Hey ya'll. I'm new to fishing. Only been doing it regularly for the past couple of years and always on someone else's boat. I'm looking into getting a boat for my family to fish mainly in the Lower Laguna Madre. I love fishing for trout and red....

Lately we've been using a guide and fishing off of his 24ft shallow sport. It's been getting us in some pretty skinny water and we've had lots of luck everytime we go out.

I'm not about to drop $40k and go into debt on a shallowsport...my budget is $10k cash

I'm looking into dargel fisherman series, or kenner or even blue wave....these all fall right into my budget and it looks like i can get a really good boat for this $$$.

My question is, can I still get into the same skinny water that I am currently getting into with my guide?

Thanks so much in advance for any help.

A great subject, and one with a zillion opinions, so now it's a zillion and one...

The kenner and bluewave will get you in trouble pretty quick there, they ride good but in no way are exceptional shallow water performers. Dargels are middle of the road, ok, not spectacular.

For your budget, I'd be looking at a skiff type tunnel hull, majek redfish line, shoalwater or other skiff types. They don't ride particularly well, but they'll get into and more importantly out of some tight places. You'll be able to run anywhere you see dark water, which makes navigating much easier.

I will be the first to admit I am not up to speed on all the current options, but, I did grow up on the coast and we owned a boat business. The saltwater wreaks havoc on everything and unless it was REALLY well taken care of I would be very, very cautious and take your time looking and be willing to pay a good mechanic to look it over hard before shelling out any cash. Nothing would suck more than dropping 10K cash and having to shell out thousands more fixing stuff the first year. I would look for one for sale away from the coast, the farther the better because it has probably been used less in the saltwater and hopefully they maintained it well after the trips to the coast.

You need to consider your fishing style and how your boat can help or hinder what you're wanting to do.

No sided scooter is really helpful if you wade a lot also the lower profile is better drifting when the wind is up. But it's not for everyone. Platforms and towers aren't worth much if all you do is anchor up and throw shrimp.

Too many choices until you decide exactly what you want it to do.

Thank you very much for all of the tips and advice. I really appreciate it! Ive been looking around down here in McAllen and Brownsville and there seem to be a lot of choices right now. In fact, I just came accross an 87 shallowsport classic thats been totally redone and has a 2006 yamaha 90. guy wants 9500...but it has no sides...and I have kids so i'm gonna hold out.

I like to fish up against the banks and we use live croaker if not skip jack or ballyhoo. I also go way out north of south padre...up towards if not past the arroyo so I'll need a boat that can get out that far and back with no problems.

Ive been seeing a lot of shoalwater boats for really reasonable prices and they all seem to be newer. I also ran into a 2006 15 ft Fat Cat scooter with sides (something that was new to me, I though all scooters were sideless) for $8k. That looked really good.

Kids are pretty smart. My daughters been on my scooter since she was four never an issue. Adults? Different story.

Don't assume just because it is a Yamaha it is a good engine.
Most are flat out awesome, my almost 20 hp 40 2 stroke fires right up without fail and purrs like a kitten.
My brother bought a used 4 stroke 100 (or thereabouts) and had such tiny ports in the carbs it needed a lot of work to keep running.

thanks again for all of your input! I was on the LLM this weekend and it just solidified my want and need for a boat of my own. Thankfully my wife agrees! We're still squirreling away money but I'm looking for deals everyday!

There are LOTS of shallow sport knock offs down here and when winter comes i'm predicting lots of good deals.

do ya'll have any suggestions as far as what I should look for in a motor?

a buddy of mine just landed a 2003 dargel 186 with a johnson 150...he says he was told its the Chevy 350 of boats...meaning lots of readily available cheap parts.

thoughts?

Here's the truth....
NO motor manufacturer has the best top to bottom. And there's motors to avoid at all costs, first the no-go list, NEVER EVER buy:
Evinrude FICHT motor. Ever, never ever.
Suzuki two stroke, no parts, no help.
Mercury/Mariner 115/125 2+4 motor. Terrible design.

Best of breed:
Yamaha 90 two stroke. You can't hardly kill one, and I've tried, I promise I've tried.
Mercury 2.5 V6. EFI or Carb.
Yamaha carb V6
Johnson V4 115

Your buddy's comments on a johnrude V6 are a little skewed, depending on year model, they've had some issues and if it's a pre-bomb motor, not nearly as salt resistant as a yamaha or merc.

There's a lot of motors not listed, they'll fall somewhere between best and worst.

Awesome thanks again for the info! I think I've found my boat. There's a manufacturer in Los fresnos called shallow master. They're starting the scooters at $9995 brand new. Unclear whether that's with a motor but I assume it's not included. At that price I could find a good rebuilt motor to put on until it breaks.

http://brownsville.craigslist.org/bod/5739549889.html

I got my 2001 21RFL with a 2007 carbed 150 Vmax for 10,500 from premier yamaha, its not pretty, but it is SOLID. I have put quite a bit of cash into it since I bought it but really didnt need to.

That shallow sport clone should serve you well in the LLM, when you budget your project, remember you'll need to add:
Hydraulic jack plate, get the Bob's, it's by far the most reliable.
Compression plate, I like the shallow blaster, but there's other good ones also.
GET THE RATED MOTOR...if the plate says 150, get a 150, you'll never be happy with an underpowered rig. Trust me on this.
Get hydraulic steering installed. MUST.
You'll want a stout, flats style four blade prop, I like powertechs, they've worked well.
Those are the basics, get them right, you'll really enjoy your new toy.

Do NOT cruise the internet/ebay for rebuilt motors, there's are some thieves selling some real [censored] out there.
Blackbirds is junk
Capt. Mack in Austin is junk.
Be wary, be informed, it's your money, be careful with it.

The ultimate motor for that hull is a VMax Yamaha with the TRP lower unit, it's shallow water abilities are pretty amazing.

Ok cool I'll keep an eye out for those parts! I'm fishing in 7 days so I'm gonna stop by the builders shop while I'm there.

And yea it's a total shallow sport clone! But I'm ok with it...in fact it's EXACTLY like my buddies 87 SS scooter that he just re did.