Same here, my current rig will likely be my retirement rig, just going to throw a 4 stroke on it once the opti pops, hull is solid. Carpet is still good but once its used up will replace with sea dek, probably will have to get a new trailer built at some point too.

Bullet does... They'll sell you a hull... Tell them what motor your installing and they'll do the wiring... Have your dealer show up with the trailer and he can drag it back to his shop and rig the motor... Then you pick it up at the dealer and you rig the boat if that's what you to do... I had my dealer pick up the boat, rig my motor (because of warranty requirements) on the hydraulic jackplate I'd purchased. I rigged the trolling motor and electronics... It's possible... Dan

We are limited to basically 3 brands: Tracker Marine, Skeeter or BassCat. Actually I’m wrong, the Skeeter dealership also sells Phoenix.


All I know is that last time I asked (which was pre-Covid) they all told me it was cheaper to buy the boat fully rigged and to sell the graphs and stuff off of it. Realistically it doesn’t matter, inflation has made any boat buying for me a nonexistent option.
It will be interesting to see what happens with Merc announcing a 300 employee layoff. Something has to give on these prices sooner or later.

I think there will be some boat manufacturers adjust. There is always a smartest guy in the room somewhere and he will figure out a plan that works in this environment. There will be some go out of business and some get fired. I think alot of guys could help themselves by figuring out what they really need in a boat and just buying that. There are entry out there who are over boated and don't use nor make an attempt to learn the toys that they have added to their rigs. I didn't put poles on the boat I bought in 21 because in 7 years with the previous boat I had probably used them a total of 20 times. Now be clear there are and always will be a group that is Un phased by price. The question is can the manufacturers survive this market on those people alone. I believe you will see alot more repowering and alot more aluminum in the future.

80K to 100K boat prices are not sustainable.

I agree, but there are a lot of new bass boats that are less than that amount.

Well according to Rick their not coming down, and I think he's right unless we have a another great recession

Lol of course he said that. When the group of old guys with a few bucks dies off and they are trying to sell boats to young people with giant mortgages I suspect someone will get a calculator and a pencil and figure out a better scheme. Or there will be 1 manufacturer before it's over.

The same was said when boat prices hit $40K, $50K, $60K, $70K, $80K and $90K. And they have been and are sustainable because there are a lot of people in this country who make way more than enough to purchase a $100K pleasure item that they enjoy owning. Inflation is a butt kicking, but the economy for those that have it figured out is not really "bad". If you knew a little about the market and have been in it for the past 10 years or so then you've done very well. A lot of Gen-X'ers have also taken chances and rolled the dice on crypto a few years back and some have done really well in that market as well. There is a lot of money making a lot of money in this country.

For those that have never had those types of budgets for toys, yes $100K boats are not sustainable nor affordable. But, there are opportunities to purchase very nice used boats that are a lot more affordable.

I think the big difference this time is 400k starter houses at 7 percent. It looks like tournament participation is down and that crew drives the boat sales market. It will be interesting to watch and see what happens. With alot of the blue collar finance the boat for 10 year guys getting pushed out can the suppliers survive as the bass boat becomes a true luxury item.

Is it the boats and motors making them $100,000 or all the accessories? I think boat manufacturers catch the brunt of the price complaints when in reality we are seeing add $25,000 plus just in accessories these days.

Poles, TM, 3 graphs on boat aren't really new. Some of the stuff is a little more. I think the new quest is 1k more. The graphs are higher but not that much. Poles a little more. Most of that stuff was on a new boat in 2015. I'm sure the manufacturer income statement is just like any other business right now where all the stuff is higher from labor to garbage pick up and everything in between.

Throw in the NBT screens, guys running dual LVS now, $4000-5000 trolling motors, lithiums etc and it's more than just what you mentioned. It's gotten a little wild. Walk through the rigging section of the popular dealers and just look.

Oh I understand, there will always be those guys.

Ok I’m just here for the conversation, because I’ve already admitted I’m out of the game financially.

Here is the BS that I’m talking about. On a Triton XP 20, it comes with a Fortrex ($1,500) on the “base” series. Go to the options and Lowrance ghost (24v) will cost you an additional $2500. Now the ghost is $3500 to begin with (retail) but Triton is basically charging you $4k. Ironically, the 36v ghost, which is the EXACT same TM will not cost you an additional $200 over the 24v.

Try to explain it better. The ghost cost $2,000 more than the fortrex at retailer TW, Triton is charging $2,500 more though and for the 36v they are charging $2700 more, even though they are the exact same trolling motor.

I feel as if they would sell a bare bones boat and see if things pick up again.


Exact same models, just press a button to change the voltage, but it’s an “up charge”. Ridiculous