Recommend me a starter bass boat!

[kMayer]

Hello!

I'm a new member, just finished registering. I am a casual fisher but want to upgrade from my canoe/shore fishing to something more enjoyable in a bass boat.

I would love to find an aluminum bass boat for under $3,000. While I don't need a huge, fiber glass boat, I also don't want a jon boat or something of that nature. I want one with a deck in the front, live well, etc. I've done searches on local classifieds, craigslist, ebay, etc. Not too much that has caught my attention.

The main problem I'm having is, being from South Jersey, the majority of the local lakes do not allow gas outboards, only electric.

Hope someone can give me some insight and guide me in the right direction! Thanks!

[walkeraviator]

Keep your eyes peeled on craigslist is teh best advice I got. I see deals all the time that would fit yoru needs here in Louisville, just dont have no cash right now...

http://louisville.craigslist.org/boa/2415790946.html

http://louisville.craigslist.org/boa/2415315795.html

http://louisville.craigslist.org/boa/2413861098.html

[Donutman]

Welcome to the nut house, and one great website!
You sound just like me as of last year. Running around in a canoe, beating banks and trying not to capsize in the surf. Just bought my starter boat last October. Searched for months and finally found a '90 Tracker Pro V. 17' deep V tin can. Picked it up for $1800 and put about that much more into it. So far, it's been a good trainer boat. It has definitely taught me a lesson or three. It's not pretty by any means, but it's a [B][I]LOT[I][B] safer than the old canoe. Being most of your lakes are electric only, make sure you have plenty of trolling motor on what ever you get. In the aluminum boats, you'll be pushed around by the wind a lot, so take that into consideration when choosing a V or a flat bottom. Your flat bottoms will slap the water and offer a rougher ride in the waves, to where a V bottom of some sort will help to cut through them. Don't know if you'll find one in the price range your looking for, but a welded hull, IMHO, would be a lot more leak resistant than a riveted hull.
When you do find yourself something your interested in, have someone who know (aluminum) boats go with you. It wasn't until I bought my boat that my mechanic showed me all sort of cracks in the transom area. It would be worth it to pay an experienced boater, or even a boat repair person to come with you to check it out.
Hope this helps out in some way. Again, welcome to the board.

[kMayer]

Thank you both for your replies! I suppose I'll have to be patient and wait for a deal to pop up on craigslist or something.

So when fishing/taking the boat out on an electric only lake, I would just use the trollling motor to get me around? I would still be allowed to have the boat on the lake with a gas outboard, I just can't operate the gas motor, right?

[MississippiBoy]

In my experience, that's true...you can have an outboard hanging off the back, you just can't start it. Check with whoever manages the lake to be sure, though...

[walkeraviator]

Yeah, usually the best thing to do is just trim the motor up til teh prop is out of teh water and use the trolling motor. I see guys put their 21 ft Rangers on a local 25acre electric only lake all teh time.

[lilmule]

Yeah troller only though sometimes has regs,like wayne west virginia ,beech fork one must also take the prop off.
As for the starter boat have a bud go with you that knows something about boats,that price range for a decent boat tracker alum job comes to mind,fiberglass will be quite old and would need a complete go over to make sure transom etc isnt starting to rot etc.
I run an old(1990) composite type boat so not rot will ever come into play,they are around
But take your time finding one.Then try it,long distance pics are often misleading,and if its a steal its either fraud or not worth it.