So I think this year I'm finally ready to buy myself a fishing boat. I've always fished from the bank and mostly in the creeks or shallow water. I never really bass fish and I spend probably 80% of my time catfishing and 20% crappie fishing. I'm wanting a boat I can manage easily by myself at the boat ramp, I'm familiar with boats and owned a couple over the years but I've never had my ideal fishing boat. My last boat was an old Lone Star with a 15hp kingfisher on it. It was a good boat for small water and really calm days but I'm looking for something that can handle bigger and rougher water in case I ever need to cross lewisville on a breezy day. Since I mostly fish for cats I would think that carpet is out of the question which would eliminate most bass boats, I've never catfished heavily with carpet in a boat but the few times I've catfished in my brothers Skeeter it quickly became a pain in the butt to clean slime out of carpet. I fish about 150-175 days a year and most of that is after dark so I think I'd get alot of use out of a nice aluminum boat I just don't know what to really look for.

So I guess my question would be, whats the ideal boat for me to catfish/crappie fish out of by myself 75% of the time at Lavon/Lewisville/Hubbard/Bonham? I prefer a minimalist type approach meaning basically just a motor, trolling motor, and a real good fish finder is mostly what I'm looking for. Even a livewell is optional for me since I release big ones and toss eaters in a cooler.

My budget would be around $8000 or less and I don't know where to start looking any advice on what you guys think would best suit a solo catfish guy? Heck if anyone has a boat nearby for sale I'd gladly come take a look since I'm mostly been looking at craigslist.

we have an aluminum 18 foot boat with a 60hp on it. rear tiller, cheap depth finder, no livewell, cooler for fish with ice. it a great around boat for us, pulls the kido with tubing, wake boarding and knee boarding. easy to clean, wash out with garden hose. good luck

Yeah I think thats what I'm looking for. I had a 14ft v-hull and it worked great on Bonham lake and Lavon if it was calm. Got sketchy real fast when the wind picked up. I do know that I want at least a 16ft or larger modified v-hull to run in fairly shallow water while still being able to cut through wake if I have to.

Whats a good source for a good aluminum boat? I'm looking at craigslist and most of the boats on here seem a bit overpriced when compared to NADA guides. I certainly don't mind paying what a boat is worth but I dont want to overpay. Would I be better off buying new from a dealer?

I used to have a 16ft bass boat with a 80hp motor on it and lewisville scared the [censored] out of me every time the wind got above 15mph. I would just avoid lewisville when its windy. Now I have a 23ft center console that I got a hell of a deal on and I absolutely love it. Paid 11k and its got a 225hp on the back. If you can get a good deal on a CC, thats the route I would go. It just feels much safer on the big open lakes.

You are not likely not find a new boat in your budget.

Get something like this (if you can find one)
Center Console Re-done
JMO
God Bless

My advice to you is if you are going to get a deep v if you are going to get an aluminum boat. They perform much better in the lakes you mentioned than an aluminum modified v bass boat.

Carpet can probably last 3 or 4 years in a cat boat. After that it will need to be changed out to a more durable option.

I bought a used 2003 Bass Tracker PT175 with 50 Merc. in 2014. It ain't the best but gets me to where the fish are safely and rides good and everything works. I got mine for under $5000. Motor runs flawless and starts easy everytime. It will plane out to 34mph gps with just me in it. I like it because I can go under the bridges at Lake Bonham and get to where the kittys are. If I had gone CC, I would not be able to fish Bonham as well because of the console height. Ain't no single boat gonna be the perfect platform.
I would still love to have a CC but have no where to store it.

Biggest CC you can afford

Alright guys thanks for the input! I guess what I learned from all this is carpet isn't as big of a deal breaker as I had thought, I suppose if it gets nasty I could pull it all out and look at like a rhino liner or some kind of spray bed liner. I think I will up my budget to 15k and look for a nice wide 20ft CC option. Thanks for the help!

http://www.g3boats.com/2016-20-cc-dlx-20-sc-dlx

Find a used one of these!

2010 18.5 Mako with about 30 hours on it.

Call Jim 817 919 4465 - Boat is Like New $16K

I just want to say if you are looking for cheap bigpoppa007 is the man to listen to...he is the Sultan of Cheap!