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.

What Strike Zone said.

Wait for the economy to slide farther into the schitter, and there'll be some real sweet deals on boats popping up. Especially when someone realizes that it nowdays costs them $300 just to fill the twin tanks on the boat they only use 3x a year and they are trying to avoid home foreclosure.

With the current economic situation. I wouldn't buy a new boat.

If I was in the market for larger used boat, I would be looking in CA. They have no Salmon season in the saltwater. Their rockfish stocks are in the toilet. The thought of paying 5.00 per gallon for gas is pretty unappealing.


Myself I have no desire to own a big trailerable boat,

you need a tow rig= more gas or diesel expense

You need to store it= more out of pocket expense

You need to maintain it= money

I like classic older small light (16 ft oor less) weight hulls, with a good trailers.

I would go buy a new 4 stroke outboard with, with estart and powertrim. (25hp 4 stroke suzuki with controls is 3300.00)

Some electronics, and go fishing for less than 6k maybe even 5k.

If you have money to burn go for it, but if you have any concerns about our current economic situation hold off.



JY

Another thing about buying a boat is you are now the guy that takes people fishing. If spending time with friends/family on the water is your idea of quality time.... then the investment can be more than worth it.

I fish with my dad out of my sled and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I would get rid of a lot of other luxury items before conceding the sled.

Rocket Red brought up some good points that if there were ever a good place to live where you can use your boat on short notice, it would be EGH.

Also, nowadays I only seem to get half-day trips most of the time and the sled enables me to get on fish without sacrificing tee ball games, dance recitals, and every other activity that conflicts with being a family man.

Life is good owning the sled IMO.

I'm with Jason Y. I do have a boat but it is fairly small (under 18'), fairly light, and fairly fast. I have a 90 HP Yamaha 4 stroke on it and that is the best thing about it.

Of course, I'd like a bigger boat and I'm really ready for one but the gas issue is slowing me down. The cost of running the boat has tripled with gas prices and getting a bigger boat would mean twice the engine and even more gas.

It really depends on what you want to do and how you want to do it. Personally, I like being about to go 30 mph to the fishing spot, fish, and go 30 mph home. To do that, you really don't need to dump a lot of money into the boat as long as you put the money into a reliable motor.

Other people don't mind going slow and doing the 12 mph thing with a cuddy. I can see how that would work for some people but it just isn't my thing. If you like that though, you can find older boats for practically nothing. I just saw a 1977' Fiberform that looked brand new and had a complete engine rehaul. They were asking $3300.

When in doubt, buy a 17' Boston Whaler or other classic style boat. If you don't like it after a year, resell it for what you bought it for.

This get my vote for the wettest boat built, nothing wrong with a whaler but they are wet.

I don't own a Whaler but I can't disagree with you... especially with the smaller ones. Just trying to make the point that there are ways to "try" the boating thing without making it a huge financial mistake if it doesn't work out.

Eric lives near the ocean. If he gets a salt boat he should do it right or not do it at all (not a little Whaler).

That said I think the real question is the fishing is Washington....

I'd buy something to get on the tuna as someone else said.

Check out the Boat Trader and shop around ,there is alot of deals and call around,too. If you got $$$ call Thorbuilt and have one built the way you want it! I passed uo a 19 ft. Grady White with all the bells and whistles for $19,000.00 and could of kicked myself for not buying it( already have a Wooldridge 18 ft.) but wanted something for the Ocean scene. Take your time a sweet deal is around the corner!

Buy new, then I won't feel like the only one blind to the current enviro-economical happenings.

Good point, Seastrike, I didn't check his location. We've got a fairly unique situation up here in my corner of the world.

And Thrasher, don't worry, you certainly aren't hurting the fish!

nope, they aren't feeling a thing after the wood shampoo

It's tough to think about spending the money for a boat that will fish tuna. In the last 5 or 6 years we saw incredible ocean conditions for Tuna that allowed them to come within reach that we havn't seen in years before. This year doesn't seem like the same with colder ocean temp's. The Tuna could very well be 60+ miles offshore this year putting them out of reach for all but the charter fleet and larger 28' and up sport guys that are willing to stay out and go on the drift at night. My point is that you can never expect tuna to be close every year. My choice would be any boat that allows you to do multiple things and keep up with the changing seasns.

Just remember the old saying. " A boat is a hole in the water that you pour money into."

This is coming from a guy that along with his buddy will spend $60 to dig $10 worth of steamer clams and shuck two limits of oysters that could be bought at Costco for under $20.

It may not make sense, but I wouldn't trade the experience for the dollars I'd save buying at a good seafood store.

A the same time, it can make sense to have a boat that will not cost you a down payment on a house and direct some of that money into destination trips.

If you can find a boat that will safely work for most calmer days on the waters of your choice, you can log thousands of hours on it. The basic rule for boating is when the weather is not safe, he who runs away, will live to fish another day.

A shiny new drifter could happen in the future. If it does you may be getting a call for a good deal on a used Willies! In the meantime, you know you always have a seat in the boat.



Exactly what's got me on the ropes Francis. We enjoy the same fisheries. What does the next 10 years hold? More of the same? Better? Worse? Outright closures? By the way, you'll love that TR1 in the Grays Harbor chop. Tried it yet?



LOL....Of course!....gotta keep those whoring skills sharp, right? It would be fun to get into more silvers like we did with Francis that day wouldn't it? You may be waiting awhile Parker. Right now, I'm not feeling to urgent to buy(want to; gut's telling me otherwise)

I've got some super friends who have offered me rides in their outfits....all good times for sure. I get antsy for all the times I'm available and no one else is and the bite is ON I cringe at some of the fishing I have missed(estuaries in particular) because I was available and the partner boats weren't. I'd like to remedy that.

For now,I think patience is going to win out for awhile. Great thread guys!

I say "forget new"....huge waste of money. If you buy a good used 17-19 ft boat you can fish just about everything and power it reasonably. It's a small enough size that a guy can handle it by himself, yet safe enough to drag a couple of buddies out as well. It also is easily towed with just about any type of vehicle and you won't have an arm and leg into it.

Since you apparently are in no special hurry, I would guess you will find a gr8 deal in short order.

I've seen Stam's trips....save your money and go with him once in awhile.

who says you have to buy a new boat? I would stick to Aluminum because they just don't depreciate much. I bought a 1998 Wooldridge three years ago and i looking what they're selling for it really hasn't gone down in value at all. Why not just buy a used Aluminum boat, if you decide you don't like it in a few years you could sell it for close to what you bought it for...

True, those Aluminums depreciate very slowly, but he's out near the coast. Gonna need a real big Aluminum to put on some weight and not get bumped around like crazy out in the salt. A similar size glass boat will weigh much more and handle far better in the salt.

Don't needa go new IMO. Get something gently used, a year or two, and save money and put that towards gas. You could probably still get something with a warranty on it and save a lot of cash. People are unloading boats left and right, with gas prices and the economy being the way it is...Lots of boats for sale, few being purchased...