your area. In my $6-10 price range I was finding stuff similar to what I wanted, but all of them were coming up in poor condition and just lacking something. After eyeing craigslist for months, I ended up going to take a look at a few boats and take them all out. I passed on all of them because something was just wrong with them. I got discouraged and decided I'd be willing to go up to $19 to get into something close to brand new that wouldn't give me any major problems for a long time. Ended up in an Xpress h-18 with a 150hp for $19 about 2 weeks later. Love it still to this day. Great boat. NOW - bear something in mind here - Almost no matter what boat you get into, inevitably you will want "more" after fishing out of it for a period of time.   With all of that out the way, it seems like you're just interested in getting a john type boat. Mid 90's Tracker boats go from around $2,000-$3,000 in my area with a 50hp motor. Great boat and good for smaller applications and can handle big lake/ river fishing to a degree. That was the first boat I bass fished out of and would highly recommend those. Or, ya know, a john boat with a tiller and a ply-wood deck is another good option, just not really going to be suitable for bigger applications. OP this is the truth. I purchased my first boat earlier this year and can say my experience was right on track with his. Quote
chadmack282 Posted July 26, 2015 Posted July 26, 2015 I some what recently went thru this. It will b extremely difficult but be patient look at many boats. also b ready for a learning curve going from a farm pond u can walk around & fish the entire pond/lake in a few hours is pretty easy compared to even a small 300acre lake. good luck Quote
thomas15 Posted July 27, 2015 Posted July 27, 2015 As mentioned I really like my boat but there are things that I would like better. Rod storage is a problem but I think I can with a little work fix that. I understand where another poster mentions min of 90 HP. My 50 HP moves my boat at about 34 MPH which is as slow as I want to go but in reality it's faster than many boats I see locally and so I get there a minute longer than the next guy, so what.  I have about 5K in my boat/motor/trailer so when the times comes to upgrade I will have definate opinions on what I want. Since I'm 1.5 hours from the Jersey Shore my next boat will most likely not be a bass boat, rather it will be something for big water and will keep my present boat company for fresh water lakes. For two people it's fine, three can fish but it's crowded. I have two sonars and a live well and bow mounted TM. I can fish local tournaments with it no problem.  My motor is a 2005 Mercury 50 HP two stroke. It probably sat for a year before I got it. I mention this because it took me about 4 boating months to get all of the kinks worked out of it. It was worth it though because now it's really running great and I have a fairly good grasp on how this thing works. Although we had several boats when I was a kid it's been many years since I've had a powerboat and the need to trailer a boat. A 16 foot aluminum seems to be a good place to start, easy to tow, easy to operate, and a good learning (or re-learning) platform.  I have over the years tried to convince myself that I got having a boat out of my system when I was a kid. My wife actually got this whole thing started. Believe it or not she mentioned several times over the course of about 6 months that having a boat might be fun. I tried ignoring her but over time she wore me out and so here we are!  I have a friend that has a 17' fiberglass with an I/O drive. It's not an intended bass boat but he has modified it to work as such. There is a definate difference between the ride quality between our boats, his is quieter and smoother on the water. But his also cost much more to buy, maintain and the run. Bigger motors have bigger gas tanks for a reason.  I know guys that have 12' jon boats and they both love them and can out fish me any day of the year. Simple is sometimes better. Whatever you do get something you can afford, something that is seaworthy and mechanically sound. If that is a jon boat then good, if that happens to be a 21' bass boat with a 250 on the transom then better. You don't want to be a slave to your boat but you also don't want something that leaves you 3 miles from the ramp due to a breakdown. Quote
BaitMonkey1984 Posted July 29, 2015 Posted July 29, 2015 Look on Craigslist I don't really know your $ amount but last summer I was able to snag a 14' flat bottom with 9.9 fishfinder battery with trailer for $850 This is a good answer. Without knowing the financial constraints I would suggest anywhere from $800 - $2,5000  can get you started. You will not be into it for tens of thousands of dollars and you can learn boating step by step and not go from no on the water experience to driving a z21 with a 250. Mistakes will be easier to swallow on your John boat and it is much more forgiven then a fiberglass hull. Easier to drive the smaller boat, trailer, tow etc. Plus, you will have money left over to get all those other things you need for a boat. O and you will soon realize that boats are constantly needing something fixed or upgraded. It will be a labor of love. I still have my first aluminum 14 foot from my grandfather and cherish that more than my Ranger. Quote
