Owning A Boat In College

[Wayne SW/MO]

Get yourself a sit on top kayak and park it on top of your car. Lock the racks and put a cable through a scupper on the kayak and lock it on.

[Justin Spencer]

One of the guys already has an aluminum John boat. It's really long too. I thought about taking that down there but it has no motor on it. How would that be setup to fish a lake?

It is a start for sure, my best memories are catching fish out of old crappy boats while the fancy boats come over and ask what you are using! Put a little motor on that john and you can really do some good.

[JimG]

But despite a high degree of mistrust and loathing for one another, my college chums and I all shared in our love of fishing and competing on the BASS tournament circuit and the dream of having our own boat was very real. We came up with a plan and stuck to it. By the fall semester of our senior year, we had saved enough aluminum cans from beer drinking, convinced as we were that we could rid the world of the scourge of alcohol by drinking ALL of it, we had saved something like 700 lbs of aluminum. Enough to buy some plywood and a working 3-hp outboard. Over the course of a weekend we built the SS Natalie Lite. Here is a picture of us on our maiden voyage on Lake Springfield:

BoatBailing.jpg

I love it!!!!!

I am always amazed at what young men with more ambition than cents or sense can accomplish!

[Wayne SW/MO]

We used to build little prams to use on the creek when I was a little younger. We would build them out of pine plank sides and either plywood or plank bottoms. We would waterproof them, or try, with roofing tar. We found the best way to seal them was to load them up with some rocks and sink them for a couple of days. After they swelled up they were tight enough that a little baling kept them afloat.

[David Unnerstall]

One other thing on this: everyone who has owned a boat spent more time on maintenance than they expected. That could become an issue if only one does his share. What are the possibilities of renting a boat on this lake?

[bfishn]

... with Lake Dardnelle only minutes away from the school it would be torture to not be able to fish it. ...

A good part of Dardanelle would be safe with the small craft discussed here, but be aware there's a good part that wouldn't. Between the current, the barge traffic, sudden rises and falls (3ft in 12hrs is common), and the river valley winds, you can literally get in over your head pretty easily. I spent a lot of time there in an overloaded 12ft jon with a 5hp, and by rights I shouldn't be here to tell of it. Had some real close calls. A wide 16 footer (for two) with a 25 is a minimum IMO. And 17-18' for four.

Lake Conway's right around the corner though... :-)

As for your buddies, anything I could add would be either repititious or incriminating. "That was our rent money dammit!" ( I used to hear that a lot...)

Go to school young man. There'll be time to play later (I heard that a lot too).

[Terrierman]

One of the guys already has an aluminum John boat. It's really long too. I thought about taking that down there but it has no motor on it. How would that be setup to fish a lake?

Whose boat is it again and what did every single response you got say about this whole partner thing? But let's set that aside for a minute. Find yourself a good used 6 HP Evinrude and you are set up as long as you have half a brain or more and use it,

[grizwilson]

Not sure how muchresearch you have put into your chosen college but I would suggest joining the fishing/club/team and go from there.

http://www.atu.edu/prha/aboutfishingclub.php

G

They also have a Facebook page

[ozark trout fisher]

Fishing too much definitely didn't help my grades, especially my freshman year. And I didn't have a boat and only a couple of crappy, polluted streams around to fish in.

If I had in my possession a boat and a good lake within a reasonable distance my academic career would have lasted about a week.

Luckily, I eventually got tired of fishing in water that literally stunk (especially on hot days) and started spending a bit more time studying.

[mhowerton]

Plenty of places to fish around RusVegas with a canoe or kayak. Many coves on Dardanelle, Lake Atkins, Pottsville Watershed, The Piney, Illinois Bayou. Have a blast. I grew up there and wished I would have spent more time fishing.