Tips For Buying Your First Fishing Boat
You have finally made the decision to buy a boat and are ready to commit to that decision. Owning a boat will give you so much more freedom when it comes down to fishing, though there are a few things you should know before laying down your hard earned money on any new or used boat.
One of the first things you should consider when buying a boat is whether or not your vehicle can safely tow your new tow around. Consider this, a fully loaded bass boat can weigh in access of 3000Lbs! You need to make sure your vehicles tow rating meets that of any boat you may be thinking about buying.
Aluminum Vs. Fiberglass
Aluminum boats are generally much cheaper than fiberglass boats. Aluminum boats are also built tough, they can take much more abuse than a fiberglass boat. They can take the abuse of being run up into shallow water, or being bumped off of rocks and docks. the downfall of aluminum boats is that they provide a ride that is much rougher than that of a fiberglass boat.
Fiberglass boats are much more expensive than aluminum boats. They are built to handle rough water, not rough treatment. You can expect to pay $20,000 or more for a high quality fiberglass fishing boat. A good fiberglass boat will provide a much smoother ride than that of an aluminum boat and are in most cases much faster. If your going to spend the money on a fiberglass boat there is no need to cut corners on your motor, go with a high quality 4 stroke motor.
Should you buy new or used? There are a few reasons why buying used over buying a new fishing boat just make more sense. For one, like a vehicle, new fishing boats lose value the minuet you haul them off the showroom floor. Once that brand new bass boat hits the water its value drops, where as a used boat will hold its value.
On the other hand, like buying a used vehicle, you may end up with either the deal of a lifetime or end up buying some other poor guys headache. If your going to buy used make sure you have someone who knows outboard motors inspect the boats motor in which you are interested in buying. If you belong to a fishing club I am sure someone in your club has the knowledge to help you out here. Even if you have to pay someone a small fee to inspect the boat and its motor it will be well worth it!
