It's a bad policy to tell other people how to spend their money. They made it, it is theirs to do with as they want. I think the silly stuff is in the lower price points. Electronic things that call fish, carbon handles for reels, etc. it seems like people who fish will damn near buy anything. People bring this stuff to market and people buy it for a while but that's our fault not the companies. To the op, there are clearly cheaper options out there. Buy them.

Every man can make his own choice about spending his money.....do you think the fish know the difference?
This is way far beyond mine.

For me , I'm just glad to be on the water!!!!

Good point Hank.

A buddy of mine in Florida had one of those Fast Cat boats with a modded up Merc that went 121. He had a big Lowrance right in the middle of his center console and I asked him if he thought it cost him any speed. His response was that he didn't care because that was his windshield he ducked in behind when he was running hard.... lol

No doubt "image" IS everything. Even I myself could look good while fishing,....if only I could afford it.
It was hard for me to realize that I could no longer afford the things I could buy when I was younger. It's my own fault, I failed to properly plan for my retirement.
I feel fortunate to have what I have, and to not be in debt. And, it's great to be able to take my ole Ranger to the local lakes and fish, and catch.

BUT, what I was talking about previously is putting a cap on the amount of money it takes to compete for a win, in big tournaments. A few more restrictions would be encouraging to those who can't come up with big sponsors. IOW make it more and more a contest of talent instead of who has the most money. It's a thought.

My opinion is the only thing required to complete side by side with this boat is 1 side imaging unit (8 inch +) and a quality/sensitive rod. Everything else is icing on the cake.

My entire front casting deck is made of a series of graphs. I love it.

Does their three 12" screens matter to me? Not one bit it is their money, spend it if you got it! Plus I need them to buy the over priced new items so that way the few year old used market stays strong for poor guys like me!

I know it doesn't matter what kind of equipment you have. I fish out of a 17 foot tracker with 1 $200 graph on it. Fished the Christian Top Six on Arlington this weekend. I weighed in over 20lbs. I had one of the bigger sacks weighed. I don't think I ever even looked at my graph.

I do think it's ridiculous to spend that kind of money on a boat, but I don't have that kind of money. I think envy and pride motivate a LOT of dumb purchases, money that goes to things we WANT but don't need. With that said, it's your money. Of course I hope you give a little away to help someone that doesn't have the good fortune that you have, but in the end, you have to live with your decisions. I have plenty of my own regrets that keep my mind occupied. I don't really have the energy to worry about your decisions too.

come on guys .. who cares???guys do this with their trucks every day! big tires lift kits .. we men like to show off our big bad toys .. ( male birds showing our big pretty feathers)
saying you dont need this.. my 15 year old boat is just as good is the same as saying you dont need a new truck with nice rims or a nice system in it just keep that old beater with no payment... NO if you have the money spend it on what you want. this is still america and i look at it this way ... if most of you guys won the lotto... you would all buy a bad [censored] boat and trick it out the most bass A$$ way you could! i know i would. i only hope one day that all the hard work i put in through my life will let me be such a success that i can spend money the way i want too! ... i dont envy what others have instead i go out and hwork harder to earn it on my own....

The real question is: if you can afford it, why wouldn't you buy the better boat?

Assuming equivalent fishing talent, doesn't having the higher dollar graphs, power poles, a good trolling motor, etc. make catching fish easier?

I darn near guarantee that if you put KVD out on the water on two identical fishing days and stuck him in a canoe with a paddle and one rod for a day and let him fish in his tricked out boat on the other, he'd catch more and bigger fish with his boat 9 times out of 10.

On the other hand, this guy is dead on:

To each his own life is too short to worry about what other people spend their money on. That being said, I had an 88 skeeter 17 ft that was an absolute money pit. I ended up so angry with it that I sold it then bought a 14 ft jon off craigslist with no modifications and just a trolling motor. And I couldnt be happier. But then again Im not competing just fun fishing. Would like to put a deck on it though

I think it's still missing one more graph up front lol.

Roger that Roger!

I bet most of you wondering why a person goes thru the expense on a bass boat probably have 40 to 50 inch TVs throughout your house! Yea... more than one too!!!

You would have survived just fine with a 24 or 36 inch set but you went for the big sets! Shame on you for not spending wisely !!!

You guys have no idea how extravagant I would get if I won the big PowerBall jackpot. I would prove that it's all a matter of how much you can afford. Heck, I would NOT buy just one of these $75K boats, I would buy 3 or 4, each with its own GMC tow vehicle. Then, I would positione each one in strategic locations so that I could fly my own Lear jet (yes, I'm qualified to fly Lears) to each location, depending on my whim at the moment. Of course, I would hire a local guide to take me out on my boat, and put me on some fish.