Wanting A Bass Boat

[Further North]

Break Out Another Thousand...is true...if you don't do your homework.

 

I had it happen one time...and I got lucky because I bought the boat for a good price to begin with...broke even...but it was a tense coupla weeks...

[Way2slow]

B.O.A.T. is oh so true if you can't fix them yourself and even when you can, they are still dam expensive. 

 

I do a all my own work on my boats and vehicles also, and other than my wife's (our main family car) I never buy anything new.  I find a steal with a bad engine or other problems and fix it.  My 1999, 20' Javelin Renegade 20DC with a 225 Evinrud I bought at auction about eight years ago for $5,000 and spent $1,100 getting it in good condition.  So, for approximately $6,000 I had $15,000 bass boat.  Just like a 2001 4WD, Silverado 2500 HD Crew Cab I recently bought for $1,000.  Like new inside, great paint, and no dents in body.  After a $3,400 total investment ($900 of which was tires) I have a very nice truck that could easily sell for twice what I have in it.  Even being able to do this, just buying parts, that I get wholesale, is getting too dang expensive to work on them.

 

Another old saying that's very true about boats, "The bigger the boat, the bigger the hole it makes in the water to throw money in".    

[slonezp]

Does it have to be a bass boat? What is the duration of time you are planning to own this boat? A year? 2 years? 5 years? Longer? What type of fishing? Fun? Tourney? Wife and kids going for a ride any amount of time? Will it fit in your garage/parking or does it need to be stored? If you are going to make payments, Is your job secure?

[EmersonFish]

I appreciate the advice. I was thinking of trying to find a Bass Tracker 160 or 170 from the mid to early 90s. My kids won't be fishing with me much for a long time. This is Daddy's toy lol. I just feel like every single boat I look at is just a hair outside my budget. If fact, i have no budget right now.

You mentioned an early to mid 90s Tracker 160 or 170? With an early 90s boat, we are now looking at something that has been around for over 20 years. It will have to been very well maintained. I have a Tracker Pro Team 185 that we bought new in 2000, and we have never had a problem with it, but we have babied that thing since the day we towed it off the lot. Not everyone does that, particularly guys who are at that stage when they are looking to get rid of them. With older boats, it's not so much a matter of how many hours they have on them, but of how well they were taken care of when they were off the water. Concentrate on how it was stored in the off-season, ask him about his maintenance routine/winterization process, look inside every compartment, look at every wire, see if he appears to be the type who does half-butt wiring jobs on things if he did any rewiring, step on every square inch of the floor you can, if you find old leaves everywhere you look inside the boat, just move on, etc... You can probably find a comprehensive checklist of these sort of things before you go look at older boats for sale.

You might only be able to afford a boat with problems initially, but you probably can't afford a boat with problems going forward. And worse yet; boats that are always in need of work are no fun, and having fun is the whole point.

[thomas15]

I don't think it can be said enough that the cost of the actual boat is only the beginning. My boat is a fairly simple tin and not in bad shape but it seems like there is always something abit something small that needs to be fixed or replaced. Small thing I know but before it goes in the water next I have to figure out why the right trun signal on the trailer doesn't work. Might be the bulb, might be the wiring, will have to see.

 

Every time I think that my 16' tin is a bit small I remind myself that an 18' glasser would mean getting a heftier  tow vehicle. So $15K for a new boat and $25K or there abouts for a new vehicle is the actual cost. And yet the largest lake around here is 6K acres, my local pond is 1K acres, I can get 35mph out of my boat on a lake that has a 45 mph max speed. That's good enough and I have no debt on this craft.

 

Having said this having the boat has really increased my enjoyment of the sport and I don't have any regrets.

[GetJigginWithIt]

As many have said, start off small. I bought a 1976 boat with a 1976 merc 500 thunderbolt. The engine was terrible but the hull was sound as can be. When I was testing it, to me it seemed like it was starving for fuel. I took the cover off and pumped the primer bulb and watched fuel spray out the hose. I replaced all fuel lines and fittings and it runs like new. So I spent $750 on boat and $9 on parts and now I am fishing. Start off small to get you going. It has a hardly used min kota power drive that will go on next boat purchase along with finders. This will bring costs down for next one. I figure I can get at least a couple of years out of it before I move into something nicer. It floats and gets me off the bank.

[jitterbug127]

I'd look for something you cam just pay cash for. I paid 500 for my whole set up. It is nice

[Jed Cutshall Fishing]

When you are looking for your first bass boat it is important that you find one that is preferably light, easy to drive, and simple to fish out of. It also is a big plus if you don't have to break the bank to buy it. With all this in mind, an aluminum boat is an obvious choice. In my opinion, G3 makes the best aluminum boats on the market. I have had a G3 for quite some time now and I am very impressed with it. It is easy to take to the lake by myself for a fun day of fishing. It is easy on gas and the light weight aluminum makes it super simple to launch with just one person. But I fish some pretty big tournaments out of this boat too. Next year I've got about 10 tournaments on my schedule with around 400 competitors each. My seventeen foot G3 is all the boat I need to get the job done. It rides smooth and takes rough water pretty well for a short boat. So if you are serious about getting your first bass boat, whether you fish for fun or you're looking into entering some big tournaments, G3 is worth taking a look at.

 

www.G3boats.com    

[RHuff]

I looked at some G3's at a local dealer and for the 17 foot new they were asking $18,000. I can order a new Ranger RT 178 cheaper than that. I thought they were highly expensive for Aluminum.