To Buy Or Not To Buy

[mwfischer]

I'm a regular poster in the Taneycomo forums, and visit Lake Taneycomo usually at least once a year, and now without a boat still go to Lake of the Ozarks twice or maybe three times. We don't rent anything, we usually just go with family who has a pontoon, etc but of course fishing the ozarks with 8 people on a 21' Pontoon is tough to say the least.

I've toyed with the idea of buying a bass boat in the range of the Nitro Z7, really like that boat actually, and of course there are a million forum posts about guys who love their boats, and then of course the classifieds where someone is selling one with less than 15 hours on it.

Looking for some boat purchase guidance, both good and bad. I've always been around the water, but family having boats has always filled the need. I go enough to have fun, but not sure if I can commit to go enough to support this kind of purchase, and frankly, i'm not sure how many trips that is.

Thanks

Mike

St. Louis, MO

[Dutch]

It sounds to me like you are kind of but not really serious.

Here are a few things to consider for the cost of the boat: What you actually pay, a few hundred dollars each year for regular maintainance, the cost of fuel for each trip, insurance, whether or not you have an appropriate tow vehicle, the depreciation rate of the brand you plan to buy.

Give each of these a numeric value and you can come up with a yearly cost. Once you have that divide it by the number of fishing trips you will take in a year. You will then have a cost per trip and can compare that to renting a boat or even hiring a guide.

If more people did that you would see a lot fewer boats setting around.

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

Very well put Dutch. I have wrangled with the WANT factor for years, but the storage, maintenance, lack of time etc, has always kept me at bay.

Mike, I have no experience with boats other than my 10 foot jon. It serves me for what I need it for, and I kind of feel bad that it sits as much as it does. Kinda like a new puppy, gets abandoned after a while.

[MoSportsmen]

I have said before on this forum I don't know what it is like to live without a boat of some kind. I have always ignored the expense of it and I am not wealthy by any means. I believe that the only way to buy a boat is buy a used one. That being said you better be handy or very comfortable paying for repairs and alterations. There are a lot of things to keep working on a fishing boat. Renting is probably the most cost effective, but this world ruled by lawyers and insurance companies has rendered the availability of rentals slim. Most of my best fishing has been done in places that there are no rentals available. If you get a boat you just might go more often. You might become a better fisherman and enjoy it more. Personally fishing from the shore and fishing from a pontoon with five others is not fishing in my book.

Sounds like you mostly fish in big water, otherwise I might sugest starting small with a little 10hp / fishing boat or even a canoe. You might try that route anyway and try some smaller water. I has a 14ft V with a 20hp that I had no trouble with on LOZ, but I chose where and when to go, didn't try to fight the 5 ft yacht waves. But there are a lot of places a 14ft v bottom can go. I would stay away from a flat bottom.

No answers, just some thoughts.

If the good lord had intended us not to have boats he wouldn't have made 3/4 of the world water.

Tom

[Wayne SW/MO]

Maybe you should consider renting for a year and then compare cost. I'm assuming that you can rent a bass boat on LOZ. FishinWrench on this forum would likely know if and where. Of course you can rent on Taney and the boats available are well suited to the lake.

[Sharps4590]

A boat is a hole in the water surrounded by wood, fiberglass or aluminum into which your pour money. That's why I only have two sailboats, two kayaks and one canoe. Fortunately, except for the big sailboat, the other four are not very expensive to own or operate. I'd have some kind of motorized fishing boat if I fished waters where I believed I needed one and I have owned them in the past. I admire your thoughtfulness. Sadly I'm a little more impulsive.

There is no pat answer. You pays your money and you takes your chances. Live and learn, cliche' upon cliche' ad nauseum.

[mwfischer]

Good points, and of course it does all come down to the same thing. Not like it's an investment after all!

I used to have a 14' Richline w/ a 20hp merc that was ok for Taneycomo, but I found myself this last trip in a friend's 14' with a tiny 17# thrust trolling motor fighting the equipment more than I did fishing, which really kills the trip in my opinion.

I've been around the water my whole life though, so I know even the best and most expensive bass boats truly follow the B.O.A.T. (Bring out another thousand) ackronym when it comes to struggling with equipment. I guess I'm just at that crossroads on whether I want to take the next step and fish more tournaments, etc.

Thanks.

[MoSportsmen]

Tournaments? There is a whole new ball of monofiliment. Boat has to be pretty capable for tournaments. If you want to fish tournaments join a local bass club. There are usually more boaters than non boaters in clubs so they are quite often looking for non boaters to fill the backs of boats.

[LarrySTL]

I'll just ditto what the others have said, especially Dutch, and do a X 2 on the possibility of joining a local bass club. A bass club can get you to a variety of lakes, and in a variety of boats, for a small fraction of the cost and upkeep of even a modest size bass boat. They can also be a good source of info on what boat you might like, or what boat you should avoid, and a lot of decent used bass boats change hands in bass clubs without ever getting advertised to the public.

I am a very big fan of riding in several boats before making any purchase, and I have seen lots of folks save tons of money or aggrevation or both by starting with a decent, somewhat inexpensive used boat to get a more detailed feel for what you need, what you want, and what owning, storing, towing, etc a boat is like. YMMV

[fishinwrench]

A 16' jon boat with a 15-20hp outboard and a trolling motor will fish practically any water in this state. Tows easily and holds its resale value better than anything that floats. You wouldn't have any trouble unloading it if and when you choose to upgrade either.

Its the closest thing to a solid investment that there is in the boating world.