Watercraft-What's everyone use???

[rapanatic]

Just wondering what kind of units everyone uses as in boats/watercraft. I love my 15' canoe for the river and small ponds but when the wind comes up I have to sit in the front of the canoe and use it backwards to spread the weight otherwise I just get blown all over. It's also pretty stealthy. When I want to be lazy on the smaller waters I use my 12 Hiawatha 1966 to be exact with an 8 horse Johnson. This boat won't plane out for nothing and it's probably at about a 45 degree angle at full throttle and the back of the boat is level with the water and about ready to come in. The neat thing about this boat is my Great Grandfather bought it new and now I have it and use the crap out of it. I guess the nice thing about these two units are you can get them in the water anywhere-just drag them through the weeds or whatever and get it in the water where others don't even try to go.

For the bigger water and the waves that come with it I use my 17' Tracker Magna fish-an older 94 model with a 60 horse. Much more comfy and you can take lots with you and not worry about getting capsized.

Well post what you use as the ice is coming off isn't it? I go to the lakes about two times a week hoping to see more open water and I doo't care if a docks in cause I'm going ;D

[Jason]

I've got a 19 ft Alumaweld with a 90 horse merc on it .
It work good for me every where from Lake tahoe to the pacific .

[Bodeen]

I run a bass tracker 175. Last years model with a 50 horse merc on it. I can take it on the local river (kankakee) and all the lakes in the area. We don't have a lot of smaller water that you need a small boat to get to. Just about all the smaller water, I can fish from shore just fine.

I do need to be careful in Lake Michigan. I don't want to get this boat in 100 foot of water with all the lines out and have a wind come up

[Fishooked]

I used to have a 14" Lowe semi-v. Most of the waters I fish near me are electric only lakes, including some of the bigger ones. Which is fine by me, I prefer fishing small waters only because I am stubborn when it comes to throwing 500 different lures in the same general area, lol.

Most 'big water' in my area requires some driving and time to get to - Id rather spend my time on the water than on the road driving there, lol.

Someday though, when my kids are older I'll be looking into prolly a 16" used...someday...

[RapalaGuru]

Howdy All, I've been working a ton the past couple of weeks (Another thread I'll start)

But anyway. I'm back for a little reply time.

What kind of boat,
Well it depends.....

When I go on the spring trip to the U.P.
The 14' deep v goes with me, It's got a electric start 15 hp on it...
We've had this boat since the mid 1980's and it works really well for us. It's been re-worked over the years to keep up with our fishing needs...

Now then, If I'm up at the "Farm" I have options.....
I've got a little 10' flat bottom jon boat...(If I want peace & quiet) it will only handle me
(at least that's what I tell people)
Also, Have a 14' boat up there for taking people out fishing with me, this bad boy is heavvvy
another older boat.

And if it's duck season, I have a 12' & 14' boat painted in camo for putting in the duck blinds.

For motors, I have a 4hp, 7hp, 10 hp, the 15hp from above boat along with a couple of electic trolling motors.

And If I really feel like an outing, I always have a canoe,
Or if gas prices are high, all my boats have oars to row with....

Do you 'young guys' even know what oars are? or do you just go for the speed thing.

Now then, If I want to do the big water, great lakes thing, My Aunt & Uncle have a nice tracker that will handle that water.

I seem to look for any really good deals on boats I can find locally.
the last duck boat I bought (the 14') came with the trailer. I paid less than $300 for it (with the trailer)

I keep an eye on boats that just sit around, every so often knock on a door, ask about the boat, even if the people aren't selling. Just so that they know I'm interested, give them my name and such. the 14', I waited 3 years and then got a call asking if I was still interested, down played it a little bit and got it at what I thought was a good price.

Just a trick, I learned from a wonderful person, My Aunt...
She got me a great deal on my pick-up. it sat in her neighbors for a couple of years. the man who owned it. Hadn't done much to it, because he didn't want to have it repaired. It wouldn't start, etc, etc and he had a few shops quote him some repairs prices and at that time, he didn't think it was worth it.
My Aunt was able (Or I was) to quite quickly meet his asking price..which was....
A crisp ONE DoLLar Bill
Needless to say, I went to my bank and get the crispest one they had.
My pick-up has been great,
What was wrtong with it,
The Gas Guage was broke, said it had a quarter of a tank and it was bone dry..
Ok,
lesson of the day, It's always worth knocking on a door, being polite and have the time to wait....
Give your contact info and keep in touch with people, you never know what happens in someones life, and if need be, they can & do sell off 'toys' rather quicky when they need cash!!
Steve "Rapala-Guru"

[dengle74]

Sea Nymph TS 150 (16ft Aluminum ) with a 25hp evenrude motor( tiller control). Motorcraft 28lb thrust electric trolling motor. Eagle fish finder. It serves my needs perfectly. (Well..., nearly perfectly ) I use it on the river as well as the open, unobstructed waters of Canada. On the river , my motor serves two purposes. It motors me to where I'm going , and it locates rocks and boulders. . I've had to replace the lower unit at a cost of $600 because of my lack of patience on the river. Thats where the nearly perfect part comes in. It would be perfect if it were a jet motor. Much better for navigating shallow rocky river bottoms. Unfortunatly beyond my budget right now.

