I have 12” graphs on an 18-1/2 foot skeeter. Trust me…they are too big. Also have lithiums, dual poles, spot lock trolling motor, padded carpet, hot foot, hydraulic plate, AT2….pretty much everything a 21ft loaded boat has.

I’ve spent WAY MORE than a new boat would have cost.

That’s why I say it’s IMPOSSIBLE to buy a 18-1/2 foot boat loaded up for under $50,000.

Steez, how fast does your boat go when it’s flashed to 231hp?

"Loaded" with accessories is easily $15,000 or more additional these days.

I think the absolute best route to take these days is to buy a lightly used.

There are really nice 19’ with 200s that are 2-3 years old for 50.

Yes this, the boat I'm running I bought in the month of November in 2021. It was well kept and slicker than a new penny with 147 hours on it, I got it off Billy Sartin as a consignment boat. I think I was right around $33k out the gate with Power Pole, Blades, 2012 electronics, and a Fortrex . One with current electronics, TM, and shallow water anchors would probably run you in the $40k's or more. If you are worried about it being slow don't, mine will turn numbers most boats with a 250 will turn carrying a small tackle store.

New SHO…$20,800
Dual poles…$4300 with mounting brackets
Lithium battery package $2000
Gauges for motor…$900
Four HDS graphs…$8200
AT2….$1600
Sonic Hub 2, EP2, added cables $800
Ultrex 80lb iPilot Link …$2800

Just this “stuff” puts a boat past $40k…..NOT INCLUDING THE BOAT AND TRAILER AND TAXES!!!



My boat started as a one owner and had 42 hours. I paid $15k cash.

I have bought everything listed above, plus new carpet and fully padded bow to stern, new seats, new windshields, new fuel tanks, new wiring, new ignition switch, new keel guard, new LED lighting, remote drain plug, new pumps(5 of them), sea deck in the cockpit area, new rod straps, bait organizer on the starboard rod locker, recessed trolling tray, and a new SkeeterBuilt trailer.

I know for a fact I could have just bought a brand new boat for less.

Top speed with the flash and 25p mercury prop is 76-ish @ 6250 rpm.(rev limit set to 6200). . Stable as a rock
It could go 80 with a lighter load, a 26p, and the rev limiter raised to 6500. But it’s way fast enough.

i've been buying Phoenix and Skeeters but after looking around, I bought a new Falcon 21' Predator less than a year ago. Cost me about $11,000 less than the others. I love the boat, but a new major health issue has only let me put 8 hrs on it and I will need to sell it. Falcon uses the old Stratos hull and that was a fast boat. The Bass Classic was won by a guy in a Falcon.
Anway I will post it on this forum in a week or two, but I thought I would bring it up.
Good luck, and if anyone is interested, just PM me.

You think the boat brand has anything to do with his win? He probably could’ve won out of a pontoon boat…

Nope but guaranteed it put the brand in front of some eyes that had not seen it before. I don't anyone is gonna run out to emulate the guy but no doubt it raised brand awareness. Its been proven too many times in history. Marketing and brand awareness works.

The people bitching typically aren’t in the market and/or can’t afford the offering in the first place. Much less what they think they actually want ina rigged out boat. They just want to bitch every time something new and unobtainable to them is brought to market. Got to tear it down to feel better.

I mentioned that the Classic was won out of a Falcon. That has nothing to do with him winning, but when dealers start getting spoiled, Watch out because your pricing will create more competition.

This threads carried a lot of comments and a lot of opinion. It’s notable that last quarters annual aluminum and fiberglass bass boats were up 2%, on the registration data released two weeks ago, mid June on an R12. Yes, some of that is dealers reducing inventory, while the other part is people must be in a buying mode. It’s nice to see normal as we are well into those 2017 normalcy year patterns on the bass market. Mercury and others primed their lines to run during the largest market expansion we’ve seen since the mid 1980’s. No way that was sustainable as they reached to expand when their foreign competition couldn’t.

SC-001 is right in the only thing that will bring them down is the coming of a Great Recession. That’s money losing survival modes, cut your losses if you can and operate. During the 1980’s and 2009 (‘10) era downturns people bought less all the way around also. Less boats, less boat, less gear and settled for less in some cases. During the 1980’s downturn the market lost 66% of HIN registrations. That’s 66% of bass boat builders that went out of business during that economy. A solid number was lost in fall of 2000, before 9/11/2001, when OMC filed bankruptcy, as did many others.

Then there are those which had an incident that drives them to buy, when they otherwise wouldn’t, much like totaling a truck, or blowing an engine. There are all sorts of driving forces that control markets. Most on the comments here are based on their finances and plan over time. Not everyone’s on the same financial plane.

Rick