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| Message Subject: Smaller Boat | |||
| Live2Fish |
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Posts: 170 Location: Chicagoland | I had purchased a 2001 Alumacraft 175, but sold it for a lot less than i bought it to my cousin and, partly because I couldn't afford it and it was too big for some of the waters I fish. (I like to go lake hoping on small lakes with public access). My dad always talked about buying a light aluminum boat, maybe 15 or so feet for muskie and bass etc., with a 15-25 horse tiller and maybe a small casting deck in the $1500-2500 range. Does anyone now when, where, or who to look to to get a boat like this. In a way, it would be nice if it were used. Thanks a bunch! Edited by Live2Fish 12/10/2007 7:02 PM | ||
| sworrall |
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Posts: 32939 Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Used is the only way you will find a boat like that for anywhere near that money. | ||
| ToddM |
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Posts: 20265 Location: oswego, il | I bought my brother's 1996 princecraft 142 with a 25hp on it for two grand. It has worked well for me for the most part. Trailer sucks but they come with better trailers. Don't rule out a smaller, older tuffy, seen them near your price range too. The nice thing about my princecraft is that it's 73" wide and for a 14ft boat that is pretty wide. Here are some places to look for sued boats: www.craigslist.com www.boats.com www.boattraderonline.com www.iboats.com and marine dealers have used boat listings too, none bigger than heckels. www.heckels.com | ||
| AndrewR |
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Posts: 300 Location: Minocqua, WI | Live2Fish, I may be able to help you out, but this may not be the exact type of rig you may be looking for (no casting deck and no 25hp tiller). It's a great starter boat and perfect for the type of fishing you have in mind. I recently bought a 15ft Lund with a 30HP Evinrude and I will be selling my old 14ft'er with a 10HP Johnson and trailer (Motor needs a new water pump/ it would be sold with water pump kit, so don't worry)... I would fix this myself and possibly keep, but don't have the time for it myself nor is it worth a $300 service fee. Anyhow, it was the best thing for lake-hopping throughout all of northern WI. Easy to unload and easy to load. Didn't matter what kind of conditions the landing was in. I've been doing all kinds of fishing in it in recent years. I won't be selling until either January/ February/ March. It's sitting up in my garage in Minocqua, WI, and I need to bring it home to the suburbs of Chicago to strip it and take the seats, trolling motor, and electronics and use those for the boat I just bought. It will be sold with a set of seats though, just not with these white ones. Just let me know if this is something you have in mind. If not, no big deal. Just thought I'd throw this one out there. andrew Edited by AndrewR 12/11/2007 1:07 AM Attachments ---------------- aug_jul25 005.jpg (71KB - 134 downloads) | ||
| Live2Fish |
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Posts: 170 Location: Chicagoland | thats sounds great. a few questions though. You obviously fished muskie out of it, how did it handle a little chop? Second of all, this is actually not question, but I'm in the Chicagoland area, in Wilmette. So a march or so pick up could work out nicely. Thanks a lot Andrew. | ||
| AndrewR |
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Posts: 300 Location: Minocqua, WI | thats sounds great. a few questions though. You obviously fished muskie out of it, how did it handle a little chop? It handled fine with some chop. But like any boat, it kind of sucked fishing in waves that were 1-2 footers. I'd get blown around easily. Days with some breeze were my favorite times fishing in this thing. If it helps, the largest lakes this boat has been used on have been around 1,500 acres, so it can be used on bigger water during ideal conditions. You just have to be smart about where and when you go. It's perfect on smaller water (300 acres or less) with undeveloped boat landings and poor access. In what limited experience of Musky fishing I have (this year mainly), I think this boat is good enough. Great two-person boat, you can stand, plus you can throw in like 10+ rods and a net. | ||
| KARLOUTDOORS |
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Posts: 956 Location: Home of the 2016 World Series Champion Cubs | I have a 98 nortwoods 16' 1675dlx with a 2000 Mercury ELPTO 40 hp tiller, minn kota pd55 bow mount trolling motor on quick release plate, 2 batteries, 6 scotty rod holders, kicker motor bracket (for the 9.9 lakes), lowrance sonar (model escapes me at the moment- i'll get it later) anchor, bilge pump, running lights, livewell with pump, trailer. Home modified front casting platform with lots of storage beneath. 3 convenience lights within the boat also added. 2 seats ( 4 bases are in boat floor) plus a casting seat (some call it a butt seat...... as opposed to a ??????). I havent nailed down a price yet but it'll be between 4-5k. I will also post a pic soon. Karl | ||
