Thread: What's your thoughts?

Sell/trade it and look at Candi boat before making any decision. I have never regretted up grading the boats that I have owned in my lifetime.

If you’re going to be retiring in 10 years and you had kept the Stratos it would be 42 years old. You would probably have problems getting parts for the motor too. If I didn’t go with a new boat now I’d keep the Stratos as is and bank the money while running what you have. The longer you wait to buy the new boat the newer it will be when you retire. I would have a hard time putting thousands of dollars in a 30 year old boat.

New boat


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Originally Posted by tcounty

I don’t think you’re going to like going from fiberglass to aluminum.


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I agree with this. I can tell you from personal experience that the benefits of the aluminum DO NOT outweigh the drawbacks of fiberglass, IMHO. In recent years, I sold my GO-FAST, fiberglass gas guzzler (to help finance a never-ending building project) and lucked up and got a deal on a 18' aluminum w/ 75HP.

While I don't much care about speed anymore, I've had a ROUGH time getting used to the lightweight aluminum. Maybe its cuz this is my first aluminum. Maybe. While I like the economy/durability of the aluminum, I just cannot get used to the instability and poor handling in rough water. Livewells are too small. Not enough dash space. Not enough storage. Etc. I grew up with 18-21' bass boats and I guess they are just what I'm used to.

I am, myself, 100% against going into debt over a boat (worst depreciation known to man), but if I were, I'd go into the least amount of debt possible. If I were in your shoes (and if I still was happy with my 201 glass hull [which were VERY good boats], was at least somewhat handy with tools, and had at least some time to dedicate to the work), I'd fix that floor/carpet yourself (takes some research/time/materials, but not too difficult...I've done 6 or 8 myself for WAYYY less than what you have listed) and be on the lookout for a good, used 200 Optimax (2004 or later), ETEC or 4 stroke.

Is the transom on your 201 still strong?
Value doesn't matter when you're happy, don't care about selling and there's no debt tied to it

If it means anything, I'm getting ready to peddle my aluminum and going back to a fiberglass.

...just my $0.02, take it for what it's worth

What it’s worth in 10 years only matters if you are selling. Fix the spot, put down some hydroturff and repower.

Unless there’s other damage to the transom or hull.


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Thank you all for your help. For comparison, I'm looking at a 2017 Triton 17 CTX w/60 hp Merc 4 stroke, warranty until 2022. Asking is $16.9k

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New boat for sure!

I personally couldn't imagine going back to aluminum after fishing out of a glass boats for many years. Just no comparison in the ride, ability to hold in the wind, and stability. But depending on your preferred fishing style that may or may not make a big difference. I can see both sides of financing boats. Doesn't make very good financial sense but you can't take it with you and as much a lot of us love to fish on here, can't really argue to hard against it even if it wouldn't be my choice

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