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Posts: 8865
| Depends on where you're guiding, who you're guiding and what you're guding for...
I've fished out of a good two dozen guide boats and liked things about every one of them.
If I was going to buy a boat and use it to guide I'd ask myself a few very important questions:
1. Where am I fishing? If I was fishing somewhere that's a few hundred thousand acres, gets really rough, and fishing it in November, I'd want a boat with a full windshield that can handle big water, waves, and get me to my next spot as soon as possible. If I was fishing a bunch of little lakes in N WI, that boat would be too big to launch in some of them, and the big motor would be stupid.
2. Can I troll? Let's face it -- a kicker looks cool hanging off the boat, but if you can't troll where you're fishing and you could row to shore in 10 minutes if your big motor took a dump, the kicker is just an ornament.
3. What am I towing it with? If you have an S10 Blazer, you might not want a 621 Ranger, especially if you're towing it to Canada and back three times a year
4. Why am I guiding?? If you're trying to make a living at it, payments on a $55,000 boat might put you in the "spending more than I make guiding" bracket. If you're guiding to help subsidize your fishing addiction, and you don't need the money its a different game all together.
5. What am I guiding FOR? Do I need to keep all different types of rods, tackle, bait, etc? Do I need a big livewell and a baitwell?
6. Fiberglass or aluminum? WHY?
7. What might I be doing with this boat when I'm NOT guiding?
I guess the bottom line is there's lots of ways to have too much boat, and lots of ways to have not enough boat.
I will say this. A few years back I was halfway to writing a check for a 619 Ranger. Last year it was a Tuffy 1760GC. Both boats would have been a mistake, not because they weren't great boats, but because of where I'm likely to domost of my fishing both were way more than what I'd need, and quite possibly would prevent me from fishing some of the best lakes I have access to.
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