Memorable Boats

[FlatsNBay]

Let's hear about your favorite or a memorable boat. It could be from many years ago or even a boat that you currently own. Why was it so special?

Here's one of mine:

Here's the first true bass boat that I owned. A 16' Monark aluminum bass boat with a 50 HP Evinrude. My grandmother gave me a loan and I had to make monthly payments to her.

She was a beut! I learned a lot about how to work on a boat. I replaced the front deck, replaced the carpet, replaced the trolling motor, rewired the entire boat, installed a depthfinder, and reworked the trailer.

It was awesome! I fished all over the state with it and even brought it with me to college at FSU.

She was a sweet little ride and went 37 MPH which was fast enough for me. I would get passed by every boat but it always brought me to the fish.

[Donald Garner]

That's a nice looking boat there.   It reminds me of my current G3 1548 Alweded Jon Boat. 

2006 G3 1548 Alweded Jon Boat with 25hp 2 stroke Yamaha outboard.  It's fitted with MotorGuide Trolling motors at the bow and stern.  It has (2) Humminbird Piranha Max 4 depth finders mounted in the boat.





   It's special cause my wife bought it for me as my 30yr Army Retirement Gift 

[Smallie_Stalker]

My most memorable boat was the wooden row boat my dad bought in the early spring when I was 9 years old.

It was brand new, but needed to be sanded, sealed and painted. We worked on that boat together off and on after school and weekends for a few months until it was ready.

When I was 12 we got a small outboard for it and spent sometime working on that together also.

There are a lot of cool stories that go along with that boat but the favorite memories and the ones that made it special were that my dad and I spent time together working on it and that he always called it "our" boat.





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[Bud Kennedy]

I have only owned two boats.  Both of them have been Ranger bass boats.  My first boat was a Ranger 330V that was actually purchased by my wife.  I was working a very high stress job and being a bit of a workaholic in those days I never took much time off.  She was concerned about that and since she and I both loved to fish (from the bank in those days)  She decided to look for a boat as a lure to get me away from the job.  She found a used Ranger 330V that was basically a new boat that probably on had about 10 hours on it.  It was a pretty thing for sure.  She had a good friend of mine check it over and take it for a ride before she purchased.  It turned out to be a real find.  I came home from a business trip and there it was sitting in the driveway just waiting to go fishing.  We had a lot of memories in that boat fishing all over New England and multiple trips into Ontario, Canada.  By the way it did what the Mrs wanted. It did get me away from the office.  I forgot to mention that prior to getting the boat I had a couple heart surgeries and that too convinced me to slow down a bit and enjoy life.  That was almost 40 years ago so I guess it worked.

[caddyjoe77]

thats some great advice Bud -- i need to get away from the office more

[FlatsNBay]

Great stories!

[FlatsNBay]

Here's my first fiberglass bass boat. It was a Pro Craft Stalker 1650. I bought it when I lived in Okeechobee and fished all over Lake Okeechobee. I even covered it up with a camo parachute and duck hunted out of it too!

She came in at 16 1/2 feet and had a 75 hp Mariner on it.

I wish that I still had that boat. It was a breeze to tow and I could drop it just about anywhere. It wasn't fast and topped out at about 45 mph but she brought me luck. Biggest Bass out of her was an 8 1/2 pounder caught on a gold pepper Slug O at Kings Bar on the north end of Okeechobee.

I brought her up to central Florida with me and fished the Harris Chain among many other bodies of water.

The boat was super reliable and I don't think that I spent a penny on any maintenance issues during the years that I had her.

Pro Craft used to make some real nice boats.

[Capt. BassinLou]

1999 PRO 165 Tracker. Had this boat for over 20 years! Great times!!

[Donald Garner]

Nice looking boats guys.  Tks for sharing the pictures of your boats.

[Mike Cork]

While I had fished out of a couple of my dad's boats (TideCraft, Terry, Ranger) this was my first official boat and I won my first solo tournament fishing from it... Cooler livewell between the seats and a pair of 12v batteries to get the through the day in the very back.

[Mike Cork]

This is the first one I remember fishing from... I'm the one in the red, my bother is smiling for the camera LOL

[D.W. Verts]

Wow. Awesome.

I realized a few years ago that I had no pics of any of my boats. They really were just tools to me and I reckon I didn't get too sentimental over them.

My first was like Mike's, a glorified Jon boat. Uh, just like the one that I STILL have, today. Go figure.

My current Tide Craft was one I sold new in 1999, and it's as good a rig as I've ever fished out of, age non-withstanding. It is a RIG. And with all my stupid YT videos I have LOTS of pics of it. But none of my-

1983 16' 8" Champion with the 150 Black Max
1987 Stratos 201 Pro with the 200 Looper
1994 Astroglass 180 with a 150 Black Max
1994 Charger 195T with a 225 Opti
1995 Charger 295T with a 200 Yamaha
1997 Skeeter ZX 150 with a 150 Yamaha
1998, '99, 2000, and '01 Tide Crafts (five of them total, sponsored boats) with a 200 Mariner and 225 Opti's. And no pics.

Keep 'em coming fellers. Good stuff right there.

Dale

[caddyjoe77]

the boats I remember having as a kid till now.

had this gold terry fish and ski that I dont remember ever being in but dad sold it to a friend so i do remember that. 
then dad got a 1979 or 80 bassCat 16.5 foooter with an 80 merc.  brown and white
then we had this 1986 ozark tri-hull fish and ski with a 115 mariner "tower of power!!"
i Think it was about 93 and my dad got this 17 foot Astro that was green with a 115 merc.
about this time i joined the AF
came home on leave and he then had a blue astro with a 150 -- that was one i got pulled around on Truman a couple times and Lake kinkaid
then he finally got a 20 foot VIP with a 200 merc. 
then in about 2012 or so he got his current boat a 19-10 triton aluminum. 
about that time when I moved back home from vegas, I picked up my first boat which was a 17 foot Triton explorer with a 115 optimax. Would get to 50MPH which wasnt bad at all
then got the red Ranger 119 in that anniversary Red from a guy in MO named Jeff Durr unfortunately he passed away.  F Cancer!!
then when i moved to the lake in IL called holiday shores I got the 21 PHX in 2018.
as you all know just picked up my hopefully forever boat that bassCat Puma.