Buying Your First Boat

The outdoor and boating shows are going on, and you've finally decided to buy your first boat. The thought of being able to fish whenever and wherever you want. To finally be able to pick the sweet spots, and having first crack at those monster bass has you on emotional high. Then here are some things you might want to consider before venturing out and spend your hard earned cash

Tow vehicle: One of the most important pieces of equipment you must have is an adequate tow vehicle. Bass boats and their trailers, when loaded with fuel and gear can easily weigh over 3500 lbs. You want to ensure that the vehicle you plan to tow you boat with has the rating to get the job the done, especially when pulling your boat up hills or mountains.

Bass Boats: Now let's talk about boats. Hopefully by now you've spent more than a few tournaments and pre-fishing days as a non-boater, and you've gotten to ride in various boats, you may even have a specific make and model in mind, however, if this is going to be the first boat you've ever owned, then you might want to consider a used boat.

There are some key questions you need to answer before you buy a boat. What size water will you be fishing? Is it going to be small rivers, and lakes, you could probably get by with a smaller boat with a smaller outboard motor. If you plan on fishing very large bodies of water, then you should consider a larger boat, probably a minimum of 19ft, especially if you'll be running 20-30 miles to find that honey hole.

Aluminum: An aluminum boat is much cheaper than fiberglass, and much more forgiving of the mishaps that occur, like banging into the dock, or running up into the shallows and hitting submerged stumps or rocks, however, they ride rougher, and are easily blown around with the slightest wind. In smaller lakes, a 16-17 foot aluminum bass boat would probably be a good choice.

Fiberglass: A fiberglass boat is much more expensive than aluminum; they can cost from around $20,000 to over $40,000 for a top of line boat, but can handle bigger, rougher water and give you a much smoother ride, and they can go much faster. I'd suggest that you go with a 4-stroke outboard. They cost a little more but if your planning on covering lots of water and keeping the boat for awhile, then it will payoff in the reduce fuel cost. They area also much quieter and cleaner than a 2-stroke engine.

New .vs. Used: There are several advantages of buying a used bass boat, such as more boat for your money; and used boats tend to hold their value much better. There are also disadvantages; you can end up with someone else's headaches. Outboard engines are known for being short lived and other things that don't show up on casual inspection. If you're planning to buy a used boat, than either buy from someone you know and trust, like the people in your local fishing club, or ask one of them to go with you to inspect and look at the boat, or find out from them how to inspect a boat. You can also find used boat inspection guidelines on the internet. Just remember that whether it's a new or used boat, they should be willing to negotiate the price, just like when buying a car.

Boat Handling: Believe it or not, there are many subtle nuances to boat handling, and not just learning to launch and retrieve. When I was first learning to handle my boat I had a difficult time, luckily, I asked the director of our local ABA district, who use to guide down in Texas, to help me out. He went out with me and taught me in 4 hrs what would have taken me long time, and probably lots of repairs to find out. He taught me to listen for the pitch change when trimming down, how to handle shallow water take-offs, and much more. I'm sure the many of your local tournamentt members would do the same for you, just ask.

Buying a boat is exciting time, and whether you buy a new or used boat, I know you'll enjoy your time on the water.

Reader Reviews

Reviewer Date Posted Grade Bass Salesman 2/28/06