I am a east bass fisherman wanting to partake in some of the great speckle trout and red fish fishing. Is it ok to take my ranger 521 and 250 merc down there to fish. I know this is probaly a stupid question but I just wanted to know.
thanks in advance

I had a skeeter bass boat and I traded it in on a bay boat. The bass boats are not equipped for anything other than fresh water. If your trailer is painted, keep it out. It is not that the boat wont' foot the bill, it is just that the mix of salt and fresh water might tear the fittings up. Good luck

I fished Rayburn a lot, and ran a 1996 ZX 190 Skeeter /Merc 200EFI on Sabine for years. Galv trailer though. I never had any issues with the salt because I washed the boat in and out after every trip, flushed motor, sprayed Merc corrosion guard on all fittings / inside cowling too first and used Corrosion X on moving parts. Painted trailer is toast in salt.

I have a 2007 Z2200 Shearwater now.

Anyhow, get a good map/gps and try launching at River Rat Marina in Orange and you will be in the river north of the lake which runs fresh water mostly. Tons of bayous up North to fish. Run down to the NE side of the lake and fish the LA side down. I have caught black bass, reds, specs, flounder all in same day. Your bass tackle will be fine. Tie on a spinner bait and throw it any marsh cut, broken island situation you see ... once you catch couple of reds that way, the bass fishing will not be the same. If you fish or launch on the LA side, get the LA license - $90 for out of state. Good luck.

Whether or not salt water will damage a bass boat depends on what your definition of �damage� is. If you keep a boat in clean enough shape to eat off the carpet, keep your boat out of the saltwater. If you are like me, I don�t sweat the small stuff. My boat is a fishing boat and it has occasional slime, dents and scrapes. As long as the motor starts EVERY time I crank it and there are no holes below the water line, it is perfect. But since the saltwater is tough on metal there are a few tricks your should know about boating in it.

All your boats hardware needs to be fastened with non-corrosive SS screws. If there are some regular screws, you will find them easily after your first trip. They will rust immediately. Replace them.

All your batteries must be enclosed in a storage compartment or a battery boat. This is not optional.

If you have any metal toolboxes or tackle boxes replace them with plastic ones. All my boat tools are stainless. You can get by with regular tools but be prepared for some surface rust if you take them out of the box and use them.

If you don�t have a galvanized trailer, wash it off when you leave the coast. There are two other trailer tricks. Disconnect your trailer lights before putting it in the water. Also feel your wheel bearings and if they are hot let them cool off. Dunking hot wheels in cold saltwater will cause water to get sucked into the wheel housing. If they are cool that will not happen.

Oh yea. That CorrosionX is great stuff. Expensive but squirt a little on every bolt on your motor.

If there is a hoist in the area you want to fish, use it and keep the trailer out of the saltwater. Also, flush the motor really well to get all of the saltwater out.