I previously had coleman Scanoe. I mounted a 4.5 hp Merc. gas motor on the stern. It worked great in shallow water. I had to sell it to buy the sea Nymph. I should have kept it . I practically gave it away.

[Fishooked]

Good stories guys. dengle too bad about that Scanoe, I love those things. Right now Im just sporting a canoe at the moment, since itll be easier for me for those quick trips, since my fishing time is limited this year.

Steve just like you said theres a guy around the corner that has a nice little 10ft canoe that I know hasnt moved in years...time to pay him a visit

[dengle74]

yeah Ted, Arent those Scanoes great?!! Their quite steady for a canoe.(Because of the flat bottom) I had a system where I was able to handle it alone, and mount it on whatever vehicle I was driving at the time, (in case I had to fish by myself.) Very durable, and you could go almost anywhere with it. I miss it.
The sea nymph has its advantages , but it also restricts me from going into some good, prime, smallmouth bass territory. ( that I use to go into with the scanoe.) Now I have to anchor my boat and wade into the more trecherous areas to avoid the rocks. Oh, well!! It does get me around much quicker though.

[sfw1960]

Current rig is a 25HP on a Starcraft 16' tiller, I want to move up to a 17-17.5' deep V with a W/T wind shield...

[purplehog44]

Lowe Stinger 170 powered by a 50hp Merc, Minn Kota trolling motor. It's the Lowe version of the Bass Tracker. I'm seriously thinking about upgrading to the Nitro Z-7. I'm starting to fish some tournaments and the 50hp just aing got enough to get me there and back.

[creature1]

I stand on the shore and wish I had a boat.

[muskiehunter]

I'm a 1/2 owner of a 2008 Ranger Z21 Comanche with a 250hp Evinrude E-Tech.My buddy and I figured we could never afford one by ourselves so we went in together on a nice used one.

Since we have fished together since we were kids it only made sense to do this.In the 2 years that we have owned it there has not been a single argument on who gets to use it.

When I'm not using our boat I use my trusty old 14 foot aluminum with a 9.9 Johnson.Talk about a difference in speed instead of doing 80 mph across the lake I just putt along,Which dosen't bother me at all.As long is it gets me from spot to spot and floats I'm good to go.And I do have a sticker that says "My other boat's a Ranger" on it.

Also I do alot of fishing from shore or wading in the water which suits me just fine as well.
As long as I'm fishing I really don't care

[rocfish]

A 1995, 19 1/2 ft Ranger 397VS, Fish & Ski. My dad bought it new in '95, he passed away in 2008, and my mom said he had told her he wanted me to have it. It's been pampered all its life, and now I'm the caretaker of it, still looks pretty new (there's a pic posted on an older thread here "Introduce Your Boat"). It's got a 200 hp Mercury, a Motor Guide foot controlled trolling motor and 2 Lowrance fish finders. We use it to fish all morning in the summers on Kentucky Lake, and then pleasure cruise, tube, ski, swim, etc. in the heat of the high sun day (often 100+). Our little slice of paradise for the last 18 years (prior to 1995 my dad owned an older '88 Ranger bass boat that we would bring down to KY Lake).
-Just a side note, after vacationing at various resorts for the first 5 years that we discovered KY Lake, my dad built a second home at KY Lake in a lakefront development, although not rich by any means (he worked construction all his life) he was able to enjoy the fruits of his labor in his golden years. My family and my mother still enjoy several trips yearly down to the home away from home (we reside in the Chicagoland area).

[New River Rat]

I had used a 1437 Grumman mod-V for 20 years to fish the New River in Virginia, but this year I bought a bare bones Polar Kraft and rigged it for my needs. Its bigger, so I can carry more Rapalas.





I’ve had this one for use on the New for about 6 or 7 years. As comfortable as you recliner at home.

[casey hayward]

Here is my baby, 2009 Lowe 1667 with a 2010 Merc 20hp, elec start, power tilt. Good for older guys and gets me where i want to go in pretty good time ;D

[casey10]

Hey Ted, How come I am showing up as a guest, did I get fired or something

I think I see the reason, I signed in with casey hayward instead of casey10I guess I am back on the payroll

[radiation74]

I have a 2011 princecraft with a 90 merc. The boat is a great size, not too big to handle, not too small to have 2 or 3 people fishing either.




And it can get all 240 lbs of me upon a wakeskate.