I'm fixing up a 2005 Blue Wave Classic 22 center console boat for Striped Bass, White Bass, Freshwater Redfish and some occasional bay fishing at the coast. It has an older marine VHF unit that is dead. I plan to fish mostly central Texas lakes. A new radio is only about $150, but I'm thinking about using that shelf in the center console for tackle storage instead.

I wonder how much fishermen use VHF anymore vs cell phones. When I've been on guided trips recently they have communicated by cellphone.

I've found very little use of marine radio on freshwater lakes unless two buddies are chatting. However I found them very useful in saltwater areas.

VHF was the gold standard on Texoma years ago. If your boat didn’t sport an 8-foot antenna, you were obviously a newbie and you weren’t in with the in-crowd. Cell phones changed all of that. But one thing that cell phones still can’t offer is the VHF-DSC GPS-enabled distress signal. Push the distress button and a mayday signal is transmitted with your exact location. I don’t know if the Coast Guard or other agencies that can utilize this mayday signal even exist on typical big inland lakes like Texoma but I sure wouldn’t go offshore without it.

I bought a hand held VHF for use on the coast in Southeast LA. Like people said, really no need on inland lakes, but when you don't have cell coverage on the coast you only have one option. I keep in my storage box so it doesn't require any space for mounting, but if I get in a bind I can call for help.

$100 - $150 safety device might be worth the expense some day if you are one to travel with your boat often.
If you're not one to travel and you always fish the same lakes and know you have cell phone coverage where you go, then I would use the space for storage.