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Thread: Boats over the years

  1. #1
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    Default Boats over the years


    How many and what kind of boats have y'all had over the years? Paul and I had this conversation recently and I wish I had pictures of all of them. Our first one was a little 12 foot semi v of undetermined age. No motor, no trailer, no nothing. When we moved to Tennessee in 1989, it rode upside down on top of our pop up camper (that's a whole different story . . worse than the Beverly Hillbillies!) We traded it for firewood the year we bought our first house.

    Next was an old green fiberglass Tidecraft with an Evinrude. Paul worked and worked on that motor and about the time he had it running really well, I talked him into a different boat. It was just as old, but it was wider. It was a Ouachita and the ugliest brown color you ever saw. Loved the boat, but the Johnson motor was a piece of crud. It never did run well.

    Next was a 15' Bass Tracker. It was a good little boat but would beat you to death on the river. Back then, the Tracker hulls were all riveted and I just knew it was coming apart when we'd get out in the channel and open her up. When my dad died in 1995, the fishing spark just went out for me and Paul and the boat sat until we sold it. It was just too hard there for awhile.

    We finally got the urge again a few years later and ended up with a Glastron fish n ski. What can I say? It seemed like a good idea at the time. We also picked up an old 14' Cherokee v bottom. I hate that boat. Tippiest thing I've ever been in. Paul sold it to a co worker and then turned around and bought it back a couple years later. The very first time I was allowed in a boat after my spinal fusion surgery, we went out in the Cherokee and capsized. Did I say I hate that boat?

    The next one was a 1989 Vision 18' with a 150 Mariner. Rode decent, but it was a shallow hull and it was regularly a wet ride.

    The next one was a 2000 Xpress x21DC. That was one sharp boat! 21 ft long with a 225 Yamaha vMax. The ride was awesome and she would do 70+ mph (but not with me in it - that's just too much speed on the water for me) It took plenty $$$ to haul around and fill up though. This one is our second favorite.

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    We stuck with Xpress and downsized to a 17 footer with a 90 Yammy. Paul customized it for crappie fishing and it was a great boat . . . for a while. The longer we fished out of it, the more crammed we felt up front. Plus, no room for gear and dogs.
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    In the meantime, we bought a 1952 Alumacraft from Cane Pole (Ms. Brenda's uncle passed away and it belonged to him) This has been a fun restoration project for us and it's fishable but still not quite finished. It's a great Reelfoot Lake and small water boat.
    This is what it looked like when we bought it:
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    Next was the War Eagle Predator 861 with the 115 4 stroke Yamaha. That was gonna be the long term boat - a crappie fishing machine! Then we started fishing some more tournaments. When the wind is blowing 20+mph, it makes it difficult to get to your spots, hold your position and keep your cool. Finally, I'd had enough and said I wouldn't fish another tournament until we made a change to a bigger, wider, heavier boat.

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    Enter the Ranger 619vs. I LOVE this boat and finally believe this is the one we'll keep for many years.
    This pic is pre Evinrude blow up. Gotta get a pic with the new Yammy.

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    So that's it, 12 boats over a span of almost 27 years. Good Grief.
    Vonna
    Yes, I fish like a girl. If you tried a little harder, you could too!!
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  2. #2
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    A 16' Lowe Aluminum with a 25hp Suzuki, a 14' Astro glass Cheater SX bass boat with a 150hp Evinrude. ( luck to have lived long enough to sell that one) 12' aluminum small water boat, a 1964 Crosby Sled that I rebuilt with a 25hp Yamaha, current boat is Stratos 285DC with a 150 Johnson.
    I forgot a 2man plastic bass hunter, a couple of canoes, and a few wood row boats while I was a teenager.

  3. #3
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    My Dad ran the marina on Lake Barkley that is now Green Turtle Bay for several years in the late 60s and early 70s. No need to own a boat then cause I had permission from several boat owners to use theirs and we always had rental aluminum boats (bring a sculling paddle).

    Our 1st real boat was a 14 foot deep V glass boat of unknown origin (can't remember) with a tiller 25 hp Evinrude. I rigged it nice for the bass fishing that I had gotten deeply involved in. When a guy decided to rear-end me on the way to the lake and knocked the boat completely over the back of my car, it was time for a change.

    I bought a Skeeter Wrangler with V6 Johnson motor. It was like brand new and the original owner was about to lose it to the finance company. I ran it for several years. That thing was a TANK!!!!

    Next came a Skeeter Starfire with a Yamaha motor. That was my trial-by-fire on high-performance boats. That thing would fly. I kept it till my wife stopped working to start to college and we built a new house. She promised me when she got her Masters and started teaching, I could buy whatever new bass boat I desired. Come to think of it, that still hasn't happened, 20+ years later.

    I got out of bass fishing and more into crappie and waterfowl hunting so next came a 14 foot PolarCraft aluminum boat with a 25 Johnson motor. I used it for a few years till my kids got bigger and it got crowded.

    Next came a 1648 Roughneck with a 40 HP Evinrude. It was camoed but set up nicely for crappie and ducks.

