Boat Advice/Suggestions

Share info on fishing Champlain.
Mike8484
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Boat Advice/Suggestions

Post by Mike8484 »

Hi all!

My name is Mike and I am making the big move to Vermont next month. Before it's brought up, my family plans on adhering to all quarantine protocols when we get there. We are even looking in to the Supportive Quarantine Program. I am a originally from Miami Florida but transplanted to Denver Colorado in 2007. I love to fish! Hard or soft water. Honestly, I would fish a puddle if it means some quiet time to relax with a fishing rod in my hands.
A part of moving to Vermont comes with my first boat purchase. My initial plan is to fish a season boatless while I figure out exactly what I want out of a boat. I am curious what type of boat you all would recommend? I know that is a bit of a loaded question. I took a look at different threads including the "boat size" and "Show Boat" threads but it doesn't contain the info I am looking for. I'll list some things about what I am initially looking for in a boat. I have a budget around the 15k-17k range. If I am not asking the right questions please chime in. I appreciate any help you folks can provide. I look forward to being a good steward of the lake.
  • The main purpose of the boat will be fishing
    • I would like to have the option to fish the main lake although something I could fish the bays with as well
      • It would be nice to be able to fit my wife and 2 kids (2 and 6 years old) for cruising the lake although they won't be fishing most trips.
        • I'd like the boat to be manageable enough to be able to launch and load by myself. Although I am hoping to meet like minded fisher folk.
          • No plan right now to be boating during Frostbite season although arguably I don't know enough about it.
            • No preference on outboard type

              I am sure there is a ton of info I haven't even thought about. Any help is much appreciated. I would love to have an idea of what kind of boat to daydream about while I sell my soul at my day job desk. Tight lines everyone and thanks in advance for the suggestions.
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Reelax
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Re: Boat Advice/Suggestions

Post by Reelax »

For that money you can get a great used 17-20ft aluminum dual console boat like a Lund, StarCraft, Smokercraft, Crestliner are all excellent brands. That style boat may fit your needs. Just make sure it is an outboard so if you ever want to frostbite fish, it can be an option.

Good luck and keep us all posted on your decision.


Welcome aboard!!!
Matt B
Mike8484
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Re: Boat Advice/Suggestions

Post by Mike8484 »

Thanks for the tips Reelax. I am really looking forward to my boat purchase but wouldn't want to rush in to anything. Curious on the pros and cons of a dual console versus a center console. In my search I don't see a ton of center consoles for sale. I appreciate the welcome.
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finsntins
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Re: Boat Advice/Suggestions

Post by finsntins »

like matt said,a dual console boat would be a good idea cause if it doesnt come with a stand up top and enclosure,you can always have one made.even if you dont intend to frostbite fish,its still nice to have some protection from the sun,wind,and weather.another route to go,considering the wife and kids,would be a 20-22' cuddy/walk around fiberglass boat.having the cuddy is nice to store fishing equipment,but also nice for the kids to take a nap and you can put a porta potti for the wife.either option makes for a good all around boat to fish,water ski,or just cruise around.i personaly dont like center consoles because they provide no protection from the elements.welcome to the site and good luck with your boat purchase.
Miss B.Haven' sportfishing
digitroll (ron)
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Re: Boat Advice/Suggestions

Post by digitroll (ron) »

The downside of a center console is the "wet boat" metaphor. Hard pressed to find many center consoles in this part of the country. The spray gets everyone wet when navigating waves on plane. A boat with a good canopy and windshield keeps you out of the sun / weather / spray. Even as late as early June or late September there can be some cold days on the water. A Bowrider with high sides is great for kids. We started using mine for tubing for the teens this year. Good multi use and safe. Are you leaning for a glass boat? Today's aluminum boats have evolved to a much better ride than older boats. Buy the most horsepower you can put on your boat if your buying new. This comes in handy if you have a lot of guests on your boat and towing watersports with kids / teens. The engine doesn't work as hard on plane at cruising speeds and lower rpm's translating to fuel savings! Everyone has a different idea for their perfect boat based on many wants and needs or casting or trolling or both! This is my 2013 20 ft Starcraft Fishmaster 196 (1,600 hours and 8 seasons) riveted bowrider shown here:

Tubing and Trolling shot:




Image
Mike8484
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Re: Boat Advice/Suggestions

Post by Mike8484 »

Hi Ron,

Great insight on why center consoles may not be the way to go. The more I think about it a 17-20 ft aluminum boat is probably what I am going to be after. I’ll make sure to keep horsepower in mind. Chances are I won’t be buying new. I guess I’ll just have to wait out until the perfect(ish) boat for me goes up for sale. Thanks for the tips. Tight lines!
tmcaul
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Re: Boat Advice/Suggestions

Post by tmcaul »

I have owned three boats, all a little different. When I started, my kids were 3 and 1. I think children should maybe play a role in your purchase decision bc you will probably want to take them with you some or a lot of the time when you go out. My second boat was a 20' fiberglass with a cuddy but the kids, then about 6 and 8, quickly became bored with hanging out in it. That was my experience, so I now have grandchildren and when I went looking for a fishing boat last year, I had two things in mind: fishing for myself on Lake Champlain and tubing/skiing for the grandchildren and their parents. This led me to a bowrider configuration that is marketed as a "fish and ski" configuration. The maximum boat capacity would need to hold comfortably my wife and me, plus the 2 grandkids and their parents. I could do this with a 17' outboard, but I looked for something a little bigger...in the 18-19' range. And I looked and I looked. So the biggest tip I can give you is just to look and then look some more. You won't be looking at anything new given your budget, so go to Craigslist and create a saved search - you can use the brand names Reelax gave you. Use a 500 mile perimeter in the "Miles From" search criteria. Check off "Posted Today" so that you won't have to search through old postings. Then start looking at the boats that come up. What do you like? Not like? Be patient bc little by little this searching will refine your knowledge of this class of boats and how they may be priced. Just be wary bc the boats for sale category on CL has scammers with unbelievable price deals on Lunds and maybe other boats in this class. When you are moving closer to a purchase, you'll want to plunge into the details of a prospective purchase...any saltwater use (maybe a game changer), where/how stored bc you want to avoid rot in flooring or transom (transom rot a big problem with post-2000 Lunds), plus the obvious things that I think you'll come up with yourself. (If you want, send me a private message and I'll send you the complete list of questions I prepared for my last purchase.)

Tom
Tom
"Tyee, Too"
18' Lund
Mike8484
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Re: Boat Advice/Suggestions

Post by Mike8484 »

tmcaul wrote: Wed Nov 11, 2020 9:28 am I have owned three boats, all a little different. When I started, my kids were 3 and 1. I think children should maybe play a role in your purchase decision bc you will probably want to take them with you some or a lot of the time when you go out. My second boat was a 20' fiberglass with a cuddy but the kids, then about 6 and 8, quickly became bored with hanging out in it. That was my experience, so I now have grandchildren and when I went looking for a fishing boat last year, I had two things in mind: fishing for myself on Lake Champlain and tubing/skiing for the grandchildren and their parents. This led me to a bowrider configuration that is marketed as a "fish and ski" configuration. The maximum boat capacity would need to hold comfortably my wife and me, plus the 2 grandkids and their parents. I could do this with a 17' outboard, but I looked for something a little bigger...in the 18-19' range. And I looked and I looked. So the biggest tip I can give you is just to look and then look some more. You won't be looking at anything new given your budget, so go to Craigslist and create a saved search - you can use the brand names Reelax gave you. Use a 500 mile perimeter in the "Miles From" search criteria. Check off "Posted Today" so that you won't have to search through old postings. Then start looking at the boats that come up. What do you like? Not like? Be patient bc little by little this searching will refine your knowledge of this class of boats and how they may be priced. Just be wary bc the boats for sale category on CL has scammers with unbelievable price deals on Lunds and maybe other boats in this class. When you are moving closer to a purchase, you'll want to plunge into the details of a prospective purchase...any saltwater use (maybe a game changer), where/how stored bc you want to avoid rot in flooring or transom (transom rot a big problem with post-2000 Lunds), plus the obvious things that I think you'll come up with yourself. (If you want, send me a private message and I'll send you the complete list of questions I prepared for my last purchase.)

