bass boats

DevinCamPA · 08-08-2005, 12:03 PM

Hey guys...my dad and i are looking into buying a bass boat. Right now we have a 9.9hp on a tracker deep v. I've always dreamed of owning a trition or ranger bassboat. Its just going to be hard to cough up that kind of money. I was looking at the aluminum tracker bassboats. Any suggestions on boats? thanks

Chuck7 · 08-08-2005, 02:47 PM

Devin.,
Wished you were closer. I'd love to buy that boat you all ready have. I fish in pits with alot of others who have very expensive rigs. I usually ask them how they are doing. My son and I usually out fish them all. I have a10 foot jon with a 40 lb, Minnkota. That is it. I have a giant battery that will go all day. It's fully carpeted and seats are securely elevated. There are no rivits. It is heavy and welded. I love it. I have a depth finder and have built compartments under the seats. We can get to places the other guys can't.
Chuck

Deerslayer_37 · 08-08-2005, 08:30 PM

I was in the same boat as you(no pun intended) at the beginning of the summer. We have a nice lund with all the whistles and bells but that stays at our cabin up north during the summer. All i had was a 14 ft flatbottom witha 25 tiller. After almost sinking it on a busy day on the Miss, I asked my pops if he would get me something a little bigger, a littte faster, safer, with livewells, that i could fish tournaments from. We got lucky and my uncle is running for sheriff and needs money for his campaign. he sold us his 1988 17' Hydra Sports with a 140 HP suzuki with everything i needed. Rod locker, 46 lb hand steering front mount trolling motor(getting replaced next spring with a foot one), old, but working depth finder. Basically it's great for fishing tournaments. It does 50 MPH, so it ain't the fastest boat in my series(that would belong to a 21' Gambler with a 225 Merc X/S..second only to a brand new Ranger Z20 with a brand new Merc 225 pro X/S..yeah, theres alot faster and nicer boats then mine in my series). It gets the job done though. Fuel economy isn't the best compared to new engines, but it keeps me driving all day. No windshield or power steering, but thats ok too. I put rod buckles in to keep my rods from bouncing around, a great improvement. All for the low price of $2500. My uncle said there are app. 40-50 hours on it, and the only problems he had were because he didnt run it enough. Great buy, trailer too.

I'd really recommend looking for a used fiberglass boat before looking at an aluminum bass tracker. You can find boats with more options even though they're used. Nothing wrong with not havinga brand new boat. the more and more i ride in fiberglass, the more i like it over bass tracker style aluminum boats because in those alum. boats, you take a beating hitting the waves. Fiberglass rides smoother. V-bottom alum.'s ride alot nicer than flatter bottomed alum's

slayer

I'd really

Hunter06FlKy · 08-09-2005, 04:46 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: Chuck7

Devin.,
Wished you were closer. I'd love to buy that boat you all ready have. I fish in pits with alot of others who have very expensive rigs. I usually ask them how they are doing. My son and I usually out fish them all. I have a10 foot jon with a 40 lb, Minnkota. That is it. I have a giant battery that will go all day. It's fully carpeted and seats are securely elevated. There are no rivits. It is heavy and welded. I love it. I have a depth finder and have built compartments under the seats. We can get to places the other guys can't.
Chuck

Chuck i know the feeling. you fish in like lime pits or what kind? for lime pits i've found that a ganno with a trolling motore on it works quite well. but i would really like to get like a 10 foot jon boat like you're talking about.

DevinCamPA · 08-09-2005, 06:17 PM

Well i think i found what im looking for....i found a 1990 Winner legend. Its a nice quality fiberglassbass boat with a 1995 Johnson 150hp. Its been well used but i think i might get it. Its about $5500, which seems to be a decent price. Its got everything and runs fine. What do you think? fair price?

rockytop · 08-10-2005, 06:37 AM

devin, check two things on the boat and motor. Get a compression guage, even if you have to buy one and check the compression on all the cylinders. They should be somewhere betweein 90 and 125 and all cylinders should be within 5% of the others. If one is real low, you got a problem and your looking at a couple thousand to fix it.
The second thing is to use the power tilt and raise the motor until it's about 45 degrees off the transom. Push down on the foot of the motor really hard and see if the transom moves. The transom should not move at all in relation to the rest of the boat. If it moves, the transom is in the process of rotting and again your looking at a couple of thousand to fix. Good luck.

DevinCamPA · 08-10-2005, 02:37 PM

thanks rocky..i'll keep that in mind. Hes actually letting me take it out for a spin before i buy it

Deersmoker243 · 08-10-2005, 07:25 PM

Me and my dad have a Champion it better then any Stratos i been in.

rockytop · 08-11-2005, 06:45 AM

deersmoker, your awfull hard on my stratus, what brought that on?

Deersmoker243 · 08-11-2005, 07:59 AM

Sorry man just my 2cents...