Type of boat

[wbl2014]

Don't have a boat yet, but want to know what you use.

[bobberdown]

Get the best you can afford don't skimp. you will not be happy with any you get and you will pay more in the long run. Boats are like wives they take money to maintain them, and the cheaper they are the more money you give the other man.

[Downwind]

I have a tracker and sure do like it. Although I'm not ruff on my boat it sure is nice to know when you scrape up against a stump while fishing you don't have to worry about the scratch. That's why I went with an aluminum boat. Downside-They don't weigh as much and the wind will push you around more.

[Southeasttackle]

I agree with downwind. Trackers are great. Not really expensive and take alot of abuse. There are many to choose from

[suey]

take into account how many will fish with you on almost every occasion, and then add 2 cuzz ya never know.

are you looking for speed?

cost is always a factor and you almost always can get into aluminum cheaper than fiberglass

do you have a selection of used boats in the area?

are you going to be fishing just crappies or are othe species going to be involved?

are you going to troll? if so you might want a 24 volt trolling motor that requires 2 batteries.

my opinion is, buy a used boat you "think" will work..... cuzz usually until you spend some quality time on the water, you find out you really didnt know what you wanted in a boat in the first place.... so buy a used one and take the loss on that rather than buying a new boat and then upgrading in 2 years anyways and losing even more

if your a strict crappie fisherman.... a 16 footer probably will be acceptable, 18 feet is even nicer

[Blue Duck]

Lots of good advice in the above posts. There have been times I had poor boats and there have been times I have had great boats, but I have never been without a boat of some kind. Get the best you can afford but get one. As long as it floats its not a bad boat. Motors on the other hand are something else. There are lots of good used motors out there but there is lots of junk too. Pick a good motor. Good luck.......

[possumcop]

If money dosen't matter buy a Ranger, If it does you might look at the new War Eagle crappie boat. It is the best factory boat for crappie on the market. I has a baitwell in the front, livewells in the front and back and it is ready to go fishing when you pick it up.

[Garyoutlaw]

How about in a pontoon? My Dadinlaw & I fish out of a 15 ft toon that is well loaded and have room even when we fish with the sun shade up.
Also depending on how you fish I would recomend on buying the best built rod holders you can afford because most boats don't come with them

[Glowgood Jigster]

We've been fishing out of a 12' Porta-bote powered by a MinnKota. Or we have a couple inflateable pontoon boats, and one U-tube float tube. Prefer the portabote. At our level of fishing, it's just too convienient for us to launch and run to our fishing spots.

[texascrappiefisherman]

Was fishing out of an 8' inflatable pontoon but mama bought me a new 14' Alumacraft w/5hp B&S on the 5th. It is great.