| Live2Fish |
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Posts: 170 Location: Chicagoland | great. would love to see it | ||
| SVT |
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| I used a nice 1995 14ft super deep V used last year very well set up...15hp 4 stroke nice fishing decks Id sell it, if you were looking for $1900... had it on 1000 acre lakes with ease | |||
| Live2Fish |
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Posts: 170 Location: Chicagoland | I will bookmark this thread and come back to it in march/early spring when I plan on purchasing the boat. L2F | ||
| Schuler |
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Posts: 1462 Location: Davenport, IA | Until recently, I fished out of a 16' alumacraft bassboat. It has a 25 hp Johnson and two huge casting decks (I extended the front one) It is a great boat to fish out of. It's for sale, but at a higher price than you want to pay. | ||
| Kingfisher |
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Posts: 1106 Location: Muskegon Michigan | My wife and I own three boats now. We started with an 18 foot Starcraft fully decked out powered by a 115 Merc efi 4 stroke. Its much to expensive to lug around to all the local small lakes . We still needed the big boat for Lake St. Clair and several of our northern Michigan inland seas Like Torch lake . I wanted a small compact wide,light, fishing machine that had all the whistles and bells that my starcraft had. The answer? A 1448 Sea Ark Jon boat. I picked this little jewel up for 2300.00 used with a 9.9 merc two stroke and a galvanized t-1000 caravan trailor. I put a light carpeted floor in the back for my wifes casting deck and extended the front casting deck by another foot. That created a 4 foot dry stroage area under the end of the front casting deck. By cutting two chunks of angled Oak and bolting them to the bow I was able to mount a small 36 pound tiller minkota on the bow. I just reversed the handle and added an inline momentary contact foot switch to turn it on. I just set the speed and step on the button and it goes. This takes up way less room then a conventional bow mount motor. I used a ram mount for my old x-71 lowrance and added a Global 4800 GPS. This unit uses the same software that my Starcraft uses(navionics chips) . I installed 4 oak boards to mount my 4 downeaster s-10 saltys in the back. The Battery is a Die Hard Deepcycle and will last for two full days on the water before needing a recharge. I can Troll and cast for a whole day on less than 2 gallons of mix gas. This little boat is a edge trolling machine and outperforms my starcraft 10 to 1 when it comes to precision edge trolling. Another neat trick I used was to install four 7 foot Tubes down the sides through the middle and rear benchs. I used the grey 2 inch electrical conduit with the flare on one end. My wife made me 4 fleece rod socks and I can store 4 rods safely. A 1448 does not require a separate insurance policy,it goes on your homeowners. The bottom is 48 inches wide with a 72 inch beam. Its quite stable for two people standing and casting. It handles up to 1 foot chop with out taking on any water but this has never been a problem with us because we only use it on small lakes and can move to the quiet side if things get rough. Its low to the water making figure 8's a dream. I have front and rear pedestals for our butt seats . Top speed fully loaded with gear and two people is 11 mph. empty with one person and light gear 15 mph on a nice plane. The best thing about it though is the fact that I pull it with a 2004 Chevy Aveo. The little wagon gets 30 mpg pulling it at 55/60 mph. and has no trouble pulling the boat up out of the water. I must add though the I added Cabelas roller bunks to the trailor and lowered the bunks as far as possible. This makes getting the boat on and off the trailor in shallow water a breeze. The Aveo never even gets wet and niether do my trailor lights. This little craft was easy to build and has proven to be the best addition to my musky fishing arsenal over any other purchase. I am able to fish anywhere within 3 hours of my home for around 20 bucks round trip. If you would like to see pictures of this boat and the setups any of you can email me in the spring and Ill shoot a spread of pictures for you and email them out to you. I have few here that Ill post as a reply to this. Good luck,take your time and find the right boat for you. Kingfisher Attachments ---------------- boat pic.JPG (32KB - 117 downloads) | ||
| Kingfisher |
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Posts: 1106 Location: Muskegon Michigan | If you look carefully you can see two of the grey rod tubes that run along the sides. Just to the left of my wifes feet under the white rod. You can see the way we installed the 4 oak boards for mounting the Downeasters. She is sitting on the rear pedestal seat mount and her feet are on the carpeted floor I added. This is the only picture I could find so If you want to see more I t will have to wait until spring. Good luck Kingfisher | ||
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