My father is turning 70 in March, and just recently moved to a lake community, but the only boat he has is a little 14' Jon boat. He is perfectly fine with this boat, but no one else will go with him on it. He needs a bigger boat, and I would like to get him one for his bday. I am not talking a top of the line Skeeter. He is not a tournament fisherman, needs room for 6-8 people, and again I am buying. This boat will be a cruiser, fisher, carrier of grandkids, do all. Any guidance on an exact make and model I should be looking for would be greatly appreciated. I am going crazy reading articles online about deck vs pontoon, fish vs ski, etc. Thanks.

You need to narrow it down to exactly how he will use the boat and take his physical abilities and his experience with larger boats into account. A boat that will safely handle 8 people may be larger than he is able to handle alone, and if it's intimidating, he won't use it unless he can find a group to go out with him. That happened years ago with my grandfather. He had a minor mishap on his boat and from then on was literally afraid to use it alone for fear something might happen to him.

Also, don't get roped into the ski&fish models. They don't do either very well. A lot of people buy them and after a year are trying to unload them and can't.

if he is a crappie fisherman then a pontoon may work best.

bass fisherman and the number of people you stated a fish n ski would be good.

one thing is launch/load, pontoon will be a pain on windy days, fish n ski not as bad.

storage is another, does he have covered storage available? if not make sure the boat has a good quality cover (vinyl is best).

not sure where you are located but tommy at rockwall marine would be a good start.

this is the time of yr. boats go up in price as well, compare similar models of any you go to look at and use nada as a guide.

What Bob Landry & hopalong said^^^^

I am finishing up an article for a magazine for Choosing the Right Boat. PM me an email address and I will send you the first draft for "your eyes only". You give me some feedback on the article and maybe it will provide you some help.

Center console will be your easiest choice. Size will depend on budget, but what you're describing it'll work best.

Fish n skis do nothing well.
Pontoons are nice but difficult to trailer and windy days make them really annoying.

X2

I have a friend that just ordered a new boat and is going to sell his 18' Tracker Tundra 2003 with a 125 Mercury on the back. Deep Safe boat for kids and older people. New Foot Control Tolling motor, New Custom Trailer. This boat is made of .125 thk Molded Aluminum. No Welds for leaks All one piece aluminum lower half. HEAVY WIDE SAFE BOAT. Give him a shout hmcbride72@gmail.com

I think a center console meets the description of what you think he's looking for.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.