Tom
Wow! Thank you so much for such a well thought out answer as well as suggestions. I'll send you a private message as I would love to get that list of questions. The good news is that I am in no hurry and more than likely will wait a season before I purchase unless I find a situation where the perfect boat is available.

You bring up an intriguing point about saltwater use. Do a lot of folks who mainly boat Champlain also run their boats in saltwater? I am sure there is more maintenance that comes with a saltwater used boat. What other considerations are you talking about?
digitroll (ron)
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Re: Boat Advice/Suggestions

Post by digitroll (ron) »

I just learned there is a 2020 Phantom by Smokercraft on consignment used with a 115 hp engine at Vt Home and Marine. 658-5427
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fishhuntadventure
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Re: Boat Advice/Suggestions

Post by fishhuntadventure »

How’s the boat hunt going?

As a departure from above a little bit my thoughts may not be the most popular but are worthy to consider.

I fished a 14’ closed bow runabout style for years. The small boat was a bit unique in how high it rides on the water for a small boat. But that boat taught me a lot about boating in.... questionable??... conditions and space in any condition. I’ll touch on that in a minute.

I also have fished with friends in others with 19-foot range boats. My first observation is that a closed bow (or at least a bow canvas) is a big deal. It was pretty obvious on the 14 footer as more than a few times waves have broken over the bow and even peeled heavily off the windshield at times. That got my attention and I began to appreciate that “wasted” space. But I’ve been in a few 19s that knifed waves and with an open bow that’s impressive in the moment. So a closed bow is a very desirable feature imho

The other thing I mentioned- space- isn’t always provided for in many designs. Sometimes just a few inches less bulk of components in the cockpit can make a constant ‘obstacle’ into something unnoticeable. A sparse interior in a nice hull can feel FEET bigger than lots of ‘features’ and plush in the same square footage. Basically I think many less “comfortable” boats are more pleasant to be in all day than many plush launches.

The third thought is the kids. Even my 14 had fairly high gunwales which was a primary reason I bought it. After several years following the purchase, however, I began discovering how fortunate I was that the hull was wicked seaworthy for its size and waves never entered the transom even when you’d be sure they were going to. Like what Ron mentioned about his fishmaster. So many boats exercise the bulge pump too often for me!! So the boats that feature a deep cockpit deck are quite comforting for not just keeping kids in but also keeping the stuff you’re floating in, out.

The caveat pairs I guess is these things don’t apply to bass boats, and that I gut things and build what works (not just boats) and I don’t know where your skills are at. Nevertheless the above still applies. The ability to move about, seaworthiness, and layout are more important than anything else.

I miss being out on the lake. Looks like next year I’ll be back into it
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Detritus
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Re: Boat Advice/Suggestions

Post by Detritus »

Hi Mike,

I'm guessing were close in age, I have kids ranging from 16 down to 5 years old. I grew up on cabin cruisers with my family on this lake, and have owned a bunch of boats over the years. I did manage to get away from the boating disease for 10 years, but, one of my kids managed to get me to fall off of the wagon several years ago. I found an abandoned canoe, fixed it up, and he wanted me to take him fishing. It's been back into it ever since for me.

Here's my list of boats I've owned over the the years.

