Salt water noob

I had the same budget as you when I was looking. I flyfish freshwater as well though. So a boat with a windshield and stuff makes it very tough to have 2 or 3 guys flyfishing from. I also love beaching my boats on cool beaches. So I ended up getting an ex lodge boat. A 18' center console Eaglecraft. Came with a 2006 75hp Merc 4 stroke. It's a little underpowered in my opinion, but awesome on fuel. I was only looking at boats with newer, fairly low hour motors. I didn't want to have to re-power or have an older motor that might be questionable. My motor had 188 hours when I bought it. The problem with my boat, is I'm not going very far offshore in it. But I took at look at where most of my saltwater fishing would be taking place. Vancouver area, Bowen Island and maybe the odd jaunt to Thrasher. Or I ferry it to Galiano, to my buddies cabin, and rip around the gulf islands. I could have bought a bigger, older boat, but they all had older power as well. Or the newer powered ones were out of my budget. For me, new power was key. And I only wanted aluminum. So far I'm very happy with my boat. I've fished all winter so far. Just make sure you have really good raingear and warm layers. The last trip I did, I ran from Port Moody to the cap, trolled there for a few hours. Ran up to Horseshoe bay to go for a cruise, cause fishing sucked for me. Then back to Port Moody. I burned 38 liters of fuel. I was very happy with that fuel economy.

I think you need to look at where most of your fishing is going to be done, and buy a boat best suited for that. Why buy a big, older offshore boat if you will be going offshore once or twice a year? I just pay for a charter if I want to do that. But I would definitely buy the boat with the newest power, unless you plan to upgrade the power right away.
 
Arima all the way!! I know, I know, I'm biased :D:D

Btw, that Arima for sale in Abbotsford was mine for a few years.
 
Dogbreath said:
X2!!

Remind me to tell you Guys sometime about finding our way back from offshore into Renfrew Bay and up the river in a howling wind & rain and complete dark-all with a 6hp POS barely pushing a 19' Lifetimer-not something I'd ever want to repeat.
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X3

And spend some cash on a good fuel/water separator. A reliable kicker is something you don't fully appreciate until you've experienced an awkward or scary system failure.
 
If you have a wife or a girlfriend that you fish with....you will need a boat with a marine head and a cuddy in it.....otherwise you are doomed from the get-go......

also....the more open walk-around space it has in the back the happier you'll be when the action is hot and heavy and you have fish on...you have no idea what a nightmare it can be with everbody running around and screwing things up in the heat of the moment....
 
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that lifetimer is a winner! can't beat a tin boat--you are not going out in cold weather anyway and it will give better gas mileage than a glass boat although not as nice a ride...down the road you could modify it with a extension between transome and pod and a pilot house when you feel the need for all weather and a head.
lifetimer or any good welder could do it...
..on a side note---a kicker as an emergency power source SUCKS!--4 MPH SOG when you want to come home is not good- if you think this lifetimer is too rich for your blood- get a 15 kicker- at least it will get you on plane and back to shore. I don't know who owns the lifetimer boat, but I live close to Duncan, where they are made and having toured the premises, I have to say they are an exceptional boat.If I could have afforded the 80 thou for a 24 ft they would be high on my list.
 
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Seafever said:
If you have a wife or a girlfriend that you fish with....you will need a boat with a marine head and a cuddy in it.....otherwise you are doomed from the get-go......

also....the more open walk-around space it has in the back the happier you'll be when the action is hot and heavy and you have fish on...you have no idea what a nightmare it can be with everbody running around and screwing things up in the heat of the moment....
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x2
I can't say enough about cuddy cabins with hard tops, no more canvas, yahoo. As for the wife, now rain or shine she's happy to be along
 
If you can look south in the USA, great buys to be had.

Be prepared to part company with $$$ no matter what ya do .........

What does BOAT stand for ........ "BRING ON ANOTHER THOUSAND! "

HT
 
buddy has a 2102 trophy, rigged,, great shape,, babied zuki 150hp 500hrs ish, pm if interested...
 
tulameentrapper said:
So I ended up getting an ex lodge boat. A 18' center console Eaglecraft. Came with a 2006 75hp Merc 4 stroke. It's a little underpowered in my opinion, but awesome on fuel. I was only looking at boats with newer, fairly low hour motors. I didn't want to have to re-power or have an older motor that might be questionable. My motor had 188 hours when I bought it.
Click to expand...

Where did you find your boat? Did you get it straight from Daigle? I'm keeping my eye open for something similar.

Thanks.
 
If you are not really experienced with boats in general, I think its best to stick with a fairly simple, easy to handle runabout type of boat in the 16' to 18' range with a reliable outboard. There is a lot to learn from boat handling to maintenance and navigation. I had an Arima until recently and it was a great starter boat, but there are lots of different boats that would be good.

The increased maintenance, complexity and range of bigger boats runs the risk of being not worth the hassle unless you are really dedicated.

There is a lot of fishing you can do all over our coast in 16' to 18' boats and you do not need to go offshore to get into good fishing.
 
Where is dave hudson on all of this?

We need to know what you want to use the boat for mostly to help you.
 
Highliner said:
Where did you find your boat? Did you get it straight from Daigle? I'm keeping my eye open for something similar.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I bought it through a boat broker out of west Vancouver. I was looking for a long time though.there was a hull only for sale on craigslist a couple of months ago. I think he wanted around 7k for it. They pop up every now and then. Just gotta keep your eye out and snap it up when you find one.
 
Is it really work when we all obviously love talking about boats, fishing and just being on the water in general? Plus it's a great time killer while at work!
 
Fisher Down said:
If this is work, I could work all day. :p F D
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Muttley-laughs.gif
 
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