It's all about value for your time.

I don't own a power boat, but my Dad does (which is better than owning it myself). He bought a 17' flat bottom welded jon boat, in about 2002. It has a 45 jet. At this point it probably has had about 16K invested in it, including all maintenance over time.

It has a 6 gallon tank, plus an extra 2 gallon can aboard if we run out of gas. We have only run out of gas a few times. We use the boat every weekend from Oct 1 to the end of january, then whenever the lower Chehalis tribs are in shape until the end of March.

The thing you might think about is getting a smaller power boat for the convenience of it, based on your geographic location.

Example: You get off work early one day in October, or have late start, you can launch a small sled at Monte, or Fuller bridge, and find a pod of silvers to start casting at within minutes. This can be done from the bank, but being in a boat is fun, really fun. Chances are this activity (since you won't be running around that much) will cost you 1 gallon in gas for the boat.

During the fall and early winter I schedule all my local meetings, dentists appointments, and stuff for 11AM ish. That allows me to get the kids to school, pick up the boat, fish for 3 hours, drive home, switch cars (leave the boat hooked on the truck), and go to the appointment. Last fall I was able to stick at least one fish on every one of those little junkets. Usually I have a slacker or out of work buddy who will come along, but small boats can easily be launched and retrieved by yourself.

Also, it opens up the ability to fish the Cowlitz in the summer, hunt river valley ducks and other game, and we fly-fish SRCs and silvers in the canal from ours (when the weather is calm enough). I think that living in E. County it could open up a lot more opportunity for you.