    Lastly came the 2000 model 1860 Horizon I have now. It has a 75 HP Yamaha and has gone thru several different riggings to get to where it is now. I used it factory for a while after I bought it new. The only thing factory on it now is the camo hull and the trailer it came on.
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  4. #4
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    My first boat was a home made cypress boat. It took the whole family to load it onto the roof of the car. I had either a 3hp or 7hp Scott Atwater on it (I can't remember). The second one, Mr Fred Baddour gave me a 71/2 Evinrude that I put on a 14 ft Buddy boat. I went anywhere on the Mississippi River that a tug boat would go. I had several after that. My favorite for running log roads in the timber is a 1542 with 25 to30 on it. I went from there to a 1648 with a 40 on it. I never liked it. It was too big and too small. I now run an 1860. All I do is troll about 2 1/2 months in the spring and about 2 1/2 months in the fall. I like this boat a lot. Hopefully this is the last one I have to buy.
    Tell'em I'll be there.

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    My main boat is a 2006 G3 170 Eagle that I bought new. It's a great boat. But this past summer an older neighbor of mine passed away and I bought his boat from his wife. It's a 1959 14 ft Alumacraft with a 1970 Johnson 9.9 horsepower outboard on it. He had it all done up with elevated seats, a trailer he built for the boat, rod holders, anchor mates, trolling motor, etc. I may sell the G3 because I am having a blast with the older boat. It's built like a tank , the motor starts on the the first pull, and it is perfect for the small lakes and ponds I fish. It reminds me of fishing with my grandpa...he had a similar boat. Plus the older I get, I feel like I want to simplify things.

  6. #6
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    CrappiePappy is offline Super Moderator - 2013 Man Of The Year * Crappie.com Supporter
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    Cool Only owned 3 boats, myself ....

    First boat came back in the early 1970's .... a used 15' Bassmaster w/50hp Chrysler outboard. Then came a brand new Glasstream 1550 w/50hp Merc. Blew the Merc & put a 50hp Evinrude on it, then a few years later I swapped the Evinrude 50 out (in a 3way swap) for a 70hp Yamaha. Sold that boat and used my fishing buddy's Tracker TX17 for many years. Then a few years ago a life long friend of mine sold me his boat ... 1999 ProCraft 16Bass w/90hp Merc.



    It's what I have now, to which I've added Hi-Tek rod holders & a Lowrance Elite 5DSI @ bow... with plans to add a HB560 @ console.

    ... cp

  7. #7
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    I started in canoes in scouts, and though they weren't mine I used them for many years. The first one that had my name on it was a 10'jon that had a hole big enough to drop a baseball through. Patched it over with generous amounts of silicone, and used it for a few years via cartop. I was stronger then. I scrounged up an Eska air cooled motor, a 7 1/2hp that if you sat just right would plane though not very fast. Someone stole the motor and I sold the boat and went without for many years. Next was a 14' Lonestar runabout, the a 12' Shakespeare Wondercraft with an Evinrude 18hp that would really cook. Even had a TM on the front with a weak car battery, rebuilt of course. Then came kids and different things and a canoe with a 12lb thrust TM, also car topped. Fished from the bank and the canoe while the kids were small til I finally got a few dollars together and bought a 16' lund with 3 bench seats and a 35hp Johnson, and put a 45lb MK on the nose. Transom mountTM with a bracket. That TM gave me fits and the guy doing the repairs wasn't doing me right and I got frustrated and sold it. A few years later I bought the 16' Sea Nymph stick steer with a 25 Johnson and a 40lb PD Minn Kota that I had when I moved to TN in '05. That boat saw me change a lot and learn even more, and many of my friends and I caught more fish out of it than any boat to date, but my age and lower back couldn't deal with it's nature. Namely light and quick to run out from under me when I lost my balance. The final straw was the bouncing nature of being in the front of the boat. Enter the Other Woman, who I still have. She was my first big boy boat with a 150hp and for the first time, range of travel. I didn't have to park close to where I was going to fish. And I could get home quick if the weather turned bad. She had to have some repairs on both the boat and motor, and I have added a auto pilot MK and made it into a boat that did whatever I wanted to do, which has been chase crappie for several years. I'll have her til I finally get into the 20' that I can see the need for more every day. This post has brought back a lot of memories of the friends I have had in those boats, and the fish we caught and sometimes didn't catch. Many, many very special days.
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  8. #8
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    Lots of boats


    Had this one over 40 years. 1958 Arkansas Traveler. I put a 1962c Johnson 18hp on it. It would scoot.




    Replaced it with this one. 2008 Alumacraft Crappie Jon. 14 ft

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  9. #9
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    I had a 10 foot Jon boat. Bought it brand new but never got it in to the water. My wife forced me to take a coast guard boating class and I realized it was too small so I bought a 14 foot Jon boat. After a year I bought myself a 17.5 Bass Tracker boat. I loved that boat and fished out of it almost 20 years. I sold it when I moved to Alabama promising myself I would replace it once I got to Alabama. After ten years I did replace it with a Crosby boat and then a few years later with a Venture boat. I sold the Venture after I had my stroke and the doctors told me to just bank fish.



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    Last edited by shipahoy41; 01-18-2015 at 07:49 AM.
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  10. #10
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    I never stayed in one spot long enough to own a boat until I was stationed in Sasebo Japan. I got a 10 foot fiberglass boat off of the backside of an island and repaired a hole in it and used it for 4 years. I then bought a plastic boat and had it shipped back to the US when I retired. I bought a lowe stick boat and really loved that boat. I sold it and bought a tracker deep v with a split windshield didn't keep it long. I traded it for a v-18 all fish with a 115 mercury 4 stroke and I am still using it.
    Retired USN

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