New Yamaha Price

[Don House]

I have looked at a newer faster boat every year. When we fish the tourneys we feel at a bit of a disadvantage with the 90 horse. I love my little Skeeter and I love it more everytime I look at new boat prices. I saw a clip from an old Bass Masters where they were fishing out of some small boats with small motors. I wonder why everthing got so big and fast on the first place.

Tim, it is all a matter of what the sponsors want the big guys to run!! As far as everyone else it is my stick is bigger than yours! And from that point it just keeps getting bigger and more $$$$... My first tournament I ever won was in a 16' john boat with a 25 HP outboard.. Everyone went past us like we were standing still, but we still kicked their rear end!! It was great to see those guys look at us when we came into weight in they were all laughing and pointing, then we pulled out our bag of over 23 plus pounds on Truman Lake... They stop Laughing as I took their money! Still smile about that one!!

See ya Big guy!! Keep the Skeeter and buy a bigger windshield cover so your head does not stick up over it... <><

P.S got to drive the new 250 4 stroke Yamaha just before christmas it is unreal for a 4 stroke!! Very Fast out of the hole and top end was very impressive..

Good Fishing

Don

[mosouthpaw]

sad thing is we need those fools to pay those prices to keep the used boat market filled with boats in 10 yrs. Nothing depreciates faster than a boat....

[taxidermist]

Thats why I will stick to the boat Ihave, its paid for, I can afford repairs when needed. I can add all the fancy fish finders. and above all have more time on the water and it just cost gas and oil!!! Sure its not the fastest boat on the lake on a good day it will hit 50mph. But it sure catchs just as many fish as any other boat at any price. For me its fine. I dont need a big assed boat with a big assed payment. 70 Grand??? Thats more than I paid for 20 acres.

[redbud]

Thats why I will stick to the boat Ihave, its paid for, I can afford repairs when needed. I can add all the fancy fish finders. and above all have more time on the water and it just cost gas and oil!!! Sure its not the fastest boat on the lake on a good day it will hit 50mph. But it sure catchs just as many fish as any other boat at any price. For me its fine. I dont need a big assed boat with a big assed payment. 70 Grand??? Thats more than I paid for 20 acres.

Im not sure how they can justify 70 grand for a bass boat thats more money than the materials to build my own house.Even ifthe motor was 25 thousand add top of the line electronics[that will become obsolete] say 3000 ,and a good trolling motor say 2000 that leaves $40k for a hull and trailer .Sure they might tweak hull designs with computers but the manufacturing process is basically the same as it was 30 years ago.Capt. Don is right, the fish dont care what your boat looks like,or how fast it goes.The biggest fish I ever caught was from shore any way.

[Ham]

I WILL NOT buy anything that I have to finance for more than 3 years. I will most likely NEVER buy another new boat. I plan on saving some money as I go along so that I will have a nice down payment for what ever used rig I buy. I have a aluminum bass boat (G3 HP 180) that is paid for and suits my needs. A glass rig would resist wind better and would punch thru waves better. I would expect it to have a higher end top speed and a little better storage as well.

My son will be in college soon and that might keep me in an older boat longer.

[techo]

Tim, it is all a matter of what the sponsors want the big guys to run!! As far as everyone else it is my stick is bigger than yours! And from that point it just keeps getting bigger and more $$$$... My first tournament I ever won was in a 16' john boat with a 25 HP outboard.. Everyone went past us like we were standing still, but we still kicked their rear end!! It was great to see those guys look at us when we came into weight in they were all laughing and pointing, then we pulled out our bag of over 23 plus pounds on Truman Lake... They stop Laughing as I took their money! Still smile about that one!!

Don

I know you have the big blue tank that is perfect for guiding. Functionality wins!

The guys at AIA don't laugh at me much. At least not about my boat! I fished a tournament last year where a guy threw something through his lower end unit at take off. He fished Schooners all day long and used his trolling motor to get back to weigh in on time. He placed seventh. Some guys shot up the James and near Flat Creek where they were supoposed to be biting big! He out did some of those guys. Heck, I remember when I didn't have a depth finder on Rainy Lake and used a contour map.

With all of that said....I would still like to move up to a larger Skeeter with a 150 someday. Its the glutton part of me.

[jeb]

I was fortunate enough to get a new boat this year. It was a year old, brand new "leftover" Skeeter. But performance was not my main criteria for the motor. I went against the advice of many and paid more for a 4 stroke motor. I'm sure I'd see a couple of more MPH out of an HPDI Series 2, but I was most interested in fuel economy, not having to buy 2 stroke oil and quietness. I'm sure it'll pay off in the long run over a 2 stroke, even though I may be a little slower to get to the fishing spots (top speed 65mph). I kept my last boat over 20 years, and got decent money for it when I sold it. I hope to do the same with this one.

The mileage has been phenomenal with this motor. It's really opened up the lake for me over my older 2 stroke 150 Evinrude. What a gas hog that thing was!

[Gone Fishing]

Techo, I fished the Tyson tourny on Bull last year. It had over 200 boats in it. The guy who won the tourny blew his motor before take-off and fished outside the off-limits area. Like my Dad always told me, he never seen how those guys caught fish going 70mph any way.

[Sam]

My boat and motor aren't in the same league as you guys, but I sure like my rig for what it is. I got a new 50 hp 4-stroke Suzuki a couple of years ago, and what an improvement that was from a 40 hp 2-stroke. I sure like not having to add oil to the gas, my gas mileage is 4 times better than it was, it runs quiet, and it trolls down nice and smooth. I can only go 30 mph tops, but that works for me.

On a fishing trip, I usually only fish a 3 or 4 mile long stretch of the lake but I fish it in detail working every little spot with the kind of habitat that's producing. For me, that usually works better than doing a lot of running. When big boats come by at high speed and keep going, I always wonder how many fish they're passing up while looking for other fish somewhere else. Lots of 'em, in my opinion.

I figure for every boat I see tearing by to get somewhere 15 miles away, there's another boat 15 miles away haulin' to get to where I'm at.

[stock jockey]

Three years ago I bought a 1999 Skeeter walleye boat. It has a VMax 150 on it. I use it in many lake that are small. Come down to Table Rock 3-4 times a year. I only paid 8k for the boat. I usually place in the tourneys I'm in. Just bought SI on my electronics and am looking forward to slowing down when I fish.

I think that an expensive rig is over-rated.

Just thought I'd give my 2 cents.