Swyt,

If it was me, I would look for a good used aluminum boat. An all welded aluminum boat won't have any of the rot and gel coat problems that a secondhand glass boat could have. The only thing you really want to watch out for is cracks in the transom and if the motor is in good working order. I personally like the xpress and duracraft boats myself, but own a 17.5' weldcraft. It's a '95 model that needs new wiring and carpet, but the boat and motor are still good. The only problem I have is when the wind gets over 10 mph especially out of the N/NW on Lake of the Pines. It starts getting really rough in a hurry and the flat bottom will beat you to death.

Maybe. I just seriously lack trust when buying something big like this used, unless it's from a dealer. I fear getting screwed out of a ton of money with bad paperwork or something. Like I don't know about the buying process and how thoroughly I would be allowed to check the boat. e.g. can I see the titles for x y z, can I see it start, take it out on the water, etc. I've never payed in "cash", but a cashiers check from my bank. I have no idea how a private party would take that. I know how to check a used car out decently, but when it comes to paperwork, I feel very uncomfortable. Like my own car's title, I have no idea what it says, I just threw it in the safe when it got mailed to me. I've also never driven a boat and haven't gotten my "boating license" (forgot what it's called).

It seems like there are some boats out there, but they are so far away. I found one that looks good in the pics, but they don't give the most detailed specs. It is glass. I have a feeling it's about 500lbs too heavy for me to tow. Basing off of Nitro z17 specs. 179 engine hours?
https://www.boattrader.com/boat/2006-nitro-640-lx-7856544/
Then there's this little guy. Needs a trolling motor.
https://www.boattrader.com/boat/2017-xpress-hunting-15dbx-7858634/

That Nitro is a cute beginner boat, would work well in small lakes and on low wind days.

The aluminum would be good for small lakes, rivers; but this is the kind of boat that can get you in trouble if the wind comes up on a bigger lake. I wouldn’t call that a novice boat, but I guess you have to learn at some point.

What’s your truck, a Ranger?


Edit: just looked again, a Prius....maybe a kayak would be a good option.

It's kinda like a 90's Ford Ranger I4, not that I've ever had one. Trailer weighed about 2040 if I remember right. Probably had 300-400 on the tongue even though it's 200 tongue and 2000 trailer. Not visible but there was 800lbs of water softner salt in it. 1240lbs empty. If the Nitro weighed 2000lbs or less, I'd go for it, but I assume the aluminum boat is in my weight capacity. I just spent too much getting my car tinted. So I plan to keep it a while longer for sure. Guess I'll have to wait to get a boat that big.

Edit: It doesn't really show but I got oversized AT tires and a 1.5" lift. lol. I haven't scraped in a long time. I got about 17mpg towing that trailer at 65mph.

You may get up to speed to tow something 65 mph, but heaven help you if you ever need to stop in an unexpected emergency situation. That little put-put doesn't weigh squat for the bulldozing weight behind you that will resist stopping. You'd be pushed like a bulldozer was behind you, followed by a jackknife event as the rear wheels get pushed to one side or the other. Part of the "equation" of towing is the sheer mass of the towing vehicle vs. the trailered mass. Kinetic energy still applies.

I pretty much drove it like a semi. I had lots of respect for braking distance. I was still able to lock my wheels up. I just don't want to know how many times I can do it before they don't. I tried to do some research before even thinking about buying the receiver for my car. It's got a GVWR of 3980lbs and Payload Cap of 825lbs. Many people think the Prius is a light car, but it's really not. In Texas, it seems trailers 3k or under do not require trailer brakes. (maybe it was 3500) So you won't actually find any because of that. Because of the hybrid system layout, I've got closer to a 50:50 weight distribution. With the trailer loaded up the way I had it, the trailer was right about half of my car. New Rangers have a 6k GVWR and can tow 7500lbs. So in that case, the trailer weighs more. Albeit, they will have trailer brakes or are supposed to. (My uncle always had problems with his electric brakes, old memory) A semi can weigh 20k but the trailer can weigh 60k. Ford Explorer, depending on model, curb weight 4.35k, tow 5.3k.