tiredbobmarley Posted August 5, 2015 Posted August 5, 2015 I would start with craigslist. When I wanted my first boat I went to craigslist and picked up a 16 ft fiberglass canoe for $125 (canoes are generally cheaper than kayaks in my experience). After buying paddles, depth finder and trolling motor mount (my uncle gave me his trolling motor) I may have spent another $150. The canoe was awesome for getting into spots quietly but way too slow to get out to bigger water and fish. Something to consider....without roof racks or a trailer I was unable to transport the canoe without a bigger vehicle and another person.  That was my main issue. I had to rent a box truck to get it to anywhere but the lake where the canoe is located.  I still have the canoe (it is for sale if there is anyone in the Orlando area that needs a canoe...) but I recently picked up a 14' Alumacraft v-haul aluminum jon with a 1978 25hp Johnson on the back and a trailer for $800 on craigslist. It has had its issues, enough that I named it "It's Always Something", but I am learning more about my boat and motor every time there is a problem to fix. What I love most is the 25 is enough to get 2 of us up to about 24 mph, has enough room to stand and fish and also did not cost an arm or a leg. I would just keep my eye on craigslist. Sometimes people are willing to part with their boat for almost nothing. Just don't get scammed. Make them put it on the water and run at WOT as well as reverse. If it floats and the motor runs most of the other issues can be glanced over until you find the time/money to fix it. Good luck! Its a hell of a lot of fun trying to find your fishing machine. Quote
FlipSide Posted August 6, 2015 Posted August 6, 2015 First time REAL boat owner checking in ----  Take every opportunity possible to get out in other peoples boats. NOW, Heres the process I went through that totaled up to about a year worth of thinking, list making, browsing...  What can my tow vehicle handle? The truck I had at the time was sufficient to haul any boat I was interested in. Price range? I decided I was wanting to get in something for around $6-10k. I changed that later on though and I will get to that in a bit... What kind of water will I fish? HP Restrictions? Will I be wanting to move from small lake fishing to big lake fishing? - I concluded I wanted at LEAST a 90hp on whatever boat I got. One of the lakes I love fishing has a 50hp limit, so I had to nix that lake off the list. I found myself more intrigued getting into big lake fishing and river fishing, so I decided I needed at LEAST the 90 hp. Aluminum or fiberglass? I decided on aluminum after I read Mike Iconellis book - he talks about winning his first glass boat and slamming it pretty hard into a dock when he is launching it, thus breaking a decent size hole in his hull. I knew I'd be getting into a learning curve solo boating with a legit boat, so I chose aluminum. Good decision on my part. What kind of setup do I want? Console steer or stick steer? I went with console What amenities are a MUST have? Storage? 4 stroke engine vs 2 stroke? Graphs? rod lockers? My only MUST was decent storage. After getting my boat, I'm really happy it has an 8ft rod locker capable of holding around 10 rods. New or used? Obviously, you're like me and going to be looking for used... so that brings us to the next point.... How USED is okay with me? I decided I was fine with mid mid 90's til current models so long as it was in decent looking shape. I looked at quite a few boats and walked away from all of them because there was something just not right with them. Crappy interiors, super dinged up hulls, just old and unkept stuff... Keep an eye on craigslist and see what boats you like are being listed for in your area. In my $6-10 price range I was finding stuff similar to what I wanted, but all of them were coming up in poor condition and just lacking something. After eyeing craigslist for months, I ended up going to take a look at a few boats and take them all out. I passed on all of them because something was just wrong with them. I got discouraged and decided I'd be willing to go up to $19 to get into something close to brand new that wouldn't give me any major problems for a long time. Ended up in an Xpress h-18 with a 150hp for $19 about 2 weeks later. Love it still to this day. Great boat. NOW - bear something in mind here - Almost no matter what boat you get into, inevitably you will want "more" after fishing out of it for a period of time.   With all of that out the way, it seems like you're just interested in getting a john type boat. Mid 90's Tracker boats go from around $2,000-$3,000 in my area with a 50hp motor. Great boat and good for smaller applications and can handle big lake/ river fishing to a degree. That was the first boat I bass fished out of and would highly recommend those. Or, ya know, a john boat with a tiller and a ply-wood deck is another good option, just not really going to be suitable for bigger applications.   Read this post and you should be good to go Quote
Canyon explorer Posted August 10, 2015 Posted August 10, 2015 If I were you I would join a BASS or FLW type Bass club and fish as a non boater for a season, then make an educated decision.Might save you some $ in the long run. Quote
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