So I am looking to buy my first boat and would love the help from any of you awesome Ido’ers out there I fish all species but I really love walleye fishing mainly on the river in red wing a buddy of mine has taken me out there a bunch and now I am hooked (thanks Chris lol)
What do all of you think is a good starter boat keep in mind I don’t have tons of money so can’t get the new 70k skeeter (but I take donations) looking to spend about 5k or so all your help and ideas are very appreciated
You should be able to pick up a pretty nice 16foot deep v alumacraft or lund with motor/trailer with that amount to spend.You could also go with a deep mod-v jon boat but if you ever decide to fish lakes now and then id say the deep v would be a better.
Crestliner Fishawk
For 5 K you are looking most likely at a late 80’s into the 90’s alumacraft or lund. Don’t know much about Lunds but for Alumacraft I would look for a Dominator, Competitor, Classic Deluxe, or a Magnum. You can usually find a pretty solid example of a mid 90’s one in the 5K range
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ank/boa/4996438906.html
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/wsh/boa/4998663866.html
I have a 96 dominator and am very happy with it.
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ank/boa/4997887711.html
Big boat you could put some money into?
Good idea to figure out if you want a boat that’s water ready, or if your willing to put in some work, get an older non updated one cheap that you can fix up yourself with the particular components you desire, and still come out about even.
I am pretty glad my new to me boat was old and bare, but well taken care of, it came very cheap and I could put whatever electronics, TM, batteries, etc. on and still worked out to what I would have paid if equipped right away, and the stuff was all new or newer.
If you like the river and are on a budget I would stay with a mod v jon boat for what you want to spend you can get a good package deal on the boat, trailer, and probably a newer motor. I myself sold my bass boat for a mod v Jon because I mainly fish the river. Mine is a 2005 express with a 2006 Honda 4 stroke 40hp
Boat moves well at 30mph with 3 batteries in it and is super reliable. I got a pretty good deal but I paid 6,800 and I wouldn’t replace it with anything as of now. Plus it’s much nicer fishing with this kinda boat on p4 in January, February with a Jon u can drive right up on the ice bergs lol.
Plus for the price you want to spend if you go with a regular boat say a lund/ crestliner etc
You aren’t going to get the reliability of the motor for that price it’s probabl going to be older.
image51.jpg
Don’t ask me how a picture of someone else’s turkeys end up on this thread but wow weird anyways I’ll try and post a pic of my Jon boat
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i think the advice you have gotten here is good advice. you can go quite a few different directions. I have an alumacraft classic 165 woth a 70hp suzuki and i like to fish the river and both small and large lakes. i feel i can accomplish all of these with a boat this size. what i make up in versitility i lose in performance to other style boats. for example my buddy does much better on LOTW with his 18ft boat and i sure get jealous seeing those guys in jon boats on the river as they work so well out there. I am not locked down to a particular area fishing or a body of water so, for me versitility is important, but if you do think that you will mostly fish the river and not much else i would do like others have said and get a modified jon boat. They are the bees knees for the river.
one thing to keep in mind is that the old saying “bust out another thousand” is somewhat true so if you budget is 5k i would look to spend no more than 4k on a boat so you have room to take care of any problems that come up.
Lastly, when looking for boats for sale, go talk to craig. He’ll have everything you could want and then some
A little more than you want to spend but there is a nice looking Lund
Angler in the IDO classifieds.
I started with a 16′ Lund Rebel and wish I would have held onto it for
the golden years.
Good luck in your hunt!
When I bought my first couple boats (and likely my next one), I went with older, tiller boats without a lot of bells and whistles with newer motors. I didnt want leaks, electical/wiring issues and I wanted the motor to run every time out.
A new 14-16′ Jon boat with a 25hp-40hp 4 stroke tiller, graph and some rod holders and maybe a live well will cover most of what you need for river fishing.
i was in this position 2 years ago. it took a year to find the right boat, but i did. I bought a 90 pro-v in great condition for 5000. i can take it to the local pond and fish with the kids, i could take it out on LOTW if i wanted as well.
i went with a consoled boat because i have 3 children who i imagine will eventually want to do some skiing/tubing. The Pro-v was alot wider than many of the crestliners and alumacrafts i found in my price range.
in that price range, make the seller take the boat to a local body of water. Check EVERYTHING. it took time. the bilge filled up with water when we went out in the boat, we brought her back in, emptied it, put the plug back in, tried again. next time dry. i tried every part of the boat.
Don’t be tempted to over buy. The guys above are giving great advice, a 16 foot V with anything between a 25 and a 40 will serve you very, very will. Bigger is not better when you’re learning to handle the boat, get it on and off the trailer, etc. And excessive HP only gets you into trouble on the river and if you’re not an experienced boat driver.
Right now, however, is the WORST time possible to buy. Spring, high demand, desperate buyers trying to grab a boat before opener, high prices, good boat disappear in seconds. Great for sellers, bad for buyers.
Personally, I’d say take your time and look at as many boats as possible to figure out what YOU like. Becacuse at the end of the day, that’s what matters. Doesn’t mean anything how much I love my 26 footer with the 400 on the back, it only matters what you like and only you can determine that.
Grouse
Great advice here! I would second waiting until fall, you will likely find a 6-7k boat (right now) for sale in your 4-5k price range. Also don’t be afraid to look out of state, I got a steal on my Pro-V by buying down in Illinois.
Great advice here! I would second waiting until fall, you will likely find a 6-7k boat (right now) for sale in your 4-5k price range. Also don’t be afraid to look out of state, I got a steal on my Pro-V by buying down in Illinois.
X2
Thanks for all the help you guys
Like many have said, be patient. I personally am addicted to looking at boats. If you put some time into it your knowledge of the market will be very good say six months from now. That will help a great value jump out at you.
Have fun!
I had 95 lund pro v 1660 tiller, its a heck of a boat ,not to big not to small ,if you can find one in good shape i would not think twice about getting it. 60 Tiller is what you want on that rig. Good luck, DK
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