The lighter the better, for sure. When I was wanting a Classic XL, I was wanting to get the surge brake option. But it's just gotten way too expensive for me to be interested anymore. That aluminum boat is probably going to be my best option, I'm just not sure about the whole used boat process and it's about 4 hours away.

Get you an aluminum rig. Go beat the heck out of it, you're going to since you're a noob. Everyone does it. After a couple of years, you'll know what kind of fishing you really want to do and then trade up.
If that tow vehicle is front wheel drive, you're going to have a really hard time pulling anything heavy up a ramp. Go hang out at a busy ramp on sunday if you want to really see what does and does not work.

I think with your car as a tow rig your best option is aluminum due to overall weight and tongue weight, a used raw (no floors/carpet) aluminum boat is pretty easy to spot problems, if you have questions about leaks put the plug in, add water to inside of boat and look underneath for leaks, transom is visible most of the time and pretty easy to spot problems and you could always get a new motor if your wanting that new warranty "peace-of-mind" feeling.

My family has 6 people, on the condition that we want to get a boat that the whole family can use for recreation. Most users recommend that the ideal watercraft size for my family is 30 to 40 feet; they show me some examples such as Cabin cruisers, runabout boats, trawler boats, bowriders, and sailboats. I'm looking at options.

30-40ft? For fishing? I get me and 5 of my buddies on my 19’ skeeter and we go skipping docks all the time.

Exactly, I owned a 18' Ranger for 30+ years. I bought the 18 instead of a 20 thinking it would be better in the timber and I could max out the HP for the hull rating. In 2017 I bought the 22' Bay Champ. I fish a lot of open water and the bay boat suits my needs a lot better then a bass boat. Should have bought the bigger boat years earlier. With the bay boat I can still fish shallow if I choose to.

My brother has a place between Burnet and Inks. I normally make a couple of trips to Buchanan every year. The launch ramps I normally use are not usable this year so I have not been. I have been fishing Buchanan since the 80s. Brother and I have a deer lease just south of Colorado Bend on the river. I would like to know where your buddy launched. I have heard people are launching off the beach near Tow.

you limit yourself to smaller bodies of water and less travel in something like a 12' with a 2hp, asking for problems imo. 12' won't have much capacity either.

if you plan on fishing the avg. size lake in Tx. I would not go less than a 14' v with a 25hp on back and trolling motor back up (24v). 2 can fish from it, high gunnels and has decent capacity. drawback is you can't stand easily to cast.

16' modified V aluminum would be next, put a 50 on back and you can cruise the lake and have enough power to outrun a storm etc.

personally, my favorite for all round size is an 18.5' with a 175hp, does anything and everything you want and is good for tournaments and all round fishing. plenty of this size for sale at reasonable prices.

oh, remember this, nothing about fishing is cheap any more. a decent 18' is gonna run 8-15k depending on what it is (based on aluminum).

were I you, I would get a truck to pull the boat first then get the boat you need for how you want to fish.

cheaping out on a boat is really asking for problems. jmo

2-year old thread reopened. OP was "Last seen" around Christmas last year. Wonder if he ever got his boat...?

FWIW, I picked up a little Alumacraft 1756 MV center console last year. Yamaha 50 pushes it along nicely, but I think I need a different prop. Does fantastic on the small rivers & lakes around here for my little family. Tows great with my Jeep, gets SUPER shallow too. Great little "no fuss" boat that gets us out on the water when we don't want to make the trek down to the coast to run the "big" boat in the salt.

It was pretty abused in its former life, but I tinker on it now and again fixing/improving things here and there. It's a fun little sled though.

The boat you need is always 2 ft longer than the one you have.
I am at 22 ft , I think I am done up grading, however If I win the lottery , I would buy a 24,



Mo