Help on finding 1st boat,A ski/fishing boat......

[bracso]

Hello all,

New to this forum and i live in north carolina charlotte,actually by lowes motor speedway.My wife and i are in the market to either buy a new 18ft boat or a used one?I do not have any knowledge of boats whatsoever but neither did my neighbor and he bought a used gambler and little by little had to learn on how to work on things.The boat my wife and i were looking at was a q4 tahoe,now i have heard many different things about these boats but it was all in the past and have not heard any complaints anew except to not get it from bass pro.We are looking for a boat that we can just take out on lake norman or lake wylie and she can do her tanning thing and i can do the fishing thing.Any help or suggestions from anyone i would greatly appreciate it.Im getting all kinds of information from everyone else about not getting a tahoe or not getting a bayliner so now i am just confused.Thank You for your help.

 

[bracso]

Re: Help on finding 1st boat,A ski/fishing boat......

If you are going used, name brand means nothing, nada, zip. What IS imporatant is its condition and if it has the features you like.

A fish / ski boat is sort of like a field tractor and an economy car. The two can be jammed together but the result is a poor fishing boat and a poor ski boat.

Thanks Bubba,ok thats something i will keep in mind,but the boat will be mostly for just me and my wife to just have a good time out on the lake or just kick back,so if im going new then who are some good names?

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Help on finding 1st boat,A ski/fishing boat......

Since you don't know anything about boats and it's just you and your wife, you should pay for reliability first--new or almost new, from a dealer who will fix stuff for you.

Next, you and your wife should go look at some actual boats to get an idea of what design you want. As a lake boater, you can get boats that I would not recommend on the coast. I'd say get something that sits on a single axle trailer; it will be easier to manage both on and off the water for learning. 17-19'.

Watch out for packages that seemto be a good price but are in fact underpowered to bring that price down. If you are looking at I/O the guys here can tell you the best matches for motors and hulls.

Avoid carpet if you can. no one needs it and it doesn't work if you fish.

 

[southkogs]

Re: Help on finding 1st boat,A ski/fishing boat......

For a general "cruising" small lake boat ... have you considered a small pontoon? They're not right for everyone, but they are nice to relax around the lake aboard.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Help on finding 1st boat,A ski/fishing boat......

Watch out for packages that seemto be a good price but are in fact underpowered to bring that price down. If you are looking at I/O the guys here can tell you the best matches for motors and hulls.

Avoid carpet if you can. no one needs it and it doesn't work if you fish.

If its a 4 cylinder I/O, its probably underpowered. There are a couple decent, lightweight hulls that do ok with a 4 cylinder, but not many. Larger engine boats also hold their value far better.

As far as carpet, I went the opposite route. I ADDED carpet to a boat that had only a fiberglass floor. Of course, it is snap in. Carpet is very nice to have, if you can remove it.

 

[pokman]

Re: Help on finding 1st boat,A ski/fishing boat......

Brasco,
I'll give you my exprience, we had a 17ft Rinker bowrider and I wanted a boat to fish a little out of so found a 2001 18ft Bayliner 184 Fish-n-Ski. I love the boat, some points I will say about getting a boat that does both, make sure all cushions can be taken out, mine can and it is nice not to get slop everywhere. Make sure you can swivel around good in the front seat with the trolling motor and not be cramped. Look into storage and ease of getting at your fishing gear before you go out. I can change over from fish to ski quickly and usually just leave all the fishing stuff at home when cruising cause it takes up alot of room. Like someone said above have snap-out carpeting. I don't have this and wish I did once you get fish and worm slime in your carpet it is hard to get out. Also with a 18 footer plan on fishing comfortably with only 2 adults maybe three at the most but will be cramped. Finally I would recommend a outboard-this is just my opinion gives you more interior room and easy trim up when trolling. Good luck if you are looking at alot of fish n ski's I would try and find one you can fish out of more easily, any boat can be comfortable to cruise and tube but many are hard to fish out of.

 

[DuckHunterJon]

Re: Help on finding 1st boat,A ski/fishing boat......

Also, depends on what kind of fishing you are talking about. We have a Procraft 200 Combo - it's great to bass fish out of, but gets real old trying to troll with it. You need to sit down, make a list of the activities you want to do, then fiind the boat that will satisfy most of them. Lot's of choices out there.

 

[bracso]

Re: Help on finding 1st boat,A ski/fishing boat......

Thank you everyone for the much needed input on helping me and my wife finding our 1st 18ft fish/ski boat.We are efinitely going to sit down and make a list.one thing i did forget to mention is the only reason we are looking at 18ft is because we want to put it in our garage.We know it will fit.

 

[Slip Away]

Re: Help on finding 1st boat,A ski/fishing boat......

This would be perfect for your needs.


http://muskegon.craigslist.org/boa/2921312329.html