5 canoes
3 Kayaks
8' Sailing Dinghy
8' Inflatable Dinghy
1974 sea nymph 14' aluminum 15hp Evinrude
1990 Starcraft SF-14 14' aluminum Nissan 9.9 / Mercury 5hp / Minn Kota electric
2002 Nitro 185 Sport Fish and Ski 150hp Mercury XR6
1972 Pearson 26 Sailboat Johnson 9.9 four stroke
1993 20' Sweetwater Pontoon 40hp Yamaha
1993 Bayliner Trophy 2002 Force 150hp(dead) Mercury 150 saltwater
2004 Triton SF21 Mercury 200hp EFI

I'm 41, and like I said, managed to stay away from the water for a good 10 years with no boats, but, I got dragged back in, haha. I won't go into the pro's and cons and details of each boat, because there is a lot for each. However, through all of my experience, I can tell you a couple of things that I know for sure that has been definately true for me.

Buy a boat with outboard power
Trailer your boat
Definately plan on Frostbite Fishing

Other than that, it comes down to what you're going to be doing with it. As you can probably guess from the list of boats above, I've done everything from cartop canoe camping trips, to extended stays aboard the sailboat stored at a marina, to wake boarding, to bass fishing, to cold water downrigger trolling. People obviously gravitate to what they enjoy the most on the water, and for different people, that means different things. For me, I've currently narrowed it down to Canoes for our scouting activites, and the three boats in my signature. The pontoon is currently for sale.

The starcraft 14' aluminum goes on the roof of the van when we pull the camper. Bought it kind of on a whim for $350, can't believe how much we use it.

The Bayliner Trophy 2002 Walkaround is our Cold water boat.

Things I love about it:

Can handle any waves or weather you will encounter on this lake

This boat was designed for near shore ocean fishing. Has nice tall freeboard, bow flare, windshield, deep V hull.

You can comfortably and easily troll all year

Has a canvas enclosure that we heat in the winter, but, no canvas on the back deck where you're working the rods. So, we basically set up all of
our fishing gear, then go inside where its warm and wait for a release. When there's a fish on, we go out where there is nothing to get in the way of fighting the fish.

Cruises efficiently at 32mph top speed is 41 GPS

32mph is fast enough to get to any fishing spot you want on this lake you want to go to within 15-30 minutes drive from the nearest boat ramp. This boat has an 82 gallon tank that was filled in july, and if I hadn't topped it off a week or so ago, we'd still have about a quarter of a tank left, fishing 1-2 times a week. We also run a honda 4 stroke 9.9 Kicker at trolling speeds. You can go as slow as you want, its quiet, and you can get a good 20 hours of trolling out of a 6 gallon can.

No carpet in the cockpit

Mud, Blood, and Slime just get washed out the scuppers. Or, do what we do, and just leave it there, haha.

All of our trolling rods and cold water gear never leave the boat because of the cuddy cabin

On the pontoon, we had to load and unload the boat every single trip. For one, all of the gear was pretty much exposed to the elements, fishing or not. For two, you had to unload it every time you left it unattended like on a mooring, or even in your driveway. All that fishing gear is expensive. With this boat, it has holes in the bulkhead inside and racks so you can hang( 8) 8'6" or even bigger rods, with size 30 trolling reels. The fishfinder and all our gear just gets locked inside at the end of each trip. The interior walls are carpeted, and it's a really handy spot to hang lures quickly. Plus, in foul weather, all of your clothes, food, kids, tackle, always stays dry no matter how much it rains.

Outboard power

To protect this engine from freezing in the winter, once you pull it out of the water at the ramp, lower it to vertical position, let the water drain out, pull the lanyard, crank for a few seconds. That's it. The kicker gets the lanyard pulled, and pulled a few times. No antifreeze, no petcocks in water jackets, nothing.

Things the boat isn't good at:

Limited seating

Only had 2 captains chairs in the canvas enclosure. Other indoor passengers have to sit inside, or stand. There's a couple of removeable seats in the back corners of the cockpit too, but, we don't use them, since we'd rather have the space for fighting fish. Just this week I took out the passenger chair, and replaced it with a cooler. You can fish 4 in below freezing temperatures now, but 2 or 3 is more comfortable.

It's hard to swim off of in the summer.


No warm water fishing.

No electric trolling motor, or casting deck, so, it's not really practical for that. That's why we have the Triton fish and Ski.

So, that boat also has lockable storage for all of our warm water rods and fishing gear. I think we have maybe 12? 7 foot casting rods in that boat, all of our tackle can fit, everything. All of our warm water gear lives in that boat like the other boat, and never comes out. This boat is 21 feet, stable, smooth, and fast. about 60mph.

So the three biggest things of note for that boat, compared to other warm water boats I've owned or operated,espescially the very similar Nitro, are:

Hydraulic Steering

So easy and smooth to steer, like driving a car with power steering vs not.

EFI Motor

Very easy starting, has a computer that can output engine info to your phone in the form of gauges

Lockable Storage for all of your gear.

No unloading everything at home.

If you Frostbite fish, your boating season here in vermont goes from 4 to 5 months maybe, to potentially all year. And, if you kind of pay attention to what these guys on here are doing, and apply their methods to your own setup, it is still really comfortable and fun. Check out Reelax's on the water cooking show hes got going on for example, haha.

If you can, fish off of a few different boats. If this damned covid thing ever changes, you can come out with us. I've got a 5 year old girl and a 7 year old boy that are pretty close to your 6 year old. I bet there's other guys on here that would invite you out too, if the Covid situation changes.

Probably what will work the best for you by the sounds will be something like what Reelax or Digitroll runs. That's probably the best compromise other than the whole 2 separate boat thing I've got going on. I would suggest picking up an impulse buy 14' aluminum tiller boat though. If you spend less than 1k, you will get all of your money back when you sell, and be on the water fishing. No Fuss, No muss. Even with the 3 other boats we happen to own right now, I bet we fished out of the 14' aluminum boat "The Dumpster" at least 20 times this year. A Ton of fun, Ton of fish, little to no hassle.

Believe it or not, I tried to keep this short, but, those are some of my thoughts. Welcome to Vermont,and LCU.
"Country Angler" - '93 Trophy 2002 - Cold water boat
"Strike Three" - '04 Triton SF21 - Warm water boat
"The Dumpster" - '90 Starcraft SF14 - Camping Boat

Jack
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Detritus
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Re: Boat Advice/Suggestions

Post by Detritus »

Country Angler
Country Angler
Country Angler.jpg (108.2 KiB) Viewed 2797 times
Strike Three
Strike Three
Strike Three.jpg (65.92 KiB) Viewed 2797 times
The Dumpster
The Dumpster
The Dumpster.jpg (105.83 KiB) Viewed 2797 times
"Country Angler" - '93 Trophy 2002 - Cold water boat
"Strike Three" - '04 Triton SF21 - Warm water boat
"The Dumpster" - '90 Starcraft SF14 - Camping Boat

Jack
Gecha (Gerry)
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Re: Boat Advice/Suggestions

Post by Gecha (Gerry) »

Thanks Jack, great read about the usage and configuration of your boats.
Gecha (Gerry North of the Border)
bootstrap
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Re: Boat Advice/Suggestions

Post by bootstrap »

for that much money id get 2 boats. one aluminum like a 14-16 deep v that will be good for the rivers and some lake action, you could easily use it alone. id then look at fiberglass with a small cabin. good luck and definitely take a season to check out the area and look at what others here are doing. the water has been really low lately so launching a bigger boat can be a real challenge.
Mike8484
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Re: Boat Advice/Suggestions

Post by Mike8484 »

Wow all thanks for the super amazing responses. I’ve been jammed up with the holidays and getting the house packed up. I head over next week a d get started on my 2 week quarantine. I’m going to dig in to all of your responses. I really like the idea of starting with a cheaper 14 footer till I get a better idea of what is going to be best. Thanks to all who responded.
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