I'm 52 years old. Really don't give a rats arse what other folks think about me or my status as a fisherman. I can catch and zero with the best on any day. However I do plan on buying one more boat before I leave for better waters, I like to hear all opinions on others experiences with products before shuckin out that kind of money. As others have said it is a lot of personal preference. I've owned King Fisher, Skeeter, Charger and now in a Ranger. Plan on trading up one last time just to experience all the new technology, We live in good times.

If money were no object, I'd get a fully loaded Ranger w/ a 250SHO. 3 Carbon 16's, an Ultrex and a Fortrex, led lighting, lithium batteries, 10ft blades with drift paddles, a fiberglass motorized boat travel cover.

Probably wind up around $150,000.


Then I'd go win another working mans tourney with it and laugh all the way to the bank with $400 cash!

If money were no object, I'd get a fully loaded Ranger w/ a 250SHO. 3 Carbon 16's, an Ultrex and a Fortrex, led lighting, lithium batteries, 10ft blades with drift paddles, a fiberglass motorized boat travel cover.

Probably wind up around $150,000.


Then I'd go win another working mans tourney with it and laugh all the way to the bank with $400 cash!

2 trolling motors?

I wanna be your sponsor, Steez......we'll wrap mushrooms all around that rig and put a big "FUN-GI" on each side. You may have to fight off all the Dan's of the world.......

To answer this question, I need to know several things?

By "top of the line, loaded bass boat", there are several kinds.

1. Do you want your neighbors to be impressed? If so, it's all about how it looks in your yard/driveway. Silver metal fleck, red and black with a big 'ol Merc. OMG! People just walk by and point and stare and talk. It's nervana! I recommend washing your boat a lot. Then, you'll have people wanting to stop and talk about your boat.
2. Do you want people at Dairy Queen to be impressed? If so, it's all about how it looks behind your truck. The old men will sit in the DQ chomping on their BeltBuster talking of the old days when they had a KingFisher.
3. Do you want people at the loading ramp to be impressed? If so, it's #2 above as well as your "matching" truck. Oh yeah, and what you're wearing. I can't stress that enough. If you're not wearing HUK gear, OMG... people will just roll their eyes. POSER!
4. Do you want people on the lake to be impressed? Then it's all about the rooster tail. No matter what the max engine size is, be sure to scratch it off and get a bigger motor. For God's sake... Only fish when there's nobody around. If people can see, just go! Up and down the lake... Back and forth. If you actually stop and fish, it's like you're letting everyone know that someone else is the Big Dawg of Lake!

Now, it's important to realize. The only people that will actually act like they're impressed are those with better rigs. They're really not impressed. They just want to act that way so you'll be impressed with their rig. Everyone else that's actually impressed will ignore you. Unfortunately, those that aren't impressed will ignore you too, so sometimes it's kinda difficult to tell which is which. That's kinda the problem. It take practice. After you spent all that money and until you learn which are and which aren't, it can be kind of a let down if you let it be. DON'T LET IT BE! Being a fisherman is all about "the look". Everyone knows, the better you look, the better fisherman you are. Eventually, you'll be elevated above "fisherman" to "angler". Then, OMG... then, you don't even have to pay for anything.

Now, I think I'll go over to another thread to give my thoughts on why having 10, 20 maybe 30 pounds of plastics is really important.