Fish-Hawk.Net

I have a green light from my spouse to upgrade my very old boat to something a little newer!!!

I am looking for something that is 80% fishing and 20% fun (pulling tubes, taking kids out for a trip around the lake, etc.).

Looking For:
- Aluminum boat
- 16-17 foot (14 too small, 18 won't fit on my hoist)
- Front and Rear deck
- Seating for 3 to fish, 5 when touring around
- Convertible boat is ideal (the type where you flip the seats over from padded to fishing-deck)
- Console steering (not a tiller-boat)
- Electric trim and tilt
- 30hp minimum
- 20 year old max, prefer 10-15 years old (would consider older boat with newer motor).
- Electric trolling motor, fish finders, etc. etc. are a bonus.
- Full setup (boat, motor, trailer)
- Prefer 2-Stroke or VRO (due to keeping the weight down)

If you are thinking of trading in or trading up, let me know, I might be interested!

I'm still looking

My boat meets all those requirements except its glass. But since I'm currently selling it here are some pictures.

My boat hoist is only rated for 1200lbs, hence the reason that the boat has got to be aluminum. I have a 14 foot fiberglass right now and even that is a strain on the hoist once you add in the engine, gas, batteries and equipment.

Scarkner,

i think you have a bit of a disconnect in your stated needs

based on your description of 3 to fish, seating for 5, wanting to do some tubing and front/rear casting decks, you are probably looking at a fish n ski style boat. On a boat that size, anything less than a 50 and you'd have difficulty planning. If you wanted to fish three in it, hopefully it is you and two kids because with 3 men in the boat and a 50 on the back end you'd have performance issues. I think you should be looking at a minimum of a 75 on that kind of rig and at that point you are well beyond your 1200 lb threshold. My 17 foot aluminum boat, which meets your description pretty much spot on, weighs roughly 1300 pounds. Without the 115 HP 2 stroke engine that I have on it.

Mick

Example boat:
Smokercraft 161 ProMag.
4 pedestal bases in main area plus extra kid(s) can sit on front for touring (boat is rated for 5 people).
Dry weight 845lbs with 60hp 2-stroke, gas, batteries, etc. the whole thing is under 1100lbs.
With a 4-cylinder 4-stroke brings it up to 1250lbs, still well inside the range of the hoist.

Sadly I just missed one of these at a dealer

My description did say "minimum" on the engine size, but it will be used almost entirely on a tiny lake. I have a 70hp now and only get to run it WOT for about 2 minutes before I have to turn around

I totally agree that having a bit more oomph to get out of the hole is always a good idea.

Sadly I can't get a bigger boat hoist so I am really limited to the size of boat